ISD Capstone Research Project study trip visit Asia's largest flying car maker

After finalising the pairing between student teams and the Capstone Research projects, our Intelligent Systems Design (ISD) students set off to visit the leading manufacturers in the Greater Bay Area. Three teams working with XPENG AEROHT, Asia's largest flying car, conducted a study trip to the manufacturer's test base in Guangzhou. To many students, it was their first in-person experience with flying cars and EVTOLs and seeing ideas flow and people at work in a young, tech-centric EV maker where students shared the contagious positive, can-do spirit.

"Seeing a bunch of go-getters chasing their dreams at PENG is exciting," said student Lisa Chen. "They just succeeded in securing funding from some firms, and everyone is working their tails off to propel the company forward. I hope they all get to see their dreams come true soon! And let's all look forward to the day when the low-altitude economy takes off and blossoms across China!"

Students made use of the small interactions with one another during the trip to cross-pollinate new thoughts. "The visit brought us many new inspirations and understandings," said one student. "We had a better chance to exchange inspirations with different group members as we travelled together." Student Mitter Jia concurred, "I think the journey was very cool. We learnt about the development process of XPENG AEROHT through our research at XPENG, and we also identified design points we need to keep exploring in the future!"

The specialised, collaborative environment offered by the ISD Capstone Research Project is an excellent starting point for turning students' interest in ISD into an industry-supported project well-positioned for their academic and professional development.

Industry Supervisor: Mr Richard Li (XPENG AEROHT)
Academic Supervisors: Prof. Stephen J. Wang, Dr Junnan Yu (PolyU Design)