Miss Nicky Chan, graduate of MA in Fashion & Textile (Global Fashion Management), 2017
Miss Sarah Chan, graduate of MA in Fashion and Textiles (Global Fashion Management), 2000
Mr Dominic Cheng, graduate of MA in Fashion and Textiles (Global Fashion Management), 2006
Mr Spike Ngai, graduate of MA in Fashion and Textiles (Global Fashion Management), 2018
The Final Year Project (FYP) Mentorship Programme was initiated in 2020, with the aim to establish caring and supportive relationships among ITC alumni, industrialists, and undergraduates. The objectives are:
- to empower mentees so that they can better address challenges in their research project,
- to enhance the future professional and career development opportunities of the mentees,
- to facilitate the educational, social and personal growth of mentees, and
- to provide mentors and mentees with professional formal and informal networking opportunities.
Mentoring relationships are developed which encourage discussion, questions, and feedback in areas that will enhance the capabilities and competencies of the mentees.
FYP Mentorship Meetings
This year, four ITC alumni are invited to act as mentors, including Miss Nicky Chan (MA, 2017), Miss Sarah Chan (MA, 2000), Mr Dominic Cheng (MA, 2006), and Mr Spike Ngai (MA, 2018). All of them have a wealth of work experience in the fashion industry. The two rounds of the FYP Mentorship Meeting were held on 5 December 2020 and 30 January 2021, with an attendance of 20 final year students from three specialisms; namely technology, retail and marketing, as well as intimate apparel and activewear. All of them provided positive feedback on the FYP Mentorship Programme.
Adoption of facial recognition and emotion tracking in FYPs
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) has been a major trend in the fashion industry. Our graduating students are fully aware of this trend and keep apace by integrating AI in their FYP by using both their knowledge and creativity.
Associate Professor of Fashion Business and BA programme leader, Dr Chris Lo, had this to say about using AI in FYPs: "My students applied facial recognition to track emotions using AI technology. Another student developed an augmented reality (AR) filter for virtual try ons. I think these examples can demonstrate how advanced our programme is and the capability of our students in using today’s latest technological innovations."
Similar to the overall programme design which equips our students to address the latest challenges in the fashion industry, the FYP programme encourages students to experiment with the latest digital technology in their study. They are encouraged to go beyond purely academic discussions to adopt technology. For example, fashion business students are experimenting with AI, AR and user experience (UX) design tools and integrate them into their consumer research work. Two students, Edith and Wong Yan, share their experience with FYP.
"It was interesting to create an AR try-on function for my final year project. By conducting an online questionnaire with the AR try-on function (which I developed too), I gained new insight into leveraging AR in fashion retailing based on customer preferences. The experience motivated me to explore more around digitalization in the fashion retail industry. I have gained a clear understanding of how technologies can exert a positive influence on the fashion retail industry. As a fashion retail student, I believe that this experience is useful for my career."- Chow Yi-tung, Edith (Year 4, Retail & Marketing Specialism)
