An inventor with impact

Inventing smart cups for the blind, discovering a minor planet and having it named after him, receiving a full scholarship from Standard Chartered to study at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology at the age of just 16 - the achievements of Stark Chan Yik-hei have made many headlines.

The inventor, now 22, went straight to university after finishing Form Five and majored in electronics and computer engineering. Last year he started a new chapter in his life. He took his passion for technological innovation and launched Bull.B Tech, a firm that specialises in developing apps for Apple products.

I was the youngest person in the class but I didn't feel anything special. Age to me is just a number. I did struggle a little at the beginning of my university education, though. I came from a secondary school where Chinese was the medium of instruction but at university I had to study everything in English. It took me time to adjust.

In my final year at university, I thought deeply about my future career path. I asked myself where I wanted to be in five years and the answer was that I wanted to benefit society through my innovative ideas in a field related to science, which is where my interest lies. Applying for a job would not have achieved that so I chose to open my own business.

Nowadays the concept of invention has changed. You do not necessarily need to create a physical product. Expressing an innovative concept is an invention and creating apps is certainly no different from inventing a product.