Hong Kong robotics entrepreneur and co-founder of Roborn Technology, Dr. Mark Mak, was recently interviewed by Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, where he shared his journey from a mecha-loving secondary school student to a nationally recognized scientific talent, as well as his deep insights on Hong Kong’s innovation and technology (I&T) development.
Dr. Mak personally witnessed the 1997 Handover at the age of 13. At the time, his understanding of “One Country, Two Systems” was still limited. However, over the past 28 years, he has seen Hong Kong’s institutional framework and I&T environment gradually improve with the strong support of the motherland. He has also actively participated in this transformation, forging a path of technological entrepreneurship as a youth of Hong Kong.
After graduating from the Department of Electronic Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2005, Dr. Mak pursued further studies in the United States due to the lack of a strong innovation ecosystem locally. In 2016, he returned to China to start his business, just as the national “mass entrepreneurship and innovation” campaign was gaining momentum. He first set up an R&D center at Cyberport in Hong Kong, and later established an industry-academia-research base in Jiangmen. Today, Roborn Technology has successfully commercialized multiple embodied intelligent robot applications across sectors such as healthcare, urban management, and post-disaster rescue. In 2024, the company’s revenue in mainland China exceeded RMB 200 million.
He openly recalled the early days of entrepreneurship when “seeking investment met with indifference,” whereas now, “governments from various regions come with policies and funding in hand.” He emphasized that the industry-academia-research ecosystem in the Greater Bay Area and national policy support were crucial to his success.
This year, Dr. Mak was also selected as an expert under the national talent recruitment program. His project on embodied intelligent rescue robots was included as a major initiative in Guangdong Province. He is also committed to transforming mainland intelligent equipment into products that meet European and American standards through Hong Kong, helping to bring them to the global market and fulfill Hong Kong’s role as a “super connector.”
Dr. Mak noted that Hong Kong’s support for I&T used to be largely symbolic, but now, policy, funding, and land resources are being mobilized in full force to drive the growth of the innovation industry. He believes that with the completion of major infrastructure projects like the AI supercomputing center, Hong Kong will claim its place on the global technology map.
“Hong Kong has a promising future!” Dr. Mak concluded with confidence.
Original link: 機甲迷、AI達人、「追光者」……祖國賦能港人科創夢成真 – 香港 – 香港文匯網