Chinese college students plunge into the maker culture together with their US counterparts at the annual Young Maker Competition, gaining experience in communication, coordination, and putting ideas into real products. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Some of the participants have actually kick-started their businesses after winning in the competition. They include Qiu Binghui, CEO of robots company Xiamen Jorn-Co Information Technology.

Qiu, 26, shared his experience from being a maker to an entrepreneur at the event's Innovation Forum.

His journey started when he won the third prize in the competition two years ago.

Qiu used to be a fan of robots, but buying one was too expensive for him. Two years ago, he came up with the idea to use smartphones as the "brain" in building a robot. He brought that idea to the competition.

His team had decided that once they won a prize, they'd put the product on the market. "Luckily, we won the third prize. So I became an entrepreneur from a maker right after the competition," says Qiu.

The competition provides a good platform and valuable opportunities for young people to start a business, he says.

But it's not easy at the beginning. "My team spent three months developing our product, but when it was completed, nobody wanted it," he recalls.

"We knew later that we had to start by researching a new product before designing one."

His company has finally found its focus－making DIY robots for children.