KE Spotlight - Community Engagement - HKU Knowledge Exchange

HKU Engineering Professor Ron Hui named Fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors

Professor Ron Hui of the HKU Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering has been named a Fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Election to NAI Fellow status is the highest professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society. Professor Hui said he is thankful that many of his inventions have been adopted for applications in wireless charging of portable electronics and sustainable lighting. He has over 55 patents adopted by industry.

HKU uses App to help elderly with swallowing difficulties

HKU Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences joined hands with charitable organisation Sik Sik Yuen to help elderly people improve their swallowing ability via speech therapy from a mobile App “Keep on Talking & Eating [KOTE]” designed by HKU. 93 elderly people from Sik Sik Yuen completed the training programme from October to December to train their muscles used for swallowing, with 72% recorded an improvement in their tongue and throat muscles, which increased their swallowing safety. Dr Karen Chan, Assistant Professor and Director of Swallowing Research Laboratory of HKU, hoped more care facilities for the elderly can put swallowing training as part of the routine and hire speech therapists so that elderly people can receive proper training.

HKU Assistant Professor makes the list of top 10 young Innovators under 35

HKU Computer Science Assistant Professor Dr Ruibang Luo is named as one of the top 10 young Innovators under the age of 35 by MIT Technology Review. Dr Luo and his team used Next-Generation Sequencing and Single Molecule Sequencing technologies and developed algorithms for two fundamental genome sequence analysis problems, 'genome assembly' and 'genome alignment', shortening the time required for cancer and rare disease diagnosis and pinpointing the problems more accurately for targeted treatment.

HKU dental professionals invent “super” toothbrush to clean all dental surfaces

HKU Faculty of Dentistry Honorary Associate Professor and local dentist Dr TC Ng, together with HKU Faculty of Dentistry Professor Jin Lijian, have designed an “NJ Toothbrush” which is the only toothbrush in the world targeting all dental surfaces including those niches often unreachable. The team said in a short two minutes’ brushing using the NJ Toothbrush, users would be able to approach major anatomical features and niches. It can therefore maximise the control of plaque biofilms and resultant oral/periodontal inflammation along with regular professional oral healthcare. A PCT patent application has been filed for the innovation. HKU expects the NJ Toothbrush to be available on the market in two years’ time, and the price would be about the same as electronic toothbrush.

HKU Department of Architecture helps SoCO to build social houses for street sleepers

HKU Faulty of Architecture works with Society for Community Organization(SoCO) to renovate four old units in Tai Kok Tsui into “social houses” for single street sleepers. A total of 24 units were built using steel plate components. It could accommodate ex-street sleepers for up to three years.

HKU teams win top prizes at the 18th APICTA Awards

HKU teams won two top prizes at the 18th Asia Pacific Information and Communication Technology Alliance (APICTA) Awards held in Guangzhou from October 10-13. Fano Labs, an HKU A.I. spin-off company specialising in speech and natural language processing (NLP) technologies won the top award in the “Business Services - ICT Solutions” category. Tale, a three-student team project on an AI-enabled solution for the coaching of presentation skills won the top award in the “Student - Tertiary Students Project” category respectively. The Awards are dubbed as the Oscars of the ICT arena in the Asia Pacific region. HKU Pro-Vice Chancellor and Vice President (Research) Professor Andy Hor said the awards strengthened the University’s confidence in its drive towards innovation and start-ups, which are also aligned with the current focus of Hong Kong, as mentioned by the Chief Executive in her latest Policy Address.

HKU set up online counselling platform “Open Up” for Hong Kong young people

Funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, HKU Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention (CSRP), together with three leading youth non-profit organisations, Caritas-Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, and The Boys’ & Girls’ Clubs Association of Hong Kong, have set up the Jockey Club Online Youth Emotional Support “Open Up”, an online counselling platform for young people aged between 11 and 35, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Those in need can message counsellors at “hkopenup” on social media platforms including Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WeChat. The project team led by Professor Paul Yip, Director of CSRP, polled 1,527 and 1,732 young people using mobile phone and online surveys respectively. Findings reveal that young people prefer text messaging to phone calls or face-to-face conversations. Online respondents tended to have more emotional problems than phone call respondents, among them 46% had considered suicide and 8% had attempted suicide.