KE Spotlight - Community Engagement - HKU Knowledge Exchange

Three HKU academics receive Croucher Innovation and Senior Research Fellowship Awards

Three HKU academics have been presented with Innovation and Senior Research Fellowship Awards by the Croucher Foundation. Dr Yufeng Wang, Assistant Professor of the Department of Chemistry who received the Croucher Innovation Award 2019, studies how to put together colloidal nanoparticles to form 1D to 3D superstructures for emerging applications such as photonics, drug delivery and micro-machinery. Professor Anderson Shum, Professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Professor Wang Yao, Chair Professor of Department of Physics, received the Croucher Senior Research Fellowships 2020.

Three HKU scientists make the list of Innovators Under 35 Asia Pacific by MIT Technology Review

Three HKU scientists are among the four Hong Kong young scientists who made the MIT Technology Review annual list of Innovators Under 35 for the Asia Pacific Region and they are: Dr Hao Guo, Postdoctoral Fellow of the Department of Civil Engineering, who created an electricity- and chemical- free filter for rapid water purification; Dr Ziyan Guo, PhD Researcher of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, who co-developed world’s first intraoperative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)-guided robot for bilateral stereotactic neurosurgery; and Dr Ping Luo, Assistant Professor of the Department of Computer Science, who developed computer vision and AI technologies to understand human behaviours such as facial expressions, emotions and social relationships. The peer-reviewed annual award was established by MIT Technology Review in 1999 to recognise outstanding young innovators under the age of 35. In 2010, regional versions of the award were introduced to cover areas including Latin America, Europe, China, India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia/Oceania.

HKU Engineering-led student team wins 1st runner-up at Global Grand Challenges Summit 2019 in London

A HKU Engineering-led student coached by Dr Hayden Kwok-Hay So of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering through the support of the Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing and the Gallant Ho Experiential Learning Fund was awarded 1st runner-up at the Student Competition of 2019 Global Grand Challenges Summit (GGCS) in London on September 13. The award-winning project, “ClearBot”, an AI-powered, autonomous plastic-collecting robotic solution that took aim at the global ocean plastic epidemic, represents a truly multi-disciplinary solution that puts heavy emphasis on the relationship between technology and the people who are most affected by this plastic epidemic. From the initial experiential learning trip to Bali, to the open-source software/hardware development model, the development of “ClearBot” remains hinged on the belief that real-world impact can only be achieved by engaging the target communities at every step.

HKU publishes EOC-funded study on unconscious bias

A study, “Doing Equality Consciously: Understanding Unconscious Bias and its Role and Implications in the Achievement of Equality in Hong Kong and Asia”, funded by the Equal Opportunities Commission was published on 24 September 2019. The project was housed at The University of Hong Kong’s Women’s Studies Research Centre (WSRC) and the Faculty of Law’s Centre for Comparative and Public Law (CCPL), and aimed to look into the types and extent of unconscious bias and the potential for intervention in different settings. The report offers several recommendations, including incorporating implicit bias awareness into early childhood education, and institutionalising training in governmental, educational, corporate, health, civil society, legal, and social welfare organisations.

HKU linguist’s project on preserving an endangered language

Dr Cathryn Donohue, Assistant Professor of the Faculty of Arts, has been working to preserve an endangered Tibeto-Burman language, Nubri, which has been described as ‘vulnerable’ or ‘definitely endangered’ by UNESCO. She has been working on the documentation of Nubri with the local community for the past few years and hopes to contribute to the preservation of this language. She also investigated possible maintenance efforts and in order to introduce a writing system to allow Nubri to be written and used in more domains, she facilitated a gathering of the Nubri people by organising eye clinics and have resulted in nearly 500 villagers in the remote Nubri Valley in Nepal receiving eye treatment and more than 50 villagers regaining sight through cataract surgery. By restoring vision for many in this community, the project created an opportunity for the community gathering to discuss orthographic options, and to record some of Nubri’s traditional medicinal practices. It also has a longer-term impact by contributing to the documentation of Nubri language and culture, and hopefully to the preservation of the language through the introduction of a community-endorsed writing system.

HKUMed reveals WhatsApp chat support enhances smokers’ quitting rate

The Smoking Cessation Research Team at the School of Nursing and School of Public Health of the HKU Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine(HKUMed) conducted a cluster-randomised controlled trial at the 8th “Quit to Win” Smoke-free Community Campaign organised by the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, which found that “WhatsApp chat support”, combined with brief smoking cessation interventions, could increase the chance of quitting by 60% to 90%. The study recruited 1,185 daily cigarette smokers, where 591 participants were randomised to the intervention group and 594 to the control group. Those who joined the intervention group have a quitting rate 90% higher than the control group at a three-month follow-up, and the chance of verified quitting was still 60% higher in the intervention group at six-month follow-up, which was three months after the end of “WhatsApp chat support”.

Faculty Knowledge Exchange Awards 2019

The annual Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Awards recognise each Faculty’s outstanding KE accomplishment that has made demonstrable economic, social or cultural impacts to benefit the community, business/industry, or partner organisations. Results of the 2019 Faculty KE Awards are now available.