KE Spotlight - Community Engagement - HKU Knowledge Exchange

HKU Faculty of Engineering organizes "Earthquake Detector Design Competition" together with Hong Kong Observatory and Hong Kong Meteorological Society for over 300 primary and secondary school students

Most people in Hong Kong consider Hong Kong to be earthquake-free, so the community has low awareness of earthquakes and community resilience is lacking. Supported by the HKU Knowledge Exchange Fund, HKU Faculty of Engineering, Hong Kong Observatory and Hong Kong Meteorological Society jointly organized the "Earthquake Detector Design Competition" to raise people’s awareness of earthquakes so that they can be more prepared for earthquakes and other emergencies. Over 300 students from primary 2 to secondary 5 joined the competition. They were required to design and implement an earthquake detector. A series of talks were conducted to enhance the participants’ understanding of earthquake and its measurement, as well as the hardware and software techniques to build an earthquake detector. An exhibition will be held in April 2017 to showcase the designs of the students.

Knowledge Exchange Awards 2016

The annual Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Awards recognize each Faculty's outstanding KE accomplishment that has made demonstrable economic, social or cultural impacts to benefit the community, business/industry, or partner organizations. The KE Award (Non-Faculty Unit) was introduced with the same objective for the independent centres, institutes and units of the University. Results of the 2016 KE Awards are now available.

Police Force and HKU Department of Computer Science organise Cyber Security Competition 2016

A total of 99 winners of the Cyber Security Competition 2016 were awarded for their participation in conveying the message of cyber security in the Cyber Security Competition 2016 organised by the Police Public Relations Branch and Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force and the HKU Department of Computer Science. The competition drew almost 5,600 participants from primary schools, secondary schools and universities. They participated in activities including online quiz, security defect analysis in a virtual computer system and presentation on topics related to cyber security.

CUHK and HKU researchers introduce 3D printing technology in complex cardiac surgery procedures

Researchers from the CUHK Division of Cardiology of the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics and the HKU Department of Mechanical Engineering collaborated to use echocardiographic data to create soft silicone-based models of complex cardiac structures using 3D printing. The project is the first in Hong Kong to introduce three-dimensional (3D) printing technology to complex cardiac procedures for enhancing procedural efficacy and safety. The models allow cardiologists to personalise planning for cardiovascular intervention for each patient. The practice was applied to a complex case of Left Atrial Appendage (LAA) occlusion in 2015 and the patient is now in good condition.

HKU Faculty of Engineering holds "Invention for Schools Contest" award presentation ceremony

Over a hundred students from primary two to secondary five joined the "Invention for Schools Contest" organised by the HKU Faculty of Engineering. The participating teams were required to use credit card-sized computers to make inventions that could be turned into useful applications in their schools. Pok Oi Hospital 80th Anniversary Tang Ying Hei College's "queue jumper revealer" was the champion of the secondary school category, and Yaumati Catholic Primary School (Hoi Wang Road)'s "e-Helper" won the champion and the Most Practical Invention for School Award in the primary school category.

HKU Engineering award-winning solar car ready for public exhibitions

HKU solar car team - Helios, won the Overall Champion Award and Innovative Design award of the "New Energy New Generation" Solar Car Competition held by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) earlier. The first public exhibition to show the abilities of the solar car will be held during the annual JUPAS Info Week on May 10, 2016. It will then be showcased in primary and secondary schools starting from July. Helios won the competition with its extensive application of principles of engineering mechanics in its design and the high precision in the machining of the parts and components. It was also able to strike a good balance between energy capture from the solar irradiation and energy consumption during running.

HKU Computer Scientist Dr Cui Heming receives Croucher Innovation Award 2016

Dr Cui Heming, Assistant Professor of the HKU Department of Computer Science, received the Croucher Innovation Award 2016. Dr Cui's recent research has led to several U.S. patents, open source projects, and publication in premier systems software and programming languages conferences. His previous systems have led to several new security errors detected in real-world software. His awarded project focuses on building practical software systems to greatly improve the reliability of today’s general online services. Although this project has started for only one year, a preliminary system built by Dr Cui and his collaborators has been published in the Symposium on Operating Systems Principles (SOSP) 2015, the world’s best software system conference in year 2015. All the source code and evaluation results of this system are publicly available for industrial deployment.