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 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 students win Apple APP innovation competition

HKU students from the Department of Computer Science got excellent results in “2018 Mobile Application Innovation Contest”. Three of the students won first prize in a competition organised by Apple and Mainland’s Zhejiang University, which is open to students in tertiary education. The students spent two months to design “Air Guitar”, a motion-sensing guitar simulator app for beginners which uses a smartphone instead of a guitar pick for users to practice plucking skills. Another group of HKU students also won an award with their “Luminosite” APP. The design combines navigation and AI obstacle awareness system to provide environmental information to people who are visually-impaired through voice and telephone vibration. The competition received about 600 APP designs and projects submitted by applicants from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and other places.

Faculty Knowledge Exchange Awards 2018

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 2018 Faculty KE Awards are now available.

HKU Faculty of Engineering, Hong Kong Observatory, and Hong Kong Meteorological Society hold Ultraviolet Radiation Measurement and Application Design Competition

The Ultraviolet Radiation Measurement and Application Design Competition was jointly organised by the HKU Faculty of Engineering, Hong Kong Observatory, and Hong Kong Meteorological Society, under the project titled “The invisible ultra-violet (UV) radiation” and supported by the HKU Knowledge Exchange Fund granted bythe University Grants Committee. This competition aims to strengthen students' ability to integrate and apply knowledge and skills in engineering and meteorology, to increase public awareness and understanding of UV radiation and its effects on health, and to promote correct attitudes towards UV protection. Over 400 participants ranging from primary 4 to secondary 6 joined the competition. The participants all gathered at the project exhibition and judging cum award presentation ceremony held on April 29, 2018 at HKU. The event attracted over 500 public visitors who were invited to vote for their favourite UV radiation measurement devices and applications. PLK Women's Welfare Club Western District Fung Lee Pui Yiu Primary School and Aberdeen Technical School were selected as the champions in the primary school and secondary school categories respectively.

HKU wins two TechConnect Global Innovation Awards at TechConnect World Innovation Conference & Expo 2018

HKU has won two TechConnect Global Innovation Awards at the TechConnect World Innovation Conference & Expo (TCWI) 2018 to be held in the US in May. The two award-winning innovations, both by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, are "Omniphobic porous membrane and methods for preparing the same" by Professor Wang Liqiu and Mr Zhu Ping An, and "Super Steel - A method for the fabrication of a super-strong and ductile multi-phase steel" by Dr Huang Mingxin and Dr He Binbin. The Innovation Awards identify the top 15% of submitted technologies based on the potential positive impact the technology on a specific industry sector. Over 240 submissions from about 95 organisations were received this year.

HKU to establish Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing with $100 million donation

In the 1950s, the Department of Architecture was housed in the Engineering Faculty. Mr Tam Wing Fan Edmund, amongst the first cohort of HKU Architecture students admitted to the Faculty of Engineering, has made a gift of HK$100 million to his alma mater to establish an Innovation Wing in support of the experiential learning activities of Engineering students. In recognition of Mr and Mrs Tam’s generous gift, the University has named the infrastructure the “Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing”. The Inno Wing will serve as an iconic landmark of the Faculty of Engineering. Home of future cutting-edge research projects, the Inno Wing will provide an open environment to foster multidisciplinary innovation among students and teachers, enabling generations of students to gain comprehensive knowledge and a deep understanding of the latest discoveries and challenges in a wide range of emerging technologies. It will serve as a platform to engage the young generation in exploring the world, raising their creative and multidisciplinary abilities, and ensuring they acquire the practical hands-on experience they need to serve the community.