Major wins at Geneva inventions exhibition
By : Kenix Wong
The ingenuity of our faculty has been acclaimed at the Inventions Geneva Evaluation Days (IGED) 2021, a virtual edition of the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva.
We won 12 awards: a Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury, and five gold, three silver and three bronze medals, the highest number of awards among all universities in Hong Kong.
IGED is one of the biggest global showcases for innovations and inventions, and was held online in March as a special edition of the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva in response to the pandemic.
The CityU winners were honoured on 17 May at a special reception officiated by HKSAR Chief Executive Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, who said at the event that the National 14th Five-Year Plan clearly stated support for Hong Kong to develop into an international I&T hub. There would be much more room for further development in the future.
Congratulations from the Jury
Research led by Dr Edwin Tso won the Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury. One of the showcase’s major awards was the Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury, which was won by the project “An Energy-Free, Low-Cost and High Cooling Performance Passive Radiative Cooling Technology for Building Applications” led by Dr Edwin Tso Chi-yan, Assistant Professor in the School of Energy and Environment.
Dr Tso’s invention is a passive radiative cooling paint that reduces indoor temperatures and saves on air-conditioning energy in response to hotter weather. The paint works by reflecting sunlight and emitting thermal radiation via the polymer composite material applied to the walls and roofs of buildings, reducing inside room temperatures by about 2ºC and saving about 10% of electricity consumption for air-con units.
The advantages of this cooling system include a simple structure, easy manufacturing, and lower costs. In addition to directly coating this paint on a building’s roof or exterior walls, the technology can be used for cooling down cars, textiles and road surfaces.
Dr Tso has worked with the government to test the project in Tung Chung, Hong Kong, and negotiated with local developers for collaborative applications.
Going for gold
Two projects embracing environmental preservation received Gold Medals at IGED: “Super Bamboo – Sustainable Structural Bamboo Materials with High Strength and Multi-function” led by Dr Lu Yang, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, as well as “Damage-healable Antimicrobial Coating Made from Natural Materials” led by Dr Yao Xi, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences (BMS).
The “super bamboo” includes both mechanical and chemical treatments for densifying natural bamboo without destroying the key internal microstructure that is critical for superior mechanical performance. This approach maintains the crucial structures of natural bamboo without releasing formaldehyde, and hence is more environmentally friendly.
The mechanical properties are also much better than existing materials or products on the market, including wood, bamboo scrimber, plastic composites, and even metals in terms of stiffness, strength, and dimensional stability.
Novel damage-healable anti-microbial coatings made from natural ingredients have been developed using technologies patented by CityU and Medi Biotech Limited, a start-up company funded by CityU. These coatings can prevent surface fouling over the long term and mitigate the threat of respiratory infectious diseases.
Compared to commercially available anti-fouling or anti-microbial products, the CityU coatings possess a unique damage-healing ability and can withstand common mechanical scratches while performing functions over several months in indoor conditions. Furthermore, the damage-healing abilities make the coatings recyclable and reprocessable, which can significantly improve environmental sustainability.
Dr Brian Kot Chin-wing, Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, won a Gold Medal for his project “Aquatic Animal Postmortem Multimedia Analysis Platform”.
The Aquatic Animal Virtopsy Lab deploys virtopsy techniques such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and 3D surface scanning since 2014 to investigate cetaceans stranded locally and has further extended the technique to the research of stranded sea turtles since 2019. Virtopsy fosters a better understanding of the health conditions and life history of the stranded aquatic animals, as well as injuries and deaths caused by human activity.
All postmortem multimedia are integrated onto the world’s first aquatic animal postmortem multimedia analysis platform for the development of long-term strategies on the conservation of aquatic animals and eventually for policy formulation for all oceans, working towards a “One Ocean-One Health” ideal to which Dr Kot is dedicated.
In recent years, BMS has published a number of studies related to medical treatment for cancer, for example the Gold winning research project titled “Development of New Generation Anti-metastasis Drugs Based on Endosomal Trafficking” led by Dr Yue Jianbo, Associate Professor in BMS.
Dr Yue has screened several libraries of natural or synthetic compounds using a high-content fluorescence imaging platform and identified 6J1/6J2 as potent endosomal trafficking inhibitors. In experimental models using mice, this approach can effectively inhibit tumour progression and metastasis with little in vitro or in vivo toxicity recorded. 6J Biotechnology, a biotechnology company founded by Dr Yue and supported by CityU, is currently developing 6J1/6J2 into next-generation anticancer drugs.
Gold also went to “Youth Sports Education and Management SaaS Platform Based on AI & IoT” developed by AI Motion Sports (AIMS), a start-up set up with the support of CityU and the founder, Dr Wang Yufan, a PhD graduate from the Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering.
Sensors on the IoT device developed by AIMS monitor functions such as multiple motions, heart rate, calories and so on. Its smart regional-level and campus-level management platforms greatly improve training, teaching and management efficiency in physical education classes and workouts at home.
Silver Medal projects
Bronze Medal projects
