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Media Interview: PolyU develops technology for cleaning buildings’ external walls with drones

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is committed to pioneering top-notch technologies for smart city development. Dr WEN Weisong, Assistant Professor of the Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering of PolyU, was interviewed by Ming Pao Daily News to share how to develop a low altitude economy in Hong Kong. Dr Wen and his team have developed a technology that employs drones for cleaning buildings’ external walls. By utilising laser radar and GPS positioning devices, the drone can scan a three-dimensional model of the building's exterior and automatically plan the best cleaning route. He anticipates the potential revenue from this industry could reach HK$300 million a year. Full interview with Ming Pao For more: PolyU Collaborates with Meituan to Develop Vision-aided Positioning System for Parcel Delivery by Drones in Urban Canyons

Young Innovative Researcher Award propels PolyU young scholars towards advancements in technology

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has honored six young researchers with the Young Innovative Researcher Award (YIRA) 2024. Their research endeavors cover a wide range of areas and bring benefits to materials science, green energy, environmental development, and healthcare through the utilisation of cutting-edge technologies. The research projects of the six awardees encompass various areas, including new materials, green energy, advanced manufacturing, intelligent construction, textile technology, and medical technology. These projects explore the frontiers of knowledge, consider practical applications, and assess their impact on various industries. These projects include the design of a new generation of nano-porous materials to enhance the storage and release of hydrogen, the development of novel computing devices to reduce computational energy consumption in Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT), and the design of a recycling certification to establish a sustainable circular economy. Additionally, the awardees are working on the development of biocompatible smart wearable materials for daily health monitoring, the advancement of high-performance swept lasers for applications in industrial inspection and medical diagnostics, and the exploration of four-dimensional (4D) real-time tumor tracking technology to improve cancer treatment. Prof Christopher Chao, Vice President (Research and Innovation) of PolyU and the Chairman of the YIRA 2024 assessment panel, said, "Congratulations to the six awardees. Their research projects span across disciplines and fields, dedicated to providing solutions to the challenges our world faces today, while showcasing promising prospects. PolyU takes pride in nurturing numerous outstanding scientific talents who are ambitious, dedicated to research, and pursue innovation. Previous awardees have gained international recognition for their excellent research capabilities." The University is committed to supporting researchers in developing impactful interdisciplinary research and leveraging their expertise to contribute to emerging and future industries. This initiative aligns with the national vision of fostering "New quality productive forces" while simultaneously bolstering the talent pool. For the third consecutive year, the YIRA aims to recognise young researchers under the age of 35 with outstanding research capabilities. Each awardee will receive HKD 500,000 in research funding and a personal cash reward of HKD 20,000.

PolyU research finds improving AI large language models helps better align with human brain activity

With generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) transforming the social interaction landscape in recent years, large language models (LLMs), which use deep-learning algorithms to train GenAI platforms to process language, have been put in the spotlight. A recent study by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) found that LLMs perform more like the human brain when being trained in more similar ways as humans process language, which has brought important insights to brain studies and the development of AI models. Current large language models (LLMs) mostly rely on a single type of pretraining - contextual word prediction. This simple learning strategy has achieved surprising success when combined with massive training data and model parameters, as shown by popular LLMs such as ChatGPT. Recent studies also suggest that word prediction in LLMs can serve as a plausible model for how humans process language. However, humans do not simply predict the next word but also integrate high-level information in natural language comprehension. A research team led by Prof. LI Ping, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Sin Wai Kin Foundation Professor in Humanities and Technology at PolyU, has investigated the next sentence prediction (NSP) task, which simulates one central process of discourse-level comprehension in the human brain to evaluate if a pair of sentences is coherent, into model pretraining and examined the correlation between the model’s data and brain activation. The study has been recently published in the academic journal Sciences Advances. The research team trained two models, one with NSP enhancement and the other without, both also learned word prediction. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected from people reading connected sentences or disconnected sentences. The research team examined how closely the patterns from each model matched up with the brain patterns from the fMRI brain data. It was clear that training with NSP provided benefits. The model with NSP matched human brain activity in multiple areas much better than the model trained only on word prediction. Its mechanism also nicely maps onto established neural models of human discourse comprehension. The results gave new insights into how our brains process full discourse such as conversations. For example, parts of the right side of the brain, not just the left, helped understand longer discourse. The model trained with NSP could also better predict how fast someone read - showing that simulating discourse comprehension through NSP helped AI understand humans better. Recent LLMs, including ChatGPT, have relied on vastly increasing the training data and model size to achieve better performance. Prof. Li Ping said, “There are limitations in just relying on such scaling. Advances should also be aimed at making the models more efficient, relying on less rather than more data. Our findings suggest that diverse learning tasks such as NSP can improve LLMs to be more human-like and potentially closer to human intelligence.” He added, “More importantly, the findings show how neurocognitive researchers can leverage LLMs to study higher-level language mechanisms of our brain. They also promote interaction and collaboration between researchers in the fields of AI and neurocognition, which will lead to future studies on AI-informed brain studies as well as brain-inspired AI.”

PolyU and Shenzhen Urban Safety Institute launch joint research laboratory to promote innovative urban safety science and technology development

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), the National Science and Technology Institute of Urban Safety Development (NSTI), and the Shenzhen Technology Institute of Urban Public Safety (SZSTI) have collaboratively established the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Urban Safety Technology Research Center , which aims to carry out innovative research in the field of public safety, contributing to national and industrial development needs, and enhancing international competitiveness. The joint laboratory serves as an innovative platform to conduct research focusing on areas such as urban safety, industrial safety, disaster prevention, and emergency management. It will leverage the resources of the three parties and foster deep collaboration, with objectives on technological development, advancement of  frontier innovations, and cultivating talents. The inauguration ceremony was held on the PolyU campus on 24 May. The launch was unveiled  by Prof. DONG Cheng, Associate Vice President (Mainland Research Advancement) of PolyU; Prof. NI Yiqing, Chair Professor of Smart Structures and Rail Transit of PolyU; Prof. DING Xioali, Chair Professor of Geomatics of PolyU; Dr DONG You, Associate Professor of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of PolyU; and Dr DONG Fang, Executive Director of NSTI and Director of SZSTI; Dr SHI Zhongqi, Executive Manager of R&D Centre (Acadamician Office) of SZSTI. PolyU is committed to developing innovative and cutting-edge technologies in pursuit of  its mission to advance sustainable development. This is achieved through a focus on research excellence in various areas, including architecture, energy, environment, smart city, urban informatics and urban disaster mitigation. By applying its research expertise in practical applications, PolyU has established close ties with the government, industry, and organisations, working together to promote the construction and development of the Greater Bay Area. The Shenzhen Technology Institute of Urban Public Safety (SZSTI), a Shenzhen-based state-owned enterprise established by the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government, focuses on creating a security and emergency industry ecosystem through the integration of safety innovations and technologies. Together with the National Institute of Urban Security Development Technology, they integrate frontier research and talent to promote government-industry-academia collaboration. The National Science and Technology Institute of Urban Safety Development (NSTI) (Shenzhen) is co-founded by Emergency Management Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality,  the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Shenzhen Municipal People's Government (Shenzhen SASAC), and SZSTI. Its launch aims to create a national-level urban safety R&D institute rooted in Shenzhen, serving the Greater Bay Area and nationwide.  

PolyU wins ZPRIZE 2023 for blockchain innovation again demonstrating groundbreaking research in zero-knowledge proofs

The research team led by Prof. Allen AU Man Ho, Professor of the Department of Computing at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and Dr Lu Xingye, Research Assistant Professor, have won an award in the international ZPRIZE competition for the second consecutive year for their pioneering work in zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs). Their groundbreaking work in this field has profound implications for enhancing privacy and scalability in blockchain and Web3 applications. Prof. Christopher CHAO, PolyU Vice President (Research and Innovation), said, “We take great pride that PolyU academics continue to gain worldwide acclaim for driving innovation in cutting-edge technologies like blockchain and zero-knowledge cryptography. This award underscores the exceptional capabilities of our research team and their pioneering work in accelerating the development and real-world adoption of zero-knowledge encryption.” The annual ZPRIZE competition, spearheaded by the blockchain industry in 2022, promotes the advancement of ZKPs by open-sourcing winning submissions for the reference of the general public. ZKPs allows a “prover” to convince a person of the validity of a computation without leaking any information; it is hence referred to as zero-knowledge cryptography. This year, the PolyU team have triumphed in the “High Throughput Signature Verification” open division category, winning a cash prize of US$250,000. They were tasked with verifying the greatest number of Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) signatures in a given time using ZKPs. ECDSA signatures are used to prove the authenticity and integrity of digital messages over the internet, as well as of blockchain transactions on networks such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Making it more efficient to cryptographically verify those signatures inside a ZKP is important for creating a better user experience and enables numerous real-world applications. The PolyU team’s innovative approach can generate ZKPs for the digital signatures of 50 1KB messages on a regular laptop computer within ten minutes, laying a solid foundation for future applications of ZKPs in ECDSA verification. It also reduces the complexity of generating proofs for a 5MB message’s digital signature to a maximum of 6.2 million constraints compared to over 50 million constraints previously - a minimum eight-fold reduction. As a pioneer in blockchain education and research in Hong Kong, PolyU has introduced Hong Kong’s first Master of Science in Blockchain Technology programme. It has also initiated doctoral programmes relating to financial technology, as well as bachelor’s degree programmes relating to FinTech and Artificial Intelligence (AI). On the research front, the University has established the Research Centre for Blockchain Technology, the first research centre in Hong Kong whose research studies full-stack blockchain technology. According to the “Best Universities for Blockchain 2022” rankings by CoinDesk, PolyU has been ranked the No. 1 university for blockchain in the world.

PolyU researchers develop novel fungus-based fat replacer AkkMore™ to prevent obesity and enhance gut health; collaborates with Hotel ICON to launch reduced-fat desserts to promote environmental innovation in food industry

In recent years, scientists have been actively exploring the potential of future foods, including using boundless microorganisms as substitutes for limited animal and plant resources. Among these microorganisms, the replacer of animal-derived fats is a research topic currently of very great interest. A research team from the Research Institute for Future Food (RiFood) and the Department of Food Science and Nutrition (FSN) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has successfully developed AkkMore™, a novel fungus-based fat replacer which is effective in preventing obesity and metabolic diseases, enhancing gut health, modulating immune response and relieving anxiety. This replacer not only helps lower the calorific content of food, but also extends the shelf life of cream products. In the long term, it can reduce dairy consumption and food waste, providing innovative ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) solutions in the food industry. A PolyU research team led by Dr Gail CHANG, Core Member of RiFood and Research Assistant Professor of FSN together with Dr Amber CHIOU, Associate Director and Associate Professor of RiFood, and Associate Head of FSN has extracted the functional component of AkkMore™ from natural fungus to develop the replacer and has conducted three phases of animal experiments. The study has found that mice which had been administered the AkkMore™ formula had a healthier gut microbiota with higher density of Akkermansia, lower Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, lighter adipose tissue and suppressed neuroinflammation when compared to the control group. This indicates the effectiveness of the formula in managing weight, enhancing gut health, modulating immune and metabolic diseases and relieving anxiety. This research won a Silver Medal at the 2022 International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva and its application for health benefits has entered patent substantive examination stage. Making use of the thickening, emulsifying and stabilising properties of AkkMore™, the team has developed Cream Mate, an AkkMore™-based cream substitute. Cream Mate can be used in conjunction with traditional cream to reduce the amount of cream used in dessert. Not only does it decrease the fat and calorific content of food while maintaining the quality of taste and texture, but it also significantly extends the shelf life of cream-based products. In the long run, this could lead to reduced consumption of dairy products and food waste, reducing carbon emissions and profitability of production. Dr Chang stated, “This collaboration is testament to the successful translation of a research outcome. Moving forward, we will further explore the application of AkkMore™ formula in innovative health foods and put greater efforts into identification of mushroom strains with better functions and standardisation of the cultivation process.” PolyU is committed to the translation of research outcomes. Dr Chang was admitted to the PolyU GBA Startup Postdoc Programme in 2019 and has been granted support from the PolyU Micro Fund. As well as beig selected for the Incu-Tech Programme of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, Dr Chang has received a number of awards in entrepreneurial competitions. In 2020, she partnered with Dr Amber Chiou and Dr Jimmy JIN, Assistant Dean and Associate Professor of the Faculty of Business to establish Bo InnoHealth Biotechnology Company Limited, a start-up focusing on research into the growth mechanism of fungus and has received generous support from the PolyU Tech Launchpad Fund and multiple angel funds. Following the launch of supplement containing the AkkMore™ formula, the research team has collaborated with GREEN of Hotel ICON, the PolyU teaching and research hotel, whereby the hotel restaurant infuses Cream Mate in reduced-fat soft serve and desserts, and launch its new limited time “ForestFit Afternoon Tea With Japanese Fruit And Akkmore™”. Hotel ICON has commissioned a laboratory to test the nutritional components of soft serve in two formulae. The test showed that the total fat content of soft serve with AkkMore™ Cream Mate was less than 3% and was reduced by more than 80% when comparing with regular soft serve, and the total energy was also reduced by more than half. For more details, please visit the Hotel ICON website: https://www.hotel-icon.com/offers/akkmore-japanesefruits-afternoon-tea

PolyU research reveals major healthcare and communication challenges for migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong

Migrant domestic workers support many Hong Kong working families in childcare and household duties but their own personal needs seldom receive significant attention. The Department of English and Communication at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has conducted research into the health and other structural issues faced by migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings reveal that health literacy and access to information and facilities are crucial to their well-being. The researchers have interviewed more than 700 Filipino and Indonesian migrant domestic workers and surveyed more than 400 to investigate their life stories and well-being in Hong Kong, covering topics from narratives about their (traumatic) experiences, health literacy and healthcare needs to their communication networks. In view of the increasing number of workers driven by growing demand for domestic elderly care in Hong Kong, these studies aimed to highlight the significance of cultivating favourable conditions for workers. Prof. Hans LADEGAARD, Professor of the Department of English and Communication at PolyU, said, “Our research shows that Indonesian workers, in particular, face marginalisation and isolation due to language and communication problems and a lack of awareness of their rights. Many took only a three-week Cantonese course before arrival, which clearly does not guarantee their Cantonese proficiency, while most of them are also unable to speak English. Many workers even do not know it is illegal to be paid under the minimum wage or that they are entitled to have 24 hours off once a week. Therefore, it is crucial to prioritise efforts to provide language learning support and to educate these workers about their rights.” Inadequate access to health facilities and information is one major challenge facing these workers. According to Prof. Ladegaard’s research, when the COVID-19 pandemic-induced loneliness, isolation and homesickness put them at higher risk of experiencing depression and anxiety, they only had limited access to support. To address the issue, the team advised that health campaigns be conducted in a language that the workers can understand and that accessible channels such as social media are mobilised for promotion. The research also indicated utilising cartoons and storytelling to be more effective in communicating with migrant populations. Another research study, led by Dr Jeffry OKTAVIANUS, Assistant Professor of the Department of English and Communication, found that community storytelling networks, including interpersonal relationships, community organisations and media outlets, played an essential role in supporting the migrant domestic workers in coping during the pandemic. His research has been published in the journal Health Communication. The study revealed that many workers could not obtain knowledge about effective preventive measures during the pandemic, due to the absence of reliable and accurate information in their native language. Interaction with workers’ communities on social media thus became their major source of informational and emotional support. However, workers were also exposed to fake news through interpersonal networks, which led to adverse effects, such as having a negative psychological impact. Dr Oktavianus remarked, “These networks provide crucial support, but also spread misinformation, creating both opportunities and challenges for empowering marginalised communities.” The research further highlighted the potential of community organisations in debunking hoaxes by disseminating credible news, thereby eliminating uncertainty, refuting misinformation and aiding in understanding the chaotic situation. In this regard, health campaigns are encouraged to utilise community-based storytellers, such as Indonesian organisations or ethnic media, to communicate public health information. Meanwhile, improving digital literacy is also important for helping foreign workers distinguish fake news from real. While the Philippines now has one of the highest breast cancer diagnosis rates in Asia, there is also an increasing number of Filipino workers diagnosed with breast cancer in Hong Kong. Dr Margo TURNBULL, Assistant Professor of the Department of English and Communication, led a research team focusing on the health literacy needs of migrant domestic workers. Published in the journal Quality Health Research, the research study provides a critical examination of how breast cancer and migration impact the lives of these workers. This study again emphasised the importance of health campaigns in workers’ native language and of their access to health facilities, particularly on Sundays, enabling them to receive timely diagnoses and assistance. Dr Turnbull added, “Improving language and communication skills can also increase workers’ effective utilisation of medical resources, alleviate the psychological impacts of having cancer and enhance their confidence in advocating for their healthcare needs.” Currently, Dr Turnbull is working with a cancer support group to co-develop multilingual communication resources that can be used by migrant domestic workers to share information about their diagnosis and care needs with their employers, families and doctors. In light of the structural issues uncovered by the studies, a symposium, “Migrant Worker Lives Matter”, organised by the Department of English and Communication in collaboration with two local migrant worker NGOs, PathFinders and Mission for Migrant Workers, will be held at the PolyU campus on 24 May. The event aims to address the challenges faced by migrant domestic workers and explore ways for Hong Kong to become a more inclusive society.

PolyU and Guangxi University signed MoU to explore collaborative research in civil and environmental engineering

On May 21, 2024, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and Guangxi University have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore opportunities for academic exchange and collaborative research in the fields of civil and environmental engineering. The agreement aims to jointly explore approaches of cultivating doctoral students and post-doctoral researchers.  Prof. DONG Cheng, Associate Vice President (Mainland Research Advancement) of PolyU, and Prof XIAO Jianzhuang, Vice President of Guangxi University, signed the MoU on behalf of their respective universities. Guangxi University is a provincial public university located in Nanning, Guangxi Province. It is affiliated with the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and is co-funded by the regional government and the Ministry of Education. The university takes part in both the "Project 211" and the "Double First-Class Construction". It was co-established by the Ministry of Education and the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Civil Engineering and Architecture School of Guangxi University has a rich history dating back to 1928. It was recognised as a "world-class discipline" in 2017. It was also designated as a key discipline in the co-construction of a first-class discipline cluster by the Ministry of Education and the local government in 2018. The two universities will collaborate to explore frontier technology fields, establish research platforms, and drive technological innovation, setting a new benchmark for science and technology cooperation between Guangxi and Hong Kong.

PolyU-nurtured startup takes lead in implementing territory-wide large-scale liver disease screening programme ; As the first participating institution, PolyU drives translation of research into real-world applications

According to the “2024 Global Hepatitis Report” by the World Health Organization, the number of lives lost due to viral hepatitis is increasing year by year, leading to 1.3 million deaths in 2022, claiming 3,500 lives each day in average, and resulting in it constituting the second leading cause of infectious disease deaths worldwide 1. In response to this global public health issue, Eieling Technology Limited (Eieling Technology), an academic-led startup nurtured and supported by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), has announced its leadership in implementation of the five-year “LiverCare – Hong Kong 10 Million Liver Scans Program” (the Programme), to improve public awareness of liver disease prevention, and promote early detection and treatment to reduce the impact of liver disease. Prof. Christopher CHAO, Vice President (Research and Innovation) of PolyU and Prof. ZHENG Yongping, Henry G. Leong Professor in Biomedical Engineering, Chair Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Research Institute of Smart Ageing of PolyU, joined by Mr Patrick LAU, Deputy Executive Director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council; Prof. Walter SETO, Clinical Professor in Gastroenterology and Hepatology of the University of Hong Kong; Dr Grace LAU, Head of the Institute for Translational Research of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP); Mr Xiaojia JIA, Chief Executive Officer of Eieling Technology Limited; and Ms Mildred LAW of the Hong Kong Liver Foundation officiated at the Programme launch ceremony yesterday (16 May). PolyU has long been committed to translating its technologies into real-world applications. The University will support the Programme and become the first institution to conduct the Programme. Starting from July this year, PolyU will conduct liver fibrosis and fatty liver screening for full-time university staff using Liverscan®, a palm-size wireless ultrasound imaging device. Participants are also encouraged to join a two-year follow-up study. From the data collected, the research team will study the importance of a balanced diet and daily exercise, as well as regular liver disease screening for monitoring the progression of liver disease. PolyU believes that the programme can not only improve public awareness of liver disease prevention and promote early detection and treatment, but also help reduce the threat of liver disease to human health. Prof. Chao said, “As a PolyU-nurtured start-up, Eieling Technology actively commercialises the University’s patents. With the support from investors and industries through the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem of PolyU, the company is able to translate its technologies into products with a positive impact on society. The launch of the programme marks a milestone for PolyU in contributing to the global public health, reflecting the University's commitment to social responsibility and the translation of scientific research outcomes. In recent years, PolyU has strategically established technology innovation institutes in several cities in the Mainland China, aiming to combine PolyU's unique advantages in basic research and innovation with the robust industrial bases and characteristics of various regions in the Mainland. This initiative promotes research and transformation of core technologies, cultivates innovative talents with knowledge in technology and global vision, and provides a more optimised application platform and scenarios for enterprises. Through these measures, PolyU will continuously strengthen its cooperation with cities in Mainland China, promote regional economic development, and also provide a favorable environment for university researchers to apply theory to practice and commercialise research findings." Eieling Technology, co-founded by Prof. Zheng and his research team in 2018, is a technology development company specialising in advanced medical ultrasound imaging devices designed to screen for liver diseases. Prof. Zheng and his PolyU research team combined transient elastography diagnostic technology with a real-time ultrasound image guided system to develop a solution called Liverscan® for liver fibrosis assessment. Liverscan® is an innovative medical device which, since it is palm-sized, wireless, lightweight and portable, easy to control and economical, allows medical staff to perform liver checkups on patients anytime, anywhere. Prof. Zheng said, “Liver fibrosis can be caused by long-term inflammation of liver tissue, excessive alcohol intake or long-term fatty liver, and may develop into cirrhosis, liver dysfunction, or even liver cancer. We hope that through the ultrasound device Liverscan®, which can lower costs, shorten examination time, facilitate operation and improve measurement accuracy, liver disease assessment and screening will be widely available to people in the community, thereby reducing the number patients with severe liver disease in the coming years significantly.” Eieling Technology has been supported by the PolyU Tech Launchpad Fund and the Incu-Bio Programme of HKSTP, as well as by secured funding from several industrial partners and private investors. Liverscan® has obtained registration approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA510K) and is being used in many well-known hospitals and clinics in Hong Kong, Macau and other places. Eieling Technology is also carrying out clinical research and cooperation with several hospitals in Mainland China. Liverscan® is expected to enter the market in Mainland China after receiving registration approval from the National Medical Products Administration in Q3 this year, and to be launched globally in 2025. 1World Health Organization- “Global hepatitis report 2024”  

PolyU and Huizhou Daya Bay sign a cooperation agreement to establish joint technology and innovation research institute

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and the Huizhou Municipal Government, together with the Daya Bay Economic and Technological Development Zone (Daya Bay Development Zone), have entered into a cooperation agreement for the joint establishment of the PolyU-Daya Bay Technology and Innovation Research Institute with a signing ceremony held on campus on 13 May. Professor Jin-Guang TENG, President of PolyU, introduced the University’s latest developments and its strategic goals for future expansion in mainland China to the visiting Huizhou delegation. He added that PolyU is committed to promoting technology and innovation, and nurturing research talents. Its unique strengths in fundamental and applied research, innovation and entrepreneurship have enabled it to make a significant contribution to the high-quality development of the country. Leveraging PolyU and Huizhou’s advantages and coordinated development, the two parties will jointly establish the Research Institute to deepen their cooperation and further the translation of research outcomes, providing core technology for local industry. The Research Institute will serve as a driving force for the development of the technology industry in Huizhou, thus achieving mutual benefits for all parties. Mr LIU Ji, Secretary of the Huizhou Municipal Committee and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Huizhou Municipal People’s Congress, stated that PolyU possesses first-class innovative talents and strong research capabilities, while Huizhou has a solid modern industrial foundation and broad scenarios for innovation application. The joint establishment of the Research Institute will definitely promote complementary advantages. With a focus on Huizhou’s industrial development, the Research Institute will fully capitalise on PolyU’s talent and research strengths to encourage further incubation and commercialisation of research outcomes in Huizhou, so as to accelerate its contribution to the further growth of Guangdong’s development. The Research Institute will also integrate high-end science and technology innovation resources from the region and abroad to cultivate high-calibre engineers, and innovative and entrepreneurial talents with mastery of key future technologies, to develop the Research Institute into a world-class technology and innovation platform. Witnessed by Dr LAM Tai-fai, Council Chairman of PolyU; Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, President of PolyU; Prof. Wing-tak WONG, Deputy President and Provost of PolyU; Mr LIU Ji, Secretary of the Huizhou Municipal Committee and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Huizhou Municipal People’s Congress; Mr LAI Jianhua, Member of the Standing Committee of the Huizhou Municipal Committee and Head of the United Front Work Department; and Mr LI Ming, Member of the Standing Committee of the Huizhou Municipal Committee and Head of the Organisation Department, the cooperation agreement was signed by Prof. Christopher CHAO, Vice President (Research and Innovation) of PolyU; Ms LI Junling, Vice Mayor of the Huizhou Municipal Government; and Mr GUO Wupiao, Chairman of the Party Working Committee and Director of the Management Committee of the Daya Bay Development Zone. Other guests included representatives from PolyU and the Huizhou Municipal Government and enterprises. Technological innovation has become a key driver of social development. At the event, Prof. ZHENG Zijian, Chair Professor of Soft Materials and Devices of PolyU, introduced the Research Institute’s development plan. The Research Institute will focus on the fields of petrochemicals, new energy materials, artificial intelligence, and smart manufacturing. Through cooperation with Huizhou and the Daya Bay Development Zone, it will fully leverage the advantages of all parties and implement an innovation-driven development strategy to actively promote industry-university-research collaboration, making contributions to the technological innovation of Hong Kong, Huizhou and the Nation, and creating a new model of government-university collaboration.