PolyU BME final year undergraduate Mark Koh wins Outstanding Award in ASMPT Technology Award 2024

PolyU BME final year undergraduate KOH Wen-pin, Mark won the Outstanding Award in the ASMPT Technology Award 2024 by presenting his Final Year Project “The effects of altering the dorsiflexion spring resistance and stiffness on an articulated ankle-foot orthosis on 2nd and 3rd rocker joint kinematics and kinetics in individuals post-stroke”, supervised by Dr Toshiki Kobayashi. The competition took place at the ASMPT HK R&D Centre on 21 June 2024, followed by the Award Presentation Ceremony on the same day.

Initiated by ASMPT Limited, this year is the nineth ASMPT Technology Award, the purpose of which is to promote excellence in technology. Each invited university would nominate two individual/group projects from final year undergraduate of engineering students to join the competition. Upon the receipt of nominations from invited universities, candidates would be invited to present their project content and details in person for 20 minutes. Afterwards, there would be a 10-minute Q&A for judges. The panel of judges consists of senior professionals and experts from ASMPT, invited academic staff from universities and also industry practitioners.

This year, 11 teams from PolyU, HKU, HKUST, CUHK, CityU and HKBU participated in the competition. All other projects were group projects while Mark’s was the only individual project. The Award recognizes and rewards students with extraordinary Final Year Projects which showcase technological advancement and innovative thinking. As an Outstanding Award winner, Mark received the project nomination award for HK$5,000.

Mark’s Final Year Project was to assess the effects of modifying certain mechanical parameters of an articulating ankle foot orthosis for individuals post-stroke suffering from hemiplegia. In particular, assessing during a certain part of the gait cycle when weight bearing on the affected leg. The project utilized the Triple Action Ankle Joint from Becker and the VICON motion capture system to analyse kinematic and kinetic parameters. Ten participants with stroke were recruited to participate in the study. The study found that decreasing dorsiflexion spring resistance resulted in reduced knee hyperextension during midstance, which can have impacts on the health, stability, and endurance of individuals post-stroke who utilize an ankle foot orthosis.

ASMPT is a leading global supplier of hardware and software solutions for the manufacture of semiconductors and electronics. Headquartered in Singapore, ASMPT’s offerings encompass the semiconductor assembly & packaging, and SMT (surface mount technology) industries, ranging from wafer deposition, to the various solutions that organise, assemble and package delicate electronic components into a vast range of end-user devices, which include electronics, mobile communications, computing, automotive, industrial and LED (displays).