At this year’s International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, PolyU researchers have won one Grand Prize, one Special Gold Medal, three Special Awards, four Gold Medals and two Silver Medals. Here are highlights of those innovations which scooped Grand Prize or Gold Medals with Special Awards.

Grand Prize and Jury’s Commendation:
Soil Preparation System, developed by Prof. Yung Kai-leung at the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and his team, bagged the Prize of the Legal Company “Gorodissky & Partners” – Russia and Gold Medal with the Congratulations of Jury. It is a mission-critical space tool which played a pivotal role in the Phobos-Grunt Mission – the first strategic interplanetary exploration of the Sino-Russian collaboration. The system was used to collect soil samples and conduct in-situ analysis under extreme and adverse conditions in the outerspace and will be further used in future missions of exploring Phobos.
Special Award and Gold Medal:
Multilayer Nanofibre Filter - Nanoaerosols Capture and Added Functions, a project led by Prof. Wallace Leung at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, won the Special Merit Award from Romania Ministry of National Education and Gold Medal. This filter is made by light and breathable material that can effectively capture tiny harmful nanoaerosols with tiny particle smaller than 300 nanometres and kill bacteria. Through the nanofibre layers, gaseous pollutants can be converted to harmless substances with light exposure while bacteria can be killed through exposure to water vapour, including sweat.
Special Award and Gold Medal:
Preparation of Food Grade Capsules for Targeted Drug Delivery is a research led by Dr Wang Li and Dr Wong Ka-hing at the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology. It received the Special Merit Award from National Research Council of Thailand and Gold Medal. These capsules are made from zein, a major corn protein, and pectin, a gel-forming polysaccharide obtained from most citrus fruits. They are thus safe, inexpensive and fit for vegetarians. Zein can act as water barrier to protect pectin from swelling while pectin can protect zein from intestinal digestion. By varying the ratio of these two materials and modifying the capsule design, targeted drug delivery to the stomach, small intestine or colon can be achieved.