News

Midstream Research Scheme Funding Secured for Textile Electronic Interaction System

Prof. Xiaoming Tao, Chair Professor of ITC, recently secured approximately HK$5 million under the Midstream Research Programmes for Universities of the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) for a 3-year research project entitled “Key Technologies for Textile Electronic Interaction System”. Human-computer-environment interaction technology is a recent popular research topic as a result of its applications in smart cities, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR), and robotics. Interactive textile electronic systems might be suitable platforms because of their excellent wearable performance and unique immersive features such as light in weight, a large-area, handiness, flexibility, comfort, and low strain even under high deformations. The key to expanding the use of these textiles is to develop new technologies for textile-based interaction systems. Prof. Tao’s project proposes to develop new technologies by demonstrating prototype system products which comprise a modular fabric display of over 16 million colours, audial communication, fabric keyboard, memory card, wireless communication unit and a control unit. In this project, the processing methods for the surface enhancement of flexible fibrous substrates, and fabrication of new double-sided fibrous circuit boards will be investigated. Essential machines and tools will be developed for manufacturing the fabric electronic modules made from electronic yarns, and interconnection between textile electronic modules, as well as determining the processing parameters, quality control methods and procedures. By using the newly developed processes, machines, and tools, Prof. Tao’s team will demonstrate novel electronic textile display products for human-computer-environment interactions in smart homes.

ITC welcomes Dr Hilda Keung

Dr Hilda Keung is the most recently appointed Teaching Fellow at ITC. Prior to her appointment to ITC at PolyU, Dr Keung had a long-term teaching position with RMIT University Vietnam. Dr Keung became interested in education after working in a number of industries and roles, including journalism, integrated marketing communication, and programme management. Previously, she had nurtured full-time undergraduates and part-time postgraduates at various universities and institutes in Hong Kong. Additionally, Dr Keung is an expert in quality assurance and the related processes. She was Registrar of the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications, and the Department Head of Marketing Studies at the Sacred Heart Canossian College of Commerce. She is pleased and honoured to be part of ITC so that she can continue to contribute with her expertise in integrated marketing communication and quality assurance to ensure the holistic development of PolyU students.

ITC staff recipients of Faculty Awards 2021

ITC is proud to announce that five ITC staff members are the recipients of the FAST Faculty Awards 2021 which is a testimony to their outstanding research performance and service. Category  Awardees Project Title Teaching Ms Nico Liu, Instructor  / Knowledge Transfer - Industry  Prof. Kinor Jiang, Professor Creating Innovative Textiles, Business Growth and Environmental Savings through Pioneering Technology Prof. Li Li, Professor Advanced Functional Textile Technologies and Applications Dr Rong Liu, Assistant Professor Novel compression- textile technologies have produced industrial and healthcare benefits  Knowledge Transfer - Society Dr Joanne Yip, Associate Professor and Associate Dean (FAST) Non-surgical treatments for Adolescents with Spinal Deformity   Prof. Kinor Jiang was recognised for knowledge transfer to the industry. He is leading a team that has developed a sputtering coating technology which is being used to create innovative, sustainable and mass producible metal-coated textiles. Prof Jiang has designed and launched an anhydrous system that uses roll to roll (R+R) magnetron sputtering to produce functional and decorative textiles and a metallising process of textiles for the production line. Opening up new markets and enabling new opportunities for high couture fashion, these textiles have already enjoyed commercial success, offer environmental advantages and inspired designing. They have attracted over HK$273M in investment, led to the establishment of two new companies and provided 37 highly skilled jobs with sales that total HK$56.6M since 2017. At the same time, 7000 tons of water have been saved and zero harmful emissions or pollutants released. Another recipient of the award of knowledge transfer to the industry, Prof. Li Li and her team have adopted a design-driven interdisciplinary approach in their fundamental and applied research work on advanced functional textile technologies and applications, to effectively enable knowledge transfer and realise market applications. Her research work has contributed to notable discoveries, inventions and developments in the following areas: 1) Wearable Electronics in Fashion, 2) Chitosan-based Skin-protective Textiles, and 3) Highly Effective Functional Far-infrared Textiles. These technologies have been adopted by some of the largest textile manufacturers and implemented in their products, deriving an estimated global sales/market value of over HK$300 million during the period of June 2014 to March 2021. Dr Liu Rong's research project was also recognised with an award of knowledge transfer to the industry. Dr. Liu's research on novel compression-textile technologies has proposed new solutions to address sizing and fitting problems, especially for Asian users. The developed compression stockings and assessment technologies greatly improved user compliance and safety, generating economic benefits, technology transfer, collaborative projects, consultancy services, patents, underpinning the establishment of China's first industrial standard on Healthcare Compression Hosiery, and encouraging new companies to enter the high-end stocking market. The developed compression products have benefited over 500,000 users for improved leg health and quality of life. Dr Joanne Yip received the award of Knowledge Transfer to Society. Her project on Non-surgical Treatments for Adolescents with Spinal Deformity targets to determine whether an alternative option to the hard brace would increase treatment compliance, and seeks different non-invasive methods to control posture and reduce spinal curve progression. A multi-disciplinary collaborative study has been carried out that synthesises clinical experience with textile and materials sciences to design different product options. Dr Yip secured 2 GRF and 5 ITF projects (about HK$6 M) to primarily develop three products for AIS patients, including a posture correction girdle for AIS patients with a mild curvature, an isotropic textile brace for AIS patients with a moderate spinal curvature, and a posture training programme that uses a biofeedback tank top. Congratulations to all of the awardees for their achievement.

ITC has new social media accounts!

To bridge the digital distance among ITC, ITC alumni and prospectus students in China, ITC is now available on four of China's most popular social media mobile apps, namely XiaoHongShu, Weibo, Wechat and Douyin. ITC is recognised as the most digitally savvy academic department in PolyU. In the past few weeks, ITC has used these four platforms to keep our followers informed about the latest developments at the institute and our alumni. ITC is becoming quite popular on social media with more and more followers each day. Have you joined our social media groups yet?  

ITC Christmas Lunch

It’s that time of the year again when ITC celebrates Christmas!! After the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 Christmas celebrations, ITC brought back its annual Christmas Lunch on 17 December at The Greenery in the Royal Garden Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. Hosted by Prof. Jintu Fan, Head and Chair Professor of ITC, 80 staff members spent a delightful afternoon enjoying a fun-filled programme. At the event, Prof. Fan offered his very best wishes to everyone at ITC, and expressed his sincere appreciation to the executive group members for their generous donation of cash prizes. The highlight of the Christmas Lunch undoubtedly was the announcement of the results for the most popular ITC taglines proposed by staff members. Prof. Fan and Dr Chester To were the champions with their contribution "Inspiring Creativity, Fashioning the Future (啓迪創意、編織未來)". First runner-up went to Dr Joanne Yip, with "Transform, Inspire and Pioneer (轉變 啟發 領先). Second runner-up went to Dr Di Fan, with "the Fashion Pioneer, the Innovation Frontier". Other shortlisted taglines included: Crafting the Future of Fashion Stitching up the Future with Technovation (SFT) Fostering Aesthetic Spirits for Human-centred InnovatiON (FASHION) Special thanks to Mr Anthony Keung, Professor of Practice of ITC, who is also President and CEO of FENIX Group Holdings Ltd. Mr Keung made a generous donation of three CITY SUPER coupons, valued at $500 each, for an unexpected lucky draw.

ITC alumni Karmuel Young and Wilson Yip selected as "10 Asian Designers To Watch"

Karmuel Young (BA, 2007) and Wilson Yip (BA, 2015) have been selected as "10 Asian Designers to Watch", an initiative that celebrates the creativity, innovation and craft of emerging talents in Asia and their pioneering capsule collections. The judging panel was comprised of well-known fashion industry leaders such as Amiee Squires-Wills, former Vice President of Marketing & Communications of Lane Crawford; Deborah Cheng, Chief Commercial Officer of I.T; Desiree Au, Founding Publisher of Vogue Hong Kong; Grant Pearce, Consultant of GQ Australia; Lulu Kennedy, Director of Fashion East; Sophie Brocart, LVMH Prize Mentoring Director of LVMH and more.  Karmuel moved to Europe and worked in renowned brands Damir Dona in Paris and Ute Ploier in Vienna after graduation from BA (Hons) Scheme in Fashion and Textiles (Fashion and Textile Design) in 2007. He was the finalist of PolyU Fashion Show 2007, awardee of Prestige's "40 under 40", and also the finalist of Lane Crawford’s 2019 Creative Call Out. Following the experience of working as an independent designer, he established his own menswear label, KARMUEL YOUNG, in 2014. His design is engineered to embody minimalism and modernity and answer both operation and aesthetic needs. Echoing its predecessors, his Project 06: Same But Not The Same, features previously used geometric shapes coloured in a mélange of natural and metallic hues. Seemingly simplistic yet intricately sophisticated, the expanded collection innovates variations among a sea of conventional styles. Wilson majored in knitwear design in his undergraduate study. He was the winner of the Overall Grand Award and Outstanding Menswear Award of PolyU Fashion Show 2015. He launched the brand Wilsonkaki in 2020 after being crowned the Champion in Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers’ Contest in 2019. The brand is inspired by real-life experiences. He reinvents everyday wardrobe staples and signature in strong visual elements with thoughtful utility design.  Wilsonkaki exhibited the Spring/Summer 2022 collection, themed “TRULY BEING ALIVE”. It is inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s quote, “someone has a great fire in his soul”. Wilson defines what being alive is through the collection – he attempted to visualise the belief using the imagery of fire. Previous ITC alumni winners include Derek Chan (BA, 2011) of DEMO. and Joyce Kun (BA, 2013) of The World Is Your Oyster. To celebrate the birth of 10 rising Asian stars, and shares a piece of their minds, full of white hot burning energy, the "10 Asian Designers to Watch" Exhibition was held from 30 November to 7 December in Central. Virtual exhibition is also available.

RGC Senior Research Fellow - Prof. Zijian Zheng

Congratulations to Prof. Zijian Zheng, who was recently conferred the prestigious title of 'RGC Senior Research Fellow' under the RGC Senior Research Fellow Scheme. The Research Grants Council (RGC) held an award presentation ceremony in November to honour academics from University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities for their outstanding research achievements and significant contribution to the higher education sector. Prof. Zheng’s research in permeable superelastic conductive material is applied in wearable electronic devices. Similar products in the past 20 years have neglected the importance of breathability and cannot be worn for a long period of time. The liquid-metal fibre mat that Prof Zheng’s team is developing is a major breakthrough with the use of high-permeability material and provides a better hand felt. These advantages allow this technology to be more widely and effectively applied in the professional medical fields such as for health and sports activity monitoring, soft robots, and even artificial eyes. Prof. Zheng is very honoured to receive the title and grateful to the RGC for launching his five-year project, which gave him sufficient time and funding to carry out high-potential and high-risk innovative research. With the funds provided by the project, he is able to hire a number of postdoctoral fellows or graduate students of different majors to exchange ideas and learn from each other. As a result, they gain experience and perspective of different fields, and the project helps to cultivate new research talents at the local level. About the RGC Research Fellow Scheme (RFS)/ RGC Senior Research Fellow Scheme (SRFS) The RGC grants more than HK$100 million in research funding to 20 university professors and associate professors through two research scholarship programmes each year. The RGC Research Fellow Scheme (RFS) and RGC Senior Research Fellow Scheme (SRFS) aim to provide sustained support and relief from teaching and administrative duties to exceptionally outstanding researchers at the Associate Professor rank (or full Professor rank) at UGC-funded universities in Hong Kong, with a view to facilitating their full dedication to research and development and helping universities attract and retain research talent.

ITC alumnae shine at DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award 2021

ITC alumni, Brun Chan (BA, 2013) and Cady Lee (BA, 2021), were recognized at the DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award (DFA HKYDTA) 2021. The award presentation ceremony took place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 1 December. Brun took home the Young Design Talent Special Mention Award in the Design Practitioners category, while Cady won the CreateSmart Young Design Talent Special Award in the Design Graduates category. Brun has established her independent design label and studio called röyksopp gakkai which produces its own fashion line, and focuses on art direction, styling and props. She believes fashion is just one of the media to present art and ideas, and is interested in using various ways to express her aesthetics. She has worked as a stylist, art director and set designer, working with brands such as Fujifilm, Shu Uemura, Hong Kong Tourism Board and more. She also styled for ep covers and music videos, and worked as the art director for artists including Eason Chan, Jason Chan, Kenny Kwan, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and Cherry Ngan. Her 2019 all season collection - “ALICE” was inspired by Hajime Satawari’s photobook “Alice”, and Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The röyksopp gakkai style is based on 18th and 19th century children’s clothes, with a touch of minimalism and weird-cuteness. Cady is the fresh graduate of the BA (Hons) Scheme in Fashion and Textiles, majoring fashion design. She is also the champion of Poly Fashion Show 2021 and the Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers’ Contest (YDC) 2021. She is also the awardee of the Best Visual Presentation at YDC. Cady wants to continue her studies at fashion institutes in Antwerp and London, experimenting with her own textiles and incorporating her signature liquify prints and distorted silhouettes, while learning more about branding and positioning. Her ultimate goal is to establish an avant-garde fashion brand that produces surreal, costume-like creations, and to collaborate with the Hong Kong music and performance art industry. Together with other 14 winners, Brun and Cady may receive a financial sponsorship to undergo overseas work in renowned design companies, or study abroad, which enables them to create more influential designs. About the DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award (DFA HKYDTA) DFA HKYDTA is one of five DFA Awards programmes organised by the Hong Kong Design Centrewith Create Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (CreateHK) as the lead sponsor. Established in 2005, the DFA HKYDTA’s mission is to nurture and support Hong Kong’s emerging design talent and fuel the growth of the local creative industry. Since its inception, this programme has provided sponsorship for over 110 Hong Kong young talent, all of which are design practitioners or graduates between the ages of 18 to 35 years old. The up-and-coming awarded designers, selected by the professional judging panel, are going to start their overseas journeys with a substantial amount of sponsorships, gaining immersive experiences and global perspectives to take their future accomplishments to the next level.   Photo credit: Hong Kong Design Centre

ITC participates in 10 Asian Designers To Watch Exhibition 2021 @Pacific House

ITC was part of the excitement at the 10 Asian Designers To Watch Exhibition 2021. The event took place at Pacific House in Central from 30 November - 7 December 2021. This year, Fashion Asia Hong Kong continued its curated exhibition to showcase 10 emerging outstanding Asian designers who were shortlisted by a panel of fashion industry leaders. Among them are two ITC alumni, Karmuel Young (BA, 2007) and Wilson Yip (BA, 2015). Their cutting-edge capsule collections were displayed at the exhibition. Our representation also included six ITC graduates (Kunis CHEN Wai Ming, Debbie CHOI Ka Ling, Cady LEE Pui Kwan, Wa LEUNG Hiu Man, Bailey TAI Pui Lei, and Ken YEUNG Chun Shing) who were invited to showcase their winning designs from the PolyU Fashion Show 2021 in the Hong Kong Fashion Graduates Showroom at the exhibition. The Hong Kong Fashion Graduates Showroom (previously known as “Pop-up spaces”) showcases the best local alumni designers and design-graduate collections. Our Chairlady of PolyU Fashion Show 2021, Assistant Professor Dr Jin Lam, attended the opening ceremony on 30 November and spoke to the VIP guests about ITC and the winning collections. To view the virtual tour of the exhibition, please click here.  About Fashion Asia Hong Kong Fashion Asia Hong Kong was launched in September 2015, to energise the city's image by combining conversations, interactions and cross-pollination, and reposition Hong Kong as an Asian hub for fashion trade and business development. The annual event consists of a two-day forum, along with a curated exhibition that showcases 10 of Asia's most outstanding fashion designers at the PMQ.

Dr Dahua Shou and colleagues advance liquid engineering and publish in impactful journals

Dr Dahua Shou and his colleagues recently published a research article entitled “An All-Fabric Droplet-Based Energy Harvester with Topology Optimization” on intelligent wearables in the Advanced Energy Materials (IF: 29.368) journal, and a review paper entitled “Heterogeneously engineered porous materials and structures for directional and asymmetric liquid transport” on tunable liquid transport in Cell Reports Physical Science (a premium journal published by Cell Press which publishes cutting-edge research across the physical sciences, including chemistry, physics, materials science, energy science, engineering, and related interdisciplinary work). Dr Shou’s team has developed a novel all-fabric, droplet-based electricity generator. The topology-optimised droplet energy harvesting fabric (TO-DEHF) enables stable and efficient output from randomly falling droplets. TO-DEHF has high flexibility and breathability, based on which a self-powered wireless wearable prototype has been successfully realised for monitoring crucial droplet properties, including temperature, pH and salinity. It has recently been reported that the output power density of a triboelectric nanogenerator can be enhanced by several orders of magnitude by using a field-effect-transistor-like structure. However, previously reported strip top electrodes are not ideal for optimum generation and stable transfer of charges under practical dynamic conditions. Switched on by an impinged droplet, the bridged closed-loop electric circuit transfers the accumulated charges by converting the conventional interfacial effect into a bulk effect. Randomly falling droplets cannot always exactly impinge the electrode with the desired spreading contact to achieve a high peak voltage, and a large fraction of low-voltage direct-contact and sliding-contact modes will lead to low output and instability. To address this critical challenge, the proposed TO-DEHF with the optimised fabric electrodes in a hexagonal network feature a stable open-circuit voltage under moving and rotating patterns, 3-fold that with strip electrodes. The peak power density of the TO-DEHF (71.8 mW/m2) is 4.8-fold that of the latter (14.8 mW/m2). In the meantime, Dr Shou has comprehensively reviewed the latest progresses in advanced textiles for controllable liquid transport. Passive regulation of dynamic liquid transport in porous media in a directional or asymmetric manner has become increasingly critical to emerging applications such as personal moisture management, water harvesting, and liquid separation. Over the past decade, heterogeneously engineered porous materials and structures for tunable liquid transport have stimulated a remarkable amount of attention and triggered technological revolutions in those areas based on nature-inspired designs, metamaterial developments, and model-driven optimisation. Herein, Dr Shou and his colleagues provide an overview of the latest developments in directional and asymmetric liquid movements created by material and structural heterogeneities, with a focus on mechanistic models, physical mechanisms, and engineering strategies to provide a better understanding of controllability in directed liquid motion. The diverse implementations and applications with improved fluid directionality and asymmetry, from an overview of the fabrication methods to analyses of the significant influential factors, have been discussed. Current challenges and research gaps are summarised, in order to provide a road map for potential research opportunities. Research studies of liquid engineering based on advanced textiles and intelligent wearables by Dr Shou and his colleagues have also been published in other impactful journals, including Advanced Functional Materials in 2018 (IF: 18.808); Science Advances (IF: 14.136) in 2020; and a series of prestigious mechanics journals including Physical Review E (2), Applied Physics Letters (1), Langmuir (3), and International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer (3) from 2011 to 2020. He has been awarded Vebleo Fellow and delivered a keynote talk entitled “Smart Textiles and Wearables for Thermal Comfort and Energy Saving" for the Vebleo community.   References: Fei Liang1, Xujiang Chao1, Shudong Yu, Yuheng Gu, Xiaohui Zhang, Xin Wei, Jintu Fan, Xiao-ming Tao and Dahua Shou*, An All-Fabric Droplet-Based Energy Harvester with Topology Optimization, Advanced Energy Materials, 2021: 202102991. Guanghan Huang, Xin Wei, Yuheng Gu, Zhanxiao Kang, Lihong Lao, Li Li, Jintu Fan and Dahua Shou*, Heterogeneously engineered porous media for directional and asymmetric liquid transport, Cell Reports Physical Science, 2021.