PolyU Young Innovative Researcher Award fosters new energy for scientific research

31 May 2024

Achievements Research and Innovation Office

Awardees of Young Innovative Researcher Award 2024 : (top, left to right): Dr CHEN Jiewei, Dr CHEN Shaoyu, Dr GUO Xiaomeng (bottom, left to right): Dr HUANG Dongmei, Dr LI Tian and Dr TIAN Tian.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has honoured six young researchers with the Young Innovative Researcher Award (YIRA) 2024. Their research endeavours 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 tumour tracking technology to improve cancer treatment.

Prof Christopher CHAO, Vice President (Research and Innovation) of PolyU and 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.

The Young Innovative Researchers 2024 are (in alphabetical order):

Awardees	Research Focus	Description
Dr CHEN Jiewei Research Assistant Professor Department of Applied Physics	Novel Computing Devices for Low-power Artificial Intelligence of Things	Develop novel topological devices with new physical mechanisms in the post-processing units of AIoT to reduce computational energy consumption while minimising unnecessary data transmission by improving intelligent sensing, pre-processing, and information extraction capabilities.
Dr CHEN Shaoyu Assistant Professor School of Fashion and Textiles	Smart and Recyclable Materials from Supramolecular-Dynamic Covalent Co-Assembly of Stimuli-Responsive Amphiphiles and Biobased Polyelectrolytes	Adopt ecological and recyclable approaches to biocompatible and intelligent materials with feedback signals. These materials are designed for use in advanced wearable sensors, textiles, and soft robotics, enabling daily health monitoring and more.
Dr GUO Xiaomeng Associate Professor Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies	Promoting Usage of Recycled Materials Through Label Design	Design recycling certification mechanisms to promote green consumption and motivate enterprises to adopt recycled materials, thereby contributing to the sustainable development of the circular economy.
Dr HUANG Dongmei Assistant Professor Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering	High performance swept laser and its applications	Develop high-performance swept lasers with a high sweep rate, wide sweep range, and long coherence length, as well as accelerate innovation and breakthroughs in their applications, which range from medical diagnostics to industrial detection.
Dr LI Tian Assistant Professor Department of Health Technology and Informatics	Contrast-Adaptive Real-Time (CART) 4D-MRI Technique via Cascaded Deep Learning for Abdominal Tumour Tracking in MRI-guided Radiotherapy	Propose a new real-time 4D tumour tracking solution called CART 4D-MRI to overcome the limitations in imaging speed and quality of current Magnetic Resonance-guided Radiotherapy (MRgRT) techniques. This innovation aims to provide faster and clearer tumour images, facilitating improved treatment for abdominal cancer patients.
Dr TIAN Tian Assistant Professor Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology	Design and development of novel nano-porous materials with enhanced hydrogen storage and delivery capacity	Design and synthesize a new generation of nanoporous materials to enhance hydrogen storage and delivery capacities. This will address current technical bottlenecks, such as storage costs and safety risks, and ultimately facilitate the transition to a net-zero society in the long term.