Chief Editor’s Corner

As the year draws to a close, Issue 12 of the PAIR Newsletter provides a summary of the noteworthy events and developments that took place over the past few months. We are particularly delighted to see some strategic collaborations coming to fruition.

In March of this year, several representatives from PAIR, myself included, travelled to Melbourne, Australia, to explore potential research collaborations with overseas universities. We met with representatives from RMIT University, presenting PAIR’s research and discussing collaboration possibilities between our universities.

This September, we celebrated the launch of the PolyU–RMIT FutureLab. The FutureLab is a platform on which PAIR and RMIT scientists collaborate on joint interdisciplinary research projects, bringing solutions towards a sustainable future. So far, three joint projects covering smart city development, smart buildings, coastal clean-up and waste repurposing have been confirmed. We will expand the collaboration to other areas (e.g., talent development, organising conferences, and grant applications) as the partnership deepens over time. The News & Events section contains more information about FutureLab as well as other important updates and events at PAIR, including the PolyU InnoTech Open Day x Alumni Homecoming 2024.

International collaboration is greatly valued at PAIR. The Academy and constituent research units strive to engage, learn from and collaborate with the brightest minds from all over the world. In this Issue, the Feature Stories section covers the insights of Prof. HUANG Yonggang from Northwestern University, a pioneer in stretchable electronics and mechanics-guided deterministic 3D assemblies, as well as Prof. Robert YOUNG from The University of Manchester, who sheds light on the challenges in applying and utilising graphene, the strongest and thinnest material known to date. We also talk to Prof. ZHANG Weixiong, the new Associate Director of PAIR, about the important role of artificial intelligence, genomics and bioinformatics in disease management.

Last but not least, the People section includes a number of extraordinary achievements by individual researchers. We are particularly proud to share that a total of 138 scholars at PAIR have been named in the 2024 World’s Top 2% Scientists list by Stanford University. This is definitely a testament to the commitment and excellence of PAIR researchers across disciplines. The Research Achievements section covers a range of scientific findings and PAIR-led technologies that help improve daily living. These include soft robotic clothing that ensures worker safety in hot environments; a model that accurately predicts photovoltaic (PV) power; ultra-stable, ultra-bright perovskite light-emitting diodes (LEDs); and many more.

The past few months have been eventful ones. I invite you to read the stories and articles we have curated for you in order to learn about all the exciting updates at PAIR. Thank you very much. I hope you enjoy reading Issue 12 of the PAIR Newsletter.