News

Award-winning Project with involvement of RIAIoT members: Algorithmic Music Composition Software for Popularising AI Education

Dr Chen Gong, a PhD alumnus, under the supervision of Prof. Jiannong Cao, Director of Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence of Things (RIAIoT), and Dr Yan Liu, Director of Cognitive Computing Lab, developed an AI-powered algorithmic music composition software for popularising AI education for non-professionals. By using the software, user can have a hands-on experience on how those AI algorithms work. It could let people know that AI is not just a cutting-edge technical subject, but an interesting and beautiful one. This software received a bronze medal at the Geneva Inventions Expo 2022. Video: https://bit.ly/3uzDMKV

Award-winning Project by RCDSE: Camera Pointing System for China’s Lunar Exploration Missions (Chang'e 3 and 4)

The precision robotics research team led by Professor Yung received the Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury at the Geneva Inventions Expo 2022 for the project “Camera Pointing System for China’s Lunar Exploration Missions (Chang'e 3 and 4)”. PolyU is the only university in Hong Kong taking part in the Nation’s space missions and actively contributing to the national space technology. The awarded project entitled “Camera Pointing System for China’s Lunar Exploration Missions (Chang'e 3 and 4)”. Installed on top of the lunar lander, it facilitates panoramic image capturing and rover movement observation on the moon, and helps construct a precision 3D model of the landscape for safe rovering. With a complex design and a weight of only 2.8 kg, it is sturdy enough to protect the camera against shock and vibration during the space mission and ensure its proper functioning under the extreme lunar environment. The invention was completed and successfully deployed on the Moon front surface with the Chang’e 3 and Moon far side with the Chang’e 4 missions of China’s Lunar Exploration Programme. Please click the link to watch the video for this award-winning project: https://bit.ly/3Kbuslu

Award-winning Project by RILS member: Umicool: an Eco-friendly Smart Sub-ambient Radiative Cooling (SSRC) Coating

A team led by Prof. Jianguo Dai, Management Committee Member of the Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS) and Founder of Pro-Infra Science & Technology Limited (a PolyU Academic-led start-up), developed the eco-friendly, long-lasting, self-cleaning, low-cost polymeric radiative cooling coating which can reduce the interior temperature of buildings/infrastructure by 6°C as compared to the ambient temperature under direct sunlight without electricity consumption. UmiCool can scatter sunlight, convert absorbed UV light to fluorescence emissions and re-emit infrared radiation to the cold universe. The project received a Gold Medal in this year’s online special edition of the Geneva Inventions Expo recently. Please click the link to watch the video for this award-winning project: https://bit.ly/3j4WkvM

Important Progress made by RI-IWEAR in Efficient and Scalable Moisture-Electric Generators made from Ionic Hydrogel

In the context of global resource shortage and high demand for carbon neutrality, it is of great significance to find simple and efficient green energy conversion technology to achieve sustainable development of energy and society. Moisture-electric generator (MEG) is based on the chemical energy from atmospheric moisture to generate electricity directly, without the generation of pollutants and harmful gas emissions, which is an emerging research focus in the energy field. However, most MEGs suffer from intermittent electrical signals and low current. In addition, the realization of large-scale integration and practical applications is still the bottleneck of current research. To address this issue, Prof. Tao’s research team have developed a novel and efficient ionic hydrogel moisture-electric generator (IHMEG), which converts the chemical energy released by captured moisture in the air into electricity, realizing efficient current density and power output. A single IHMEG unit of 0.25 cm2 can continuously generate direct-current electricity with a constant open-circuit voltage of ~0.8 V for over 1000 hours, a high short-current density of 0.24 mA·cm-2 and power density of up to 35 mW·cm-2. Of great importance is that large-scale integration of IHMEG units can be readily accomplished to offer a high voltage of up to 210 V, making the flexible IHMEG assembly capable of directly driving numerous commercial electronics, including electronic ink screen, metal electrodeposition setup and even light-emitting-diode arrays. This IHMEG device with high cost-efficiency, easy-to-scaleup fabrication and high power-output opens a brand-new perspective to develop a green, versatile and efficient power source for Internet-of-Things and wearable electronics. The work is published in Advanced Materials (https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202200693) recently. The first author is a PhD graduate, Dr. Yang Su.

RiFood's study reveals Bifidobacteria almost non-existent in cesarean-born Chinese babies

A research by Dr Jiachi CHIOU, Associate Director of RiFood has revealed that Bifidobacteria, a probiotic, was nearly non-existent in the gut of babies born by cesarean section (C-section). Bifidobacteria is viewed as an essential probiotic for proper immune development and good gut health among infants which protects the neonates from various intestinal and immunity disorders. Dr Chiou and her research team examined 70 fecal samples of newborn babies after their first 2 weeks of life for the study. They found that the Bifidobacterium species almost did not exist in samples from C-section babies. In comparison, 37 fecal samples from vaginally birthed, breastfed babies had the necessary probiotic levels. While previous study suggested that Bifidobacteria could be detected from the breastmilk, and hence breastfeeding may help to supplement the beneficial bacteria in the baby’s gut microbiota. Dr. Chiou also said 38% of births in Hong Kong are C-section deliveries, so it is crucial to understand the special nutrition needs of C-section babies. (Oriental Daily News A11, am730 A06, Sky Post P14, Wen Wei Po A10) * This newborn babies study was commissioned by Danone Nutricia. Online coverage : i-Cable - https://polyu.me/379mk6M Oriental Daily News- https://polyu.me/3tVL771 Sing Tao Daily - https://polyu.me/38jWkWP am730 - https://polyu.me/3tSp3u6 Headline Daily - https://polyu.me/3tWpHqA Wen Wei Po - https://polyu.me/3DBeGy8 HK01 - https://polyu.me/376n0JK Bastille Post - https://polyu.me/3iVh09s

Members of PAIR’s constituent research units shine at Geneva Invention Expo

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has once again excelled in this year’s online special edition of the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva (Geneva Inventions Expo) - Special Edition 2022 Inventions Geneva Evaluation Days – Virtual Event. The Exhibition is regarded as one of the most important annual global events devoted exclusively to inventions. This year, PolyU has garnered a total of six awards, including one Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury, one Gold Medal, three Silver Medals and one Bronze Medal. All of them are research projects of PAIR’s research institutes and research centres. Four of the six participating projects are operated by PolyU supported start-ups which has already commercialised its research outputs. As the only university in Hong Kong taking part in the Nation’s space missions, the team lead by Prof. Yung Kai Leung, the director of Research Centre for Deep Space Explorations (RCDSE) is also actively developing instruments for the national space mission by leveraging its expertise in precision engineering. In addition, PolyU is also striving to leverage its research to improve people’s quality of life. The participating projects this year, which incorporate research in the areas of cooling coatings, eco-friendly building materials, smart fabrics, nutritional supplements and AI music learning platform, are just a few examples of this effort. Please find the six awarded projects in the following table. Please click the link of the website of the Knowledge Transfer and Entrepreneurship Office https://www.polyu.edu.hk/kteo/polyu-innovations/award/geneva2022/ for project details: Project Principal Investigator Awards Research Institute / Research Centre involved Camera Pointing System for China’s Lunar Exploration Missions (Chang'e 3 and 4) Prof. Kai-leung YUNG Sir Sze-yuen Chung Professor in Precision Engineering, Director of Research Centre for Deep Space Explorations, Chair Professor of Precision Engineering and Associate Head, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury Research Centre for Deep Space Explorations UmiCool: an Eco-friendly Smart Sub-ambient Radiative Cooling (SSRC) Coating Prof. Jianguo DAI Professor and Associate Head, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Founder of Pro-Infra Science & Technology Limited (a PolyU Academic-led start-up) Gold Medal Research Institute for Land and Space Carbon-negative Climate-smart Biochar Partition Block Prof. Daniel Chiu-Wa TSANG Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Founder of NeutralCrete Limited (a PolyU Academic-led start-up) Silver Medal Research Institute for Land and Space and Research Centre for Resources Engineering towards Carbon Neutrality Omni-Cool-Dry™: a Desert Beetle Inspired Skin-like Fabric for Dynamic Thermal and Moisture Management Dr Dahua SHOU Assistant Professor, Institute of Textiles and Clothing Silver Medal Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems AkkMore™: a Fungus and Plant Based Supplement Against Obesity or Prediabetes Dr. Gail Jinhui CHANG Research Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, Co-founder of Bo InnoHealth Biotechnology Company Limited (a PolyU GBA Start-up PostDoc and PolyU Academic-led startup) Silver Medal Research Institute for Future Food Algorithmic Music Composition Software for Popularising AI Education Dr Gong CHEN PhD alumni of the Department of Computing, Founder of RhySoul Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited (a PolyU GBA Start-up PostDoc) Bronze Medal Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence of Things

​RIAM partners with Allite on alloy R&D

PolyU and Allite International Limited established partnership of R&D works in a number of research projects to further explore the application horizon of Allite Super Magnesium (ASM) Alloy. This initiative aims to uncover advanced magnesium-based materials development for net shape manufacturing. This collaborative effort will also deliver differentiating R&D in the e-transportation space such as electric vehicles and e-bikes. Ir Prof. H. C. Man, Director of Research Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Dean of Faculty of Engineering, said the partnership would leverage the University’s unique strengths in R&D activities, bridging the gap between research and businesses while accelerating PolyU’s innovation efforts with magnesium alloys and processing techniques. Online media coverage: Asiaone A-Performers ETNet (Chinese only) TechNow (Chinese only)  

MHRC highlights mental issues amid pandemic

A recent study conducted by PolyU showed that social psychological and behaviour therapies could remarkably relieve the depression and anxiety symptoms emerged under the pandemic. Prof. Hector Tsang, Associate Director of Mental Health Research Centre, Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, and Mr Kino Lam, Clinical Associate (Occupational Therapy), wrote in a newspaper column that over concentration on anti-pandemic issues would cause persistent anxiety and might trigger emotion problems. They suggested the Government should partner with relevant academic departments and research centres in tertiary institutions and NGOs to address citizens’ mental health issues during the pandemic, including establishment of online education channels for mental health and organise seminars to address the difficulties encountered by the public regularly.   Please click here to read the full article (Chinese only).

Online Review of "Adoption of Wearable Sensors in Construction Research" Webinar

RI-IWEAR held the "Adoption of Wearable Sensors in Construction Research" webinar successfully on 16 March. Introduced by Ir Prof. Li Heng, Core Member of RI-IWEAR, Dr JoonOh Seo, Associate Professor of Department of Building and Real Estate at PolyU, Dr Yantao Yu, Assistant Professor of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at HKUST and Dr Xiaowei Luo, Associate Professor of Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering at CityU shared their views on various applications of IWEAR sensors for the construction industry. Please find the webinar recording from : https://youtu.be/fdxiEWSpz08

PRI researchers develop the world’s first optical fibre-based data-driven predictive maintenance system

Tremendous pressure is being imposed on railway operators to enhance service reliability and infrastructure maintenance to reduce disruption arising from train, track and overhead power line failures. This requires condition-monitoring systems that can effectively and continuously monitor mission-critical components to produce big data in respect of railway asset maintenance for the development of advanced fault identification and prediction techniques. The research team led by Prof. Tam Hwa-yaw, Associate Director of the Photonics Research Institute (PRI), developed the world’s first optical fibre-based data-driven predictive maintenance system that enables railway industry to shift from costly and inefficient scheduled maintenance regimes to predictive maintenance. The system identifies defects in rail tracks, overhead power lines, wheel flats, and cracks in bogies and carriages. Five systems were installed in MTR Hong Kong and two in SMRT lines in Singapore in 2014 and 2016, respectively. The system monitors developing faults and had successfully predicted broken power line along the Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport Line in 2015, several weeks in advance. The goal is to herald a safer railway industry with reduced maintenance cost, and high quality of service. Please check the link for his interview with a TV programme :   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POcPJfU8VDc  (Chinese Only)