We are very excited that Professor Xiao-ming Tao, Chair Professor of Textile Technology and Director of the Research Centre for Smart Wearable Technology, Institute of Textiles and Clothing, won the 13th Guanghua Engineering Science and Technology Award by the Chinese Academy of Engineering in November 2020.

Professor Tao said, “This is, indeed, a great encouragement for us. We, as scientists and a close partner of the industry, will continue to leverage our strengths in research and development as well as the world’s leading technologies to develop innovative solutions that help foster the development of the industry for the benefit of the community as a whole.”

Established in 1996, the biennial award is China’s most prestigious award for Chinese engineers and scientists who have made significant contributions to engineering technology and engineering management. This year, 41 awardees were selected from 296 candidates and Professor Tao is one of the three award recipients from Hong Kong. All three Hong Kong awardees were nominated by the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences.

Professor Tao is internationally recognised for her leading research work on intelligent fibrous materials, nanotechnology, photonic fibres and fabrics, flexible electronic and photonic devices, smart washable technology, yarn manufacturing and textile composites. She has led a team of prolific inventors of new technologies and obtained 34 international and national patents. Over ten of the invented technologies have been licensed to companies worldwide for industrial applications.