In a recent interview with Financial Times Chinese, Professor Christopher Chao, PolyU’s Vice President (Research and Innovation) and Professor Zhang Lei, Chair Professor of Computer Vision and Image Analysis, discussed the importance of industry-academia-research collaboration in advancing AI technology.

Professor Zhang believed that collaboration between corporations and universities would be more effective when focusing on nurturing talent rather than being project-based. He cited PolyU’s collaboration with Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd (OPPO) as a successful example of industry-academia-research collaboration. The University established the PolyU-OPPO Joint Innovation Lab in 2022. With OPPO’s funding, PolyU nurtures PhDs and postdocs, and they can access cutting-edge academic knowledge, understand real-world challenges, and work with OPPO engineers to solve practical problems, driving technological innovation. Their work is presented at top international conferences and applied to mobile phones.

“Today, the connection between academia and industry is closer than ever. Scientists can better understand complex problems in real-world scenarios, and industry engineers can quickly access the latest academic ideas. This interaction will lead to many innovative and interesting outcomes,” Professor Zhang stated.

He mentioned that his team is developing large models specifically for image generation, enabling smartphones to intelligently perceive the environment and make judgments or provide alerts. “To achieve this, we need close collaboration between universities and businesses,” he added.

Regarding the University’s recent collaborations with the Mainland, Professor Chao highlighted the initiative to establish Mainland Translational Research Institutes (MTRIs) in various Mainland cities, to transfer research outcomes from Hong Kong to the Mainland and leverage local industries for real-world applications. He also mentioned plans to expand collaborative research centres in Southeast Asian countries and the Middle East to enhance the global research presence of Hong Kong universities.

He noted that PolyU has implemented strategic hiring schemes to attract world-leading scholars, doubling the number of Chair Professors from 50 to 100 in recent years. Among them are scholars in emerging fields such as AI, which greatly benefits Hong Kong’s universities by enhancing research capabilities and aligning with the Nation’s expectation for Hong Kong’s innovative talent.

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