News

PolyU Two Projects Granted the Fifth Batch of Smart Traffic Fund

The Transport Department announced that the Management Committee on Smart Traffic Fund approved the fifth batch of four projects, of which two projects led by researchers from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) were awarded a total amount of HK$2.66 million. Channel State Information-Learning-based Passenger Counting System on Public Transport Vehicles By Dr Ivan HO, Associate Professor of the Department of Electronic and Information Engineering This project aims to develop an efficient and robust passenger counting system via the deep learning of Channel State Information (CSI) data on public transport vehicles. Development of an Augmented Reality-Assisted Head-up Display (AR-HUD) mechanism for recommending driving strategy By Dr ZHENG Pai, Assistant Professor of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering This project aims to develop an augmented reality-assisted head-up display (AR-HUD) mechanism for driving strategy recommendation by recognising driving scenes using a visual reasoning-based approach. The Smart Traffic Fund has approved 21 projects since its commencement, 9 of which were from PolyU. Project Title  Principal Investigator Channel State Information-Learning-based Passenger Counting System on Public Transport Vehicles Dr Ivan HO, Associate Professor, Department of Electronic and Information Engineering Development of an Augmented Reality-Assisted Head-up Display (AR-HUD) mechanism for recommending driving strategy Dr ZHENG Pai, Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Smart Assessment of Bridge Deck Efficiency and Safety in Hong Kong Prof Tarek ZAYED, Associate Head (Research), Department of Building and Real Estate The smart charging development of zero-emission autonomous electric vehicles by the X2V and V2X technologies with respect to the dynamic traffic, grid and energy information Dr CAO Sunliang, Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering Prediction of Traffic Speed and Volume considering Malfunctioning Detectors using Deep Learning Prof. Edward CHUNG, Department of Electrical Engineering Development and Deployment of an AI-enabled Parking Vacancy Prediction Framework using Multi-source Data Dr MA Wei, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Road Safety Assessment using Advanced Driving Simulation Approach with 3D Geo-spatial Model  Dr SZE Nang Ngai, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Network-wide Traffic Speed-Flow Estimator  Ir Prof William Lam Hing-keung Investigation of an online data-driven intelligent automation platform for drivers considering the psychological condition instability and behaviours for a sustainable and safe transportation system Dr Ng Kam-hung, Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering  

PolyU hosted Academic Symposium on Carbon Neutrality and Smart and Healthy City to foster research collaboration between Hong Kong SAR and China

Aiming at enhancing the scientific research collaboration between Hong Kong SAR and China, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) held the 2022 Academic Symposium on Carbon Neutral and Smart and Healthy City on 29-30 August 2022. The event is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Beijing-Hong Kong Academic Exchange Centre (BHKAEC). Academic exchanges have been taken place to establish future research directions and explore innovative solutions in achieving carbon neutrality and building a smart healthy city. The two-day hybrid symposium gathered 33 renowned scientists from 16 universities in Hong Kong and China to share research findings in 5 major areas including "Carbon Neutrality and Sustainable Development", "Low Carbon Land and Urban Development", "Key Technologies for Smart and Energy-flexible Buildings in High-density Cities towards Carbon Neutrality", "Towards Future Smart Cities", and "Carbon Neutral Construction Materials". Top researchers also discussed strategies for reducing carbon emissions, accelerating the transformation of energy systems towards smart and zero-carbon healthy city, thus supporting the Nation’s achievement of the “dual carbon goals” with technological measures on energy system transformation, energy conservation and reduction of industries’ energy consumption and emission, strategic technology planning, and carbon capture.  Professor Jin-Guang Teng, President of PolyU, addressed on the opening ceremony that PolyU established PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (PAIR) in 2021 to facilitate interdisciplinary research and provide innovative solutions to global challenges such as climate change, population aging and food shortage. In order to achieve carbon neutrality, advanced technology and excellent talents are essential. Professor Teng hoped that the presentations and sharing of scholars from both sides in the two-day symposium would bring new ideas and thoughts to the development of "Smart Zero Carbon Emissions City". Mr. Zhang Yongtao, Officer of the Office of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Affairs of the NSFC remarked, “The symposium provides a platform for experts from Hong Kong and the Inland to exchange scientific progress and showcase their research results around the major strategy of carbon neutrality, and explore the hot issues at the forefront of a carbon-neutral smart and healthy city, and to build scientific consensus.” He also pointed out that NSFC attaches great importance to the scientific cooperation and exchange between the Inland and Hong Kong, and introduced the channels for Hong Kong researchers to receive direct support from NSFC in 2022.  The Symposium is co-organised by the PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (PAIR) and Research and Innovation Office (RIO). RIO, as a forward-looking department in the University, is devoted to propelling the University’s technology development and advances to benefit the society by providing all-rounded support to facilitate research endeavours within the PolyU community, and foster partnerships among universities, industries, governments, supranational bodies, and the public. PAIR is a central research platform consisting 16 research institutes and research centres which aspire to be a world leader in providing inter-disciplinary solutions for major social challenges. Among those, 5 research institutes have actively involved in facilitating carbon neutrality and smart healthy city, namely, Research Institute for Land and Space, Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development, Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute, Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Research Institute for Smart Energy and Research Centre for Resources Engineering towards Carbon Neutrality.

PolyU Scientist Dr Ren Jingzheng Wins the 2022 APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education

Dr Ren Jingzheng, Associate Professor of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), has been selected as the only winner of the 2022 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE Prize), in recognition of his scientific contribution commitment to excellence in scientific research and spirit of cooperation with scientists from other APEC member economies under the 2022 ASPIRE Prize theme of “Innovation to achieve economic, environmental, and social goals”. PolyU is the only higher education institution in Hong Kong to have had two young scientists honoured with this prestigious award in a decade. Prof Christopher Chao, Vice President (Research and Innovation), congratulated Dr Ren and remarked, “PolyU is dedicated to conducting cutting-edge research to achieve sustainable development. As a member of PolyU’s Research Centre for Resources Engineering towards Carbon Neutrality, Dr Ren has greatly contributed to sustainability through his influential research, promoting the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. We are proud of our young scholars who are pioneering and applying innovative solutions to bring advancement to society, the Asia Pacific, and the world.” Dr Ren stood out among the 13 remarkable nominees this year and was well recognised by the APEC Policy Partnership on Science, Technology, and Innovation (PPSTI) representatives. The award ceremony was held on 21 August in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Dr Ren mainly focuses on waste-to-energy, circular economy, industrial ecology, and process systems engineering. As the originator of “sustainability-oriented decision-making and optimisation” that simultaneously considers economic, environmental and social goals, multiple research outcomes from him and his team have attracted the attention and interest of academics and industries and have been applied in various fields, such as sustainable design and optimisation of complex industrial systems, energy conservation and emissions mitigation of the wastewater treatment processes, valorisation of medical waste and sewage sludge, and converting agricultural waste into energy or value-added products. “It is my great honour to win this prize. I appreciate the support of my colleagues, my department and PolyU. This good news heartened me, and I know I should insist on what I am working on-using systems thinking to solve energy and environmental problems in industrial systems and using innovative ways to achieve economic, environmental and social sustainability simultaneously.” Dr Ren said. Besides the broad collaborations with scientists from other APEC member economies, he also plans to promote the new concept proposed by him, “scientific decision-making for the colocalisation of the complex industrial system”, and the waste-to-energy processes to energy-intensive industries and waste recycling industry of APEC member economies for a more sustainable future, as well as helping to achieve a successful transition to the Bio-Circular-Green economy. Dr Ren talked about his future target, “I am more enthusiastic about combining “hard technologies” with “soft science” organically to innovatively break through the limitations of the traditional thinking of industry, namely developing carbon-neutral and zero-waste oriented multi-scale global decision-making methodology to promote achieving zero carbon emission and 100% waste recycling in industrial systems.” Outstanding academic performance is one of the requirements. Dr Ren has published more than 180 journal papers, authored a book, and eleven of his papers have been rated as the ESI top 1% highly cited papers. After joining PolyU, he was ranked in the World’s Top 2% Scientists on Stanford University List in both 2020 and 2021. The ASPIRE Prize is an annual award which recognises young scientists who are under the age of 40 and have demonstrated a commitment to both excellence in scientific research, as evidenced by scholarly publication, and cooperation with scientists from other APEC member economies, including inclusive and interdisciplinary collaborations. 

PolyU Young Scholar’s Research Helps to Identify Children with Developmental Language Disorders in Early Stage Awarded MOST Major Project on Brain Science

To help identify children with developmental language disorders in the early stage and to reveal the impact of sleep activities on language development, a project led by Dr Zhang Caicai, Associate Professor of the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), has been awarded funding from the National programme Sci-Tech Innovation 2030 – “Brain Science and Brain-like Research” Major Project (Young Scientist category), with a total amount of RMB 5M.  This is the only project in Hong Kong supported by this programme in the area of brain cognition mechanisms this year. Dr Zhang's research team has conducted extensive work in the research fields of language acquisition, language disorders and neurolinguistics in children and achieved fruitful results. She also has formed an international cross-disciplinary team led by PolyU with the participation of Georgetown University, the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, including experts in neurolinguistics, speech therapists, pediatric brain imaging specialists, psychologists and geneticists. The awarded project is entitled “Neurocognitive markers for typical language development and language disorders in children: A longitudinal study based on long-term memory, sleep and brain development”.  This project will adopt a longitudinal approach to track 100 physiologically healthy Cantonese-speaking children in Hong Kong from the age of three to seven years old for five years, assessing their long-term memory, language and sleep activities every year, including language assessments and diagnoses of language disorders.  Dr Zhang remarked, "The age of three to seven is not only an important stage for children's speech, language and literacy development but also a golden time for diagnosing developmental disorders of speech and language, stuttering, and dyslexia.” This project will introduce novel sleep research to reveal how long-term sleep quality and post-learning brain oscillatory activities contribute to declarative and procedural memory consolidation and the development of these memory circuitries over time.  Dr Zhang said, "Sleep plays a vital role in children's cognitive development, including long-term memory and language development. Our team hopes this research can inform educational policies such as the optimal sleep duration during childhood. By tracking the development of children’s brain function and structure, this project will generate a new model of the development of brain circuitries subserving long-term memory, depict the dynamic development of brain anatomy and structural connectivity, and create a database of child brain growth. These outcomes will shed light on the optimisation of language assessment, diagnostic tools, and evidence-based language interventions for children. Launched by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the "Brain Science and Brain-like Research" Major Project involves five research areas and 59 topics with total funding beyond 31 billion.

PolyU Joins Innovation Hub@HK to Promote Commercialisation and Technology Transfer to the Industry and the Greater Bay Area

Organised by the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC), the launch ceremony of the Innovation Hub@HK website was held on 18 Aug 2022.  As one of the participating research institutions, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is honoured to take part in this campaign jointly with other top-notch research institutes to showcase the Research and Development outcomes to facilitate commercialisation and technology transfer to the industry, the Greater Bay Area, and beyond the longer term. PolyU President Prof Jin-Guang Teng, Vice President (Research and Innovation) Prof Christopher Chao, and PolyU experts were invited to join this festive launch ceremony. This dedicated website will act as an access for the industry to discover and explore more about the deliverables of the applied research work of Hong Kong’s top researchers. It also marked the beginning of further collaborations among the quangos and universities.  A wide range of incredible innovations developed by PolyU could be found on the following website:  https://www.innovationhub.hk/

PolyU Scholar’s Pioneering Efforts in Colour Science Awarded China’s Excellent Young Scientists Fund

Dedicated to pioneering works in the field of colour science, Dr Tommy Minchen Wei, Associate Professor from the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, has been awarded funding from the National’s 2022 Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macau) with a total amount of RMB 2 million.  Dr Wei has been continuously conducting research on fundamental colour science, and the research outcomes have contributed to the further understanding of human visual system and mechanisms, in order to investigate and improve the quality of lighting and imaging systems. The awarded project he led, namely “Colour Appearance Model and Colour Space”, aims to investigate colour appearance and difference under complicated conditions. The research findings can be used for various imaging systems, such as cameras, displays, smartphones, tablets, drones, and metaverse-related systems, which will be of great scientific and practical importance for colour science and industry. Under the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macau) aims to support young scholars (under the age of 38 for male or 40 for female) who have attained achievements in basic research and conducted innovative research in their chosen fields, fostering them to be internationally leading scholars.  

PolyU Joins a World-leading Catalysis Research Consortium to Accelerate Carbon Neutrality

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) joins a world-leading catalysis research consortium launched by Johnson Matthey (JM), together with Fudan University (Fudan), Xiamen University (Xiamen), and University of Oxford (Oxford), working in partnership to accelerate global carbon neutrality goals using a novel formic acid strategy. Through the collaboration, PolyU hopes to bring formic acid to a cutting-edge solution for sustainable chemical processes and provide a new level of innovation, focus and ambition to confront challenges in green catalysis and sustainable chemistry. The consortium is a world-leading catalysis and chemistry group with each member’s specialities, working together on scientific research focussed on how CO2 can be used in green bulk chemicals production.  Dr Mark Su, President – China at Johnson Matthey, said, “We know we can only accelerate progress through strategic partnerships. By working with world-leading universities, collectively we will be able to acquire and leverage technological capabilities which can help to provide the low carbon solutions that help China achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.” PolyU team led by Dr Molly Li, Assistant Professor of the Department of Applied Physics, proposed using carbon and hydrogen atoms from green formic acid to facilitate a heterogeneous hydroformylation route and deliver industrially important substances without using any fossil fuel sources. Dr Li remarked, “Leveraging PolyU’s expertise in surface science and in-situ spectroscopy, as well as our strength in advanced characterisation facilities, we will pave the way toward new class of heterogeneous catalysts to make industrially important chemical processes clean and green.”    About Johnson Matthey (JM) JM is an international chemical manufacturing company founded almost 200 years ago in London. As a global leader in sustainable technologies, JM has applied cutting-edge science to create solutions with a worldwide customer base through continued investment in sound research and development. JM has been leading this field to apply unrivalled scientific expertise to enable cleaner air, improved health and more efficient use of natural resources.    About PolyU Department of Applied Physics (AP) PolyU AP has long been engaging in top-notch scientific research activities, which is well-equipped with more than 30 laboratories and has benefited from the world-class research facilities in various university-managed research facilities. To pursue world-leading research and innovations that impact the scientific community and regional industries, the researchers are also actively involved in industrial collaborations and consultancy projects, contributing to the technological development.

Three PolyU Outstanding Scholars Awarded RGC Senior Research Fellow 2022/23

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has been awarded three of the ten grants under the Research Grants Council's (RGC) Senior Research Fellow Scheme (SRFS) 2022/23, another testament to PolyU scholars’ accomplishments and research excellence.   The successful PolyU scholars are Prof. SUN Defeng, Chair Professor of Applied Optimization and Operations Research and Head of the Department of Applied Mathematics; Prof. LI Gang, Sir Sze-yuen Chung Endowed Professor in Renewable Energy in the Department of Electronic and Information Engineering; and Prof. CHAN Ko-ling Edward, Professor of the Department of Applied Social Sciences. Their research in the areas of applied mathematics, material sciences, and social work and public health has been awarded a total of HKD 23 million SRFS funding. The RGC’s Senior Research Fellow Scheme aims to provide sustained support to exceptionally outstanding researchers at UGC-funded universities in Hong Kong, with a view to facilitating their dedication to research and development and to helping universities attract and retain research talent. The Scheme provides ten grants to scholars from any academic disciplines in each round of the annual exercise. Nominees are assessed based on various criteria that include leadership quality and vision in the chosen area of research, the merit of the research proposal and the support provided by the university.  Prof. Christopher CHAO, Vice President (Research and Innovation) of PolyU, congratulated all awardees and said, “After a rigorous assessment process, our three researchers were recognised for their research capabilities, contributions and the potential impact of their proposed research projects. We are proud of their outstanding research. This achievement also recognizes the efforts of the PolyU research teams in promoting and conducting multifaceted research.” Details of the awardees and their research projects: Prof. Sun Defeng, Chair Professor of Applied Optimization and Operations Research, and Head of the Department of Applied Mathematics Research Project: “Nonlinear Conic Programming: Theory, Algorithms and Software” Nonlinear conic programming (NLCOP) lies at the core of optimisation research which involves the design of efficient algorithms to solve mathematical problems of optimisation under constraints. This project will focus on NLCOP problems when the constraint set is C2-cone reducible. Prof. Sun’s team will design non-smooth Newton-type algorithms and augmented Lagrangian methods for solving NLCOP problems. They will also develop an efficient optimisation solver for addressing a class of virtual instances of NLCOP issues. Furthermore, researchers will investigate reinforcement machine learning techniques to solve NLCOP problems faster. The success of this project will contribute to a broad range of important applications including the sixth-generation wireless communication technology (6G), investment portfolio management, financial risk management, supply chain management, production planning and automatic driving. Prof. Li Gang, Sir Sze-yuen Chung Endowed Professor in Renewable Energy in the Department of Electronic and Information Engineering  Research Project: “Printable Organic Solar Cells: Materials and Device Investigations towards Applications” Organic solar cell (OSC) is an emerging photovoltaic (PV) technology with distinct advantages in many areas, such as flexible/portable PV, building integrated PV and transparent power applications. Aiming at accelerating the OSC technology, this project proposed systematic materials and device structure investigation of new photoactive materials, stable transport materials, innovative ternary OSC active layer engineering, a novel approach for transparent OSC and printing technology. The project will significantly push forward OSC technology in terms of high efficiency, operation stability, compatibility with unique applications and being printing friendly. The proposed research represents a new frontier for OSC technology, which integrates chemistry, physics and material science to generate new perspectives in science and come up with solutions to challenging issues in renewable energy. Prof. Chan Ko-ling Edward, Professor of Department of Applied Social Sciences  Research Project: “Family Polyvictimization and Social Policy Responses in East Asian Societies” Prof. Edward Chan is the first to examine family poly-victimization (FPV), which refers to the co-occurrence of at least three types of family violence, including intimate partner violence, child abuse and elder abuse. He has developed innovative methodologies and digital assessment tools to measure FPV accurately. This project will be conducted in five East Asian cities, namely Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul and Taipei. With cross-culture data from East Asian families, this project will examine the effects of traditional East Asian cultural practices and develop clinical protocols and policies in response to FPV. Findings will shed light on the application of early detection mechanisms for FPV by adopting a family-oriented approach and using the family as the basic unit of service. It will also facilitate the development of integrated prevention and multi-disciplinary collaboration in East Asian contexts. The improvements in social policy and service delivery approach aim to bring very significant social impact and benefits to families victimised by FPV and to East Asian cities as a whole.  

PolyU-made Space Instruments for Lunar Sample Acquisition awarded The Science and Technology Progress Award

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) designed and manufactured the state-of-the-art “Surface Sampling and Packing System”, which successfully contributed to the National’s Chang’e 5 mission for lunar sample acquisition. This historical invention was awarded “The Science and Technology Progress Award -  2nd Class” (科學技術進步獎-二等獎) by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) in recognition of PolyU’s scientific innovation and technological advancement, and also received an appreciation letter from The China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) for the University’s contribution to space instruments. The Chang’e 5 mission in 2020 was not only China’s first undertaking to acquire rocks and soil from the Moon’s surface but also the world's first attempt to do so for more than 40 years. PolyU was the only tertiary institution in Hong Kong to contribute to the Chang'e 5 mission. The PolyU-developed system “Surface Sampling and Packing System” is a highly sophisticated invention that uses robotic technology for lunar sample acquisition – an unprecedented method. It was developed by a research team led by Professor Yung Kai-leung , Sir Sze-yuen Chung Professor in Precision Engineering, Director of Research Centre of Deep Space Explorations, Chair Professor of Precision Engineering & Associate Head, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. Prof Yung has also been individually bestowed “The Science and Technology Progress Award -  2nd Class".  For more details on the “Surface Sampling and Packing System”, please visit:  PolyU’s space instruments contribute to Nation’s first lunar sample return mission   

PolyU InnoTech Open Day showcases the University's contributions to I&T development via world-class education, interdisciplinary research, knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today held the PolyU InnoTech Open Day on campus to showcase the University’s latest endeavours in education, interdisciplinary research, knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship which are helping to empower the innovation and technology (I&T) development of Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and beyond. The Open Day, a signature PolyU 85th Anniversary event, was specially designed for entrepreneurs, industry partners, start-ups, researchers, young talents, secondary school students and parents. Professor Dong SUN, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the HKSAR Government, Ms Rebecca PUN, Commissioner for Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR Government, Mr LIU Maozhou, Inspector of the Department of Educational, Scientific and Technological Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in HKSAR, Dr LAM Tai-fai, PolyU’s Council Chairman, Dr Lawrence LI, Deputy Council Chairman, Dr Roy CHUNG, Honorary Court Chairman, and Professor Jin-Guang TENG, President, Professor Wing-Tak WONG, Deputy President and Provost, and Dr Miranda LOU, Executive Vice President, officiated at the Opening Ceremony of the event today. Another highlight of the event was the inspiring lecture given by Sir Michael HOUGHTON, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2020, on the topic of “Eliminating hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection as a major public health threat” via video conferencing. Professor Dong Sun, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, said, “Over the years, PolyU has been playing a long-supporting and pioneering role in driving the I&T development in Hong Kong. With the government’s solid commitment to the I&T development, coupling with our strong capabilities in scientific research and academic excellence of our universities, Hong Kong’s I&T ecosystem is flourishing and increasingly vibrant.” Professor Jin-Guang Teng, President of PolyU, said, “The development of a vibrant innovation & technology industry is key to the future success of Hong Kong, and has received very strong support from both the central government and the Hong Kong SAR government. I am sure the new term of government will put in more resources for accelerating I&T development in Hong Kong. PolyU aims to play a significant role in this area, and today’s event exemplifies our efforts.” The Opening Ceremony also marked the inauguration of the PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (PAIR). PAIR is the largest research platform of its kind in Hong Kong and the GBA to foster interdisciplinary research, partnership with world-renowned scholars, and the transfer of technologies to stakeholders. PAIR aspires to be a world leader in providing interdisciplinary solutions for major societal challenges, and its research focuses on frontier areas such as artificial intelligence, carbon neutrality, deep space exploration, smart cities, smart energy, and many more. Professor Christopher Chao, Vice President (Research and Innovation) of PolyU, said, “There are a number of societal challenges facing us every day, from poverty to hunger, and from climate change issues to how to build a sustainable city. Interdisciplinary research solutions can be used to tackle many of these world challenges. We hope to make an impact on Hong Kong, the GBA and the world.” The six winners of the newly launched PolyU Young Innovative Researcher Award (YIRA) 2022 and 10 winning teams of the President’s Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Knowledge Transfer (KT) were also presented with the awards at the ceremony. YIRA is a university-level award to recognise young faculty members whose research demonstrates excellence in addressing global challenges (for the full list of awardees, please visit https://polyu.me/3yFmQn3), while the President’s Awards for Outstanding Achievement in KT recognises impactful projects that demonstrate contributions in advancing technological or industry standards through application of PolyU’s research and innovations (for the full list of awardees, please visit https://polyu.me/3O8QRkU). In addition to the Opening Ceremony, a series of activities were held throughout the day, providing visitors with an excellent opportunity to learn more about PolyU’s contributions to I&T, as well as to explore academic, entrepreneurial and collaboration opportunities. The start-up pitching and PolyU unicorn sharing sessions not only highlighted the impressive achievements and innovations of start-ups nurtured by the University but also allowed young future entrepreneurs to broaden their exposure and expedite ideation. The Research & Innovation breakout sessions featured novel and frontier topics related to life sciences, smart cities, neurohealth, future society, energy technology for carbon-neutrality, healthy food and lifestyle management, future manufacturing, artificial intelligence of things and intelligent wearable systems. These sessions served as a platform for industry practitioners and PolyU expert researchers to exchange views on technology innovation and development, collaboration, industry trends and applications. For secondary school students who are curious about the learning experience at PolyU, there were student consultation booths, info seminars about academic programmes, campus life sharing sessions and themed tours to various campus facilities and labs. There were also showcases of PolyU's newly established CURI Residential College and STARS Residential College – the former supports undergraduate students in conducting scientific research under the guidance of University professors; and the latter provides talented students in sports, art, social services, leadership and STEM with a vibrant living and learning environment to foster holistic development. To add more excitement to the event, visitors were greeted by two special guests, the artificially intelligent robots Sophia and Grace, created and programmed by Hanson Robotics, a Hong Kong-based humanoid robotics company. Sophia is also the first robot in the world to be granted citizenship and the first robot Innovation Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme. Thanks to The Hong Kong Jockey Club, there was an exclusive contemporary art showcase of 400 mini Drago Cavallo (dragon horses), a contemporary expression of Chinese culture and a symbol of inspiration designed by renowned artist Simon Ma, to spread positivity on campus during the Open Day.