The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has recently swept multiple leading international awards, gaining recognition at the International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva 2023, the Cloud track of the Asia Pacific Huawei ICT Competition and the 13th Challenge Cup China College Students’ Entrepreneurship Competition. The awards mark important milestones in CUHK’s innovative research journey, while the opening of the CUHK Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Research Institute (Futian) (FITRI) is the icing on the cake.

CUHK’s new chapter in contributing to the national innovation and technology (I&T) agenda

The university marked an important milestone during its 60th anniversary year, recently unveiling the CUHK Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Research Institute (Futian) (FITRI). As a world-class university in Hong Kong, CUHK emphasises engagement across a variety of areas with mainland Chinese partners. To further integrate into national development and contribute to the scientific and technological development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), CUHK established FITRI to further leverage its strengths as a super-connector in the innovation and technology industry.

Photo 1: (From left) Mr Huang Wei, Secretary of the Futian District Committee, Mr Wang Youming, Party Chief of the Shenzhen Science, Technology and Innovation Commission, Mr Wang Daping, Vice-Chairman of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Mr Yang Shengjun, member of the Party Leadership Group of the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Goverment, Professor Rocky S. Tuan, Vice-Chancellor and President of CUHK, Professor Alan K. L. Chan, Provost of CUHK, Professor Chan Wai-yee, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Strategic Developments) of CUHK, Professor Sham Mai-har, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) of CUHK, and Professor Qin Ling, Director of the CUHK Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Research Institute (Futian) (FITRI).

Reaping 26 awards at the International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva 2023

At the International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva 2023, the largest global exhibition devoted exclusively to inventions, CUHK’s researchers won 26 awards, including 6 Gold Medals with congratulations of the jury, 2 other Gold Medals, 11 Silver Medals and 7 Bronze Medals.

Among the 6 Gold Medals with congratulations of the jury, two of them were special prizes: the Prize of the International Federation of Inventors’ Association – IFIA Award and the Prize of the Saudi Arabian Delegation. The Prize of Saudi Arabian Delegation awardees were Professor Raymond Tong Kai-yu, Xie Disheng and Su Yujie from the Department of Biomedical Engineering. They developed ExoMuscle, a powerful wearable artificial muscle that outperforms the human skeletal muscle in all joints in the body and can be customised to different sizes.

In addition, Professor Thomas Leung Yun-chung, Professor of the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology and Lo Ka Chung Charitable Foundation Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor Alisa Shum Sau-wun, Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences of the Faculty of Medicine of CUHK worked on the project “A Barginase: First-in-class Drug for Treatment of Multiple Obesity-related Metabolic Diseases”, and was recognised with the Prize of the International Federation of Inventors’ Association – IFIA Award. Their invention is the world’s first therapy that treats multiple metabolic diseases related to obesity and insulin resistance, including type 2 diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, via arginine starvation.

Photo 2: (From left) Dr Gene Man, Knowledge Transfer Events Manager of the Office of Research and Knowledge Transfer Services, Professor Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Raymond Tong, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Professor Alisa Shum, School of Biomedical Sciences.

Triumphs on largest Chinese youth’s entrepreneurship platform

CUHK’s students won four awards at the 13th Challenge Cup China College Students’ Entrepreneurship Competition, including a gold prize and a silver prize in the Science and Technology Innovation and Future Industry category, a bronze prize in the Social Governance and Public Service category, and another bronze prize in the Eco-friendly and Sustainable Development category.

With the guidance of Professor Cheng Shing-shin, two PhD students in CUHK’s Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Chen Jibiao and Yan Junyan, invented a robotic cannula for minimally invasive intracerebral hemorrhage evacuation, and earning them the gold prize in the Science and Technology Innovation and Future Industry category. This new type of neurosurgical robotic cannula can also be used for other neurosurgical and interventional procedures that require nonlinear trajectories. Yuan Sishen and Yue Wenchao from the Department of Electronic Engineering won the silver prize in the same category for their project Independent Magnetic Control of Anchoring and Drug Release for Wireless Capsule Robots. The competition also recognised outstanding research in the social and environmental field by CUHK students. Chan Kam-kwan from the Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology developed a novel, effective formula for cancer drug resistance using natural, Chinese medicine-derived compounds, and won the bronze prize in the Social Governance and Public Service category. Liu Min from the Department of Chemistry developed phase-separated Multienzyme Complexes, which can be used for the efficient production of farnesene, and received the bronze prize in the Eco-friendly and Sustainable Development category.

Photo 3: CUHK’s Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering PhD students Yan Junyan (left) and Chen Jibiao.

CUHK students will represent the Asia-Pacific region in the global competition

Recently, the Huawei Asia-Pacific ICT Competition 2023 was held in Indonesia. It aims to empower students and teachers to stay ahead of the curve and drive innovation in the industry. CUHK students Zhang Wenyu, Zhang Haoyu and Chu Chun-to formed the team “Cloud Players” and stood out from more than 4,800 competitors from various world-class universities and colleges in the competition. As the first prize winners, the team will represent the Asia-Pacific region in the global competition.

Photo 4: Winners of the Cloud Track in Huawei ICT Competition