KE Spotlight - Community Engagement - HKU Knowledge Exchange

Faculty Knowledge Exchange Awards 2018

The annual Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Awards recognise each Faculty’s outstanding KE accomplishment that has made demonstrable economic, social or cultural impacts to benefit the community, business/industry, or partner organisations. Results of the 2018 Faculty KE Awards are now available.

HKU students publish field guide on poisonous plants in Hong Kong

Students from the HKUSU Ecology & Biodiversity Society recently published a guide book named “Poisonous Plant Field Trip: Field Guide”, originally intended for their Poisonous Plant Field Trip held in June to teach participants on identifying poisonous plants in Hong Kong. The printed version of this field guide were only given to the participants of the field trip and the eVersion is now also available online to the public.

HKU research team calls for environmental conservation of Hong Kong quarries

An HKU research team led by Dr Poon Sun-wah, Adjunct Professor of the Department of Real Estate and Construction, spoke of the history and heritage of quarrying in Hong Kong. An exhibition entitled "The Legend of Rocks: Destiny of Quarries" is now showing at the City Gallery in Central until September 10. Currently, the only quarry remaining in Hong Kong is the Lam Tei Quarry, meeting less than 10% of local demand. While the Government is interested in developing new quarries to supply local needs, the research team believes that environmental conservation should be fully considered in the planning stage and be included in the developmental blueprint with reference to foreign conservation experience.

HKU invents world’s first Smart Address Plate System

HKU developed the world’s first Smart Address Plate System (SAP), which is more accurate in navigating than the widely used GPS. Professor Anthony Yeh, Chair Professor of the Department of Urban Planning and Design in HKU, explained that while GPS has an average error of 10 to 30 meters and does not work well indoors, SAP can pinpoint the exact location of the user, allowing the user to find his way to both outdoor and indoor destinations easily via a single mobile app. It also reduces the error to a range of 1 to 3 meters. The system consists of three components: the smart address plate with a Bluetooth proximity sensing device, smart address coding system and a smart address plate management system.

Compared to other navigation systems available on the market, SAP is the most economic option. Installing SAP in a 30,000 square-foot, five-storey mall with 300 shops would cost around HK$700,000 and on average HK$2,800 for each shop. The team is filing a patent related to this new invention, and is discussing with the government, major shopping malls and office buildings regarding its application so that Hong Kong can become the first city in the world to use this set of innovative system.

HKU Faculty of Law launches DIY Residential Tenancy Agreement E-Package

A team of students from HKU Faculty of Law led by Principal Lecturer Ms Dora Chan and Adjunct Associate Professor Mr Edmund Cham has prepared an “E-package of DIY Residential Tenancy Agreement” to provide the public with free and easy access to a residential tenancy agreement template and a set of guidance notes on the stamping, registration and filing of Form CR 109 for a residential tenancy agreement. The template allows tenants to enter into a tenancy agreement for their residential homes independently, without the costs and trouble of engaging a lawyer or an estate agent. The tenancy agreement template also contains typical terms governing the rights and liabilities of both the landlord and the tenant.

Conservation Forensics Helping to Fight Illegal Wildlife Trafficking

Illegal wildlife trafficking is the fourth most lucrative criminal trade in the world and is estimated to generate up to US$20 billion in illicit revenue a year. Millions of animals and plants are traded every year threatening the survival of many endangered species. With more species on the brink of extinction, illegal profits surging and with no sign that the trade is slowing down, HKU School of Biological Sciences has adopted conservation forensics to provide authorities investigating illegal wildlife trafficking with accurate scientific data to use against traffickers. Watch the full video.

HKU Faculty of Engineering, Hong Kong Observatory, and Hong Kong Meteorological Society hold Ultraviolet Radiation Measurement and Application Design Competition

The Ultraviolet Radiation Measurement and Application Design Competition was jointly organised by the HKU Faculty of Engineering, Hong Kong Observatory, and Hong Kong Meteorological Society, under the project titled “The invisible ultra-violet (UV) radiation” and supported by the HKU Knowledge Exchange Fund granted bythe University Grants Committee. This competition aims to strengthen students' ability to integrate and apply knowledge and skills in engineering and meteorology, to increase public awareness and understanding of UV radiation and its effects on health, and to promote correct attitudes towards UV protection. Over 400 participants ranging from primary 4 to secondary 6 joined the competition. The participants all gathered at the project exhibition and judging cum award presentation ceremony held on April 29, 2018 at HKU. The event attracted over 500 public visitors who were invited to vote for their favourite UV radiation measurement devices and applications. PLK Women's Welfare Club Western District Fung Lee Pui Yiu Primary School and Aberdeen Technical School were selected as the champions in the primary school and secondary school categories respectively.