KE Spotlight - Community Engagement - HKU Knowledge Exchange

HKU spin-off artificial intelligence startup closes Series Pre-A round led by Horizons Ventures

Fano Labs, a Hong Kong-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup specialising in speech and natural language processing (NLP) technologies and a spin-off from HKU, raised a Series Pre-A round led by Horizons Ventures. The company was co-founded in 2015 by Dr Miles Wen, a PhD graduate from HKU and Professor Victor O.K. Li, Head of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at HKU. With Fano Labs' technical focus in Chinese dialects processing and analysis, the funds raised will fuel the company's expansion into the billion-dollar Chinese call centre industry, where many of these calls are in various Chinese dialects. As of today, the company has already developed speech and NLP technologies for Cantonese and Sichuanese, in addition to English and Mandarin.

HKU research team develops economical new liquid-repellent material

The new material developed by the research team in HKU Faculty of Engineering using microfluidic-droplet-based technique can repel water and oil, a breakthrough that could eliminate laundry. Research team leader Professor Wang Liqiu and his student Dr Zhu Pingan said they were inspired by springtail cuticles, and the new material, in the form of a coating, yields robust liquid-repellency with enhanced mechanical durability. There is also the possibility of mass production at a low cost of about HK$1 per square metre, which was much cheaper than commercially available products such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) water-repellent film. Professor Wang added that the materials used for the coating are non-toxic and few fabrics or finishes on the market could achieve such properties.

Knowledge Exchange Awards 2017

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 2017 Faculty KE Awards are now available.

HKU partners with Cyberport to set up digital tech entrepreneurship platform to support start-ups

HKU and Hong Kong Cyberport signed a memorandum of understanding to set up the HKU x Cyberport Digital Tech Entrepreneurship Platform to provide support to digital tech start-ups spanning the aspects of human capital, innovation and technologies, entrepreneurship, and legal and business expertise. At the launch of HKU's FinTech Nucleus at Cyberport, SHIELD, a cyber security technology developed by the HKU Center for Information Security and Cryptography was showcased. A portfolio optimisation software "PORTimizer®" and MPF mobile app "MPF Optimal Allocation" developed by the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science was also demonstrated.

HKU mechanical engineering students won the Airbus Fly Your Ideas 2017 global student competition

Team DAELead, a team of four third-year mechanical engineering students from The University of Hong Kong, has been selected by an expert team of judges as the winner ofthe Airbus Fly Your Ideas 2017 global student competition. Team DAELead beat fierce global competition to win the €30,000 first prize with their effective design for a Private Stowage Compartment (PSC) underneath passenger’s feet. The HKU team was among the top 5 teams, shortlisted from 365 entries globally, to spend a week at the Airbus ProtoSpace facility in Toulouse, France to visualise, prototype and test their ideas using state-of-the-art equipment, before presenting them at the final.

HKU Faculty of Engineering, Hong Kong Observatory, and Hong Kong Meteorological Society hold earthquake detector design competition

The Earthquake Detector Design Competition was jointly organised by the HKU Faculty of Engineering, Hong Kong Observatory, and Hong Kong Meteorological Society, under the project titled "Earthquake in Hong Kong?", which was supported by HKU Knowledge Exchange Fund granted by University Grants Committee. The competition aims to enhance knowledge of and interest in information technology and seismological instrumentation among the young generations. Over 450 participants from primary, secondary and international schools ranging from Primary 4 to Secondary 6 joined the competition. The Yaumati Catholic Primary School (Hoi Wang Road) was the champion of the junior category, and Christian Alliance Cheng Wing Gee College Team 2 was the champion of the senior category.

HKU scientists achieve breakthrough in laser imaging; 100 times faster than existing technology

Dr Kevin Tsia, Associate Professor in Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at HKU and his research team developed a new laser-scanning imaging technique that overcomes the limitations of existing technologies, providing more than 100 times faster in scan speed with high image resolution. The new technique could empower new discovery in basic scientific research, with potential applications in a new generation of biomedical microscopy for precise and early diagnosis of diseases including cancers. Dubbed free-space angular-chirp-enhanced delay (FACED) imaging, at the heart of the technique is the “infinity mirror” – a pair of parallel mirrors. Researchers applied this “device” with a subtle twist (~ 0.01 degree). They combine ultrafast pulsed laser and a “tilted” mirror-pair to create an ultrafast sweeping laser beam. Combining FACED imaging with microfluidic technology, the team demonstrated high-resolution and high-throughput single-cell imaging at 10,000 to 100 000 cells per second, which is almost 100 times faster than current microscopy. Such a high throughput imaging could be particularly beneficial for cancer diagnosis by providing an effective and efficient method to detect rare cancer cells in a pool of billions of blood cells.