The
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) recently
partnered Chiaphua Industries Limited (CIL) to open the HKUST-CIL Joint Laboratory of Innovative
Environmental Health Technologies. The Joint Lab aims to nurture
cutting-edge research in environmental health technologies to enhance the
quality of the environment as well as health and well-being of individuals and
communities.
The establishment of the Joint Lab will provide a platform
for translating conceptual ideas and laboratory research on innovative
environmental health technologies into tangible products that address urgent
community needs, creating tremendous societal and commercial value at large.
The Joint Lab will not only strive for research excellence,
but also actively engage in the areas of technology translation, product
conceptualization, scaling-up and manufacturing, quality assurance and user
experience. The Joint Lab will also provide HKUST postgraduate and
undergraduate students with invaluable training on lab research, product
development and field test studies to enhance their career opportunities and
entrepreneurial skills.
Acting President of HKUST Prof Wei Shyy believes that the
Joint Lab marks a major step forward in our concerted effort to drive research
and innovation. It will integrate the strong industry experience of the
industry partner and research expertise of HKUST to further extend both
parties’ global impact by delivering more ground-breaking products for the
health of the society and the environment.
In the next two years, the Joint Lab aims to translate three
HKUST technologies into viable commercial products. The longer-term goal is to
develop next-generation smart technologies through innovation in materials to
improve our health and environment and to address the needs of a greying
population and emerging health threats. It will receive funding from HKUST’s
industry partner for the coming five years.
The team will work closely with the Hospital Authority, Centre for Health Protection, Water Supplies Department,
Drainage Services Department,
and also non-governmental organisations including Haven of Hope Christian Service to create
better products and to assess their performance under practical use situations
for making enhancements.
The Joint Lab will also establish a global network of
partners including the Guangzhou State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Advanced Microscopy Laboratory in Spain, Kobe
Centre for Membrane and Film Technology in Japan, and Virus Research
Center, Clinical Research Division, National Hospital Organization, Sendai
Medical Center in Japan to further strengthen the capability of the laboratory.
The HKUST-CIL Joint Laboratory of Innovative Environmental
Health Technologies will be led by Prof King Lun Yeung, Prof Joseph Kwan, and
Dr Wei Han from the Department
of Chemical & Biological Engineering and Division of Environment &
Sustainability (ENVR).
The opening ceremony was followed by an
introduction session on HKUST’s research projects, with students giving
demonstrations of the smart disinfection technologies developed at HKUST.
