June 2023

A smart Far UVC system for effective inactivation of surface and airborne bacteria and viruses

Innovation Wing Two, Third exhibition / By

The spread of pathogenic microorganisms in public spaces poses a great threat to human health.

Professor Leung’s team develops a system using far ultraviolet C (UVC) light (wavelength: 222nm) for surface and air disinfection in an actual environment without affecting the normal usage of the area.
Many studies indicated that Far UVC will not create harmful effect on testing creatures such as mice. To further strengthen the safety use of the device for disinfection, the system will not irradiate far UVC light in the presence of people in the area so it will be totally safe in using it.

“Introduction to Electric Vehicle” – A STEAM outreach education workshop

Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, SIG project, Workshops / By

Formula Student UK is an educational engineering competition. The competition aims to develop enterprising and innovative young engineers and encourage more young people to take up a career in engineering. Formula Student UK 2020 will be held at Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, UK. HKU team will join the Electric Vehicles Class 1 Division competition.

“Introduction to Suspension System” – A STEAM outreach education workshop

Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, SIG project, Workshops / By

Formula Student UK is an educational engineering competition. The competition aims to develop enterprising and innovative young engineers and encourage more young people to take up a career in engineering. Formula Student UK 2020 will be held at Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, UK. HKU team will join the Electric Vehicles Class 1 Division competition.

DipµChip – An Automated Tool for Point-of-care Disease diagnostics

Innovation Wing Two, Third exhibition / By

DipµChip is an automated capillary microfluidic-based point-of-care (POC) microsystem allowing rapid and portable detection of various high-impact and mortality diseases, such as pneumonia, sepsis, malaria, and COVID-19. Our Mission is “Empowering access to adequate clinical care for high-impact disease patients using molecular biology and point-of-care microfluidics.” End-users of DipµChip include clinics, hospitals, homes, and assisted living healthcare facilities, democratizing access to adequate clinical care, and saving precious lives of patients in need.

“Enjoy Car Racing in the Virtual World” – a STEAM educational workshop on Sim Racing

Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, SIG project, Workshops / By

Formula Student UK is an educational engineering competition. The competition aims to develop enterprising and innovative young engineers and encourage more young people to take up a career in engineering. Formula Student UK 2020 will be held at Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, UK. HKU team will join the Electric Vehicles Class 1 Division competition.

Memristor-based Neuromorphic Computing Systems

Innovation Wing Two, Third exhibition / By

The evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and the growing demands from Big Data are hampered by current hardware performance, spurring extensive research into accelerator chips. As silicon transistors reach physical limits, there is an urgent need to explore new computing paradigms based on unconventional devices.
Dr Li’s team is developing new brain-inspired computing paradigms using emerging memory devices, aiming to showcase the potential of these neuromorphic computing systems in laboratory settings.

TechTalk – Expanded Potential Stem Cells: A New Tool for Basic and Translational Research

Innovation Wing Two, TechTalk / By

August 3, 2023 (Thursday) 4:30-5:30pm
Mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) derived from the epiblast contribute to the somatic lineages and the germline upon reintroduction to the blastocyst but are excluded from the extraembryonic tissues in the placenta that are derived from the trophectoderm (TE) and the primitive endoderm (PrE). By inhibiting signal pathways implicated in the earliest embryo development, we established cultures of mouse expanded potential stem cells (EPSCs) from individual 4-cell and 8-cell blastomeres, by direct conversion of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and through reprogramming somatic cells. Bona fide trophoblast stem cell (TSC) lines, extra-embryonic endoderm stem (XEN) cells, and ESCs could be directly derived from EPSCs in vitro. The knowledge of mouse EPSCs has enabled the establishment of EPSCs of human, pig, bovine and additional mammalian species. EPSCs of these species share similar molecular features and developmental potentials. They are genetically and epigenetically stable, can be maintained in homogenous long-term cultures and permit efficient precision and complex genome editing. EPSCs thus provide new tools for studying normal development and open up new avenues for translational research in biotechnology, agriculture, and regenerative medicine. For example, we find that early syncytiotrophoblasts produced from human TSCs are highly susceptible to coronavirus infection. This finding has enabled the development of a new stem cell-based antiviral drug discovery technology. I will discuss our thoughts on collaborations with engineering colleagues.