Innovation Wing Two

TechTalk – The Secret Lives of Filters

Innovation Wing Two, TechTalk / By

September 5, 2025 (Friday) 4:00pm-5:00pm
Improving indoor air requires addressing source control, ventilation, and filtration. This presentation explores filter performance from both aerosol science and building science perspectives with a focus on how theoretical and laboratory-tested filtration efficiencies translate to filtration performance in real buildings. The removal of particulate matter is only part of the filtration story. Filters also have a variety of secondary consequences including emissions of gas-phase compounds and complicated impacts on energy use. Some of these secondary effects may have a positive impact, including the ability of filters to offer insight on air quality through filter forensics, the analysis of the particles that accumulate on the filter. Several examples of filter forensics for disease surveillance, exposure assessment, and ambient air quality are used to illustrate the hidden value in used filters. The COVID-19 pandemic further increased the attention paid to central and portable filtration in buildings and this presentation assesses new challenges and opportunities that arise from this renewed focus.

Customized optimization design of clinical spinal cage with anisotropic microstructures based on latent variable Gaussian process

Current Exhibition, Innovation Wing Two / By

Counterfeiting threatens the global economy and security. According the report issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2020 “the value of global counterfeiting and pirated products is estimated US $ 4.5 trillion a year.” Despite enormous efforts, conventional anti-counterfeiting approaches such as QR codes can be easily fabricated due to limited data encryption capacity on a 2D in-plane space.

How can we increase the encryption density in a limited space?

Intelligent Action: High Tech Solutions for Improving Life

Current Exhibition, Innovation Wing Two / By

Counterfeiting threatens the global economy and security. According the report issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2020 “the value of global counterfeiting and pirated products is estimated US $ 4.5 trillion a year.” Despite enormous efforts, conventional anti-counterfeiting approaches such as QR codes can be easily fabricated due to limited data encryption capacity on a 2D in-plane space.

How can we increase the encryption density in a limited space?

Exploring Mixed Reality Presentation with Holographic Near-eye and Head-up Displays

Current Exhibition, Innovation Wing Two / By

Counterfeiting threatens the global economy and security. According the report issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2020 “the value of global counterfeiting and pirated products is estimated US $ 4.5 trillion a year.” Despite enormous efforts, conventional anti-counterfeiting approaches such as QR codes can be easily fabricated due to limited data encryption capacity on a 2D in-plane space.

How can we increase the encryption density in a limited space?

DYNAMIC: Diversely Neuromorphic Adaptive Mechanism for Interactive Creation

Current Exhibition, Innovation Wing Two / By

Counterfeiting threatens the global economy and security. According the report issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2020 “the value of global counterfeiting and pirated products is estimated US $ 4.5 trillion a year.” Despite enormous efforts, conventional anti-counterfeiting approaches such as QR codes can be easily fabricated due to limited data encryption capacity on a 2D in-plane space.

How can we increase the encryption density in a limited space?

Ultrathin and Ultrastrong Hydrogel Bioelectronic Membranes

Current Exhibition, Innovation Wing Two / By

Counterfeiting threatens the global economy and security. According the report issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2020 “the value of global counterfeiting and pirated products is estimated US $ 4.5 trillion a year.” Despite enormous efforts, conventional anti-counterfeiting approaches such as QR codes can be easily fabricated due to limited data encryption capacity on a 2D in-plane space.

How can we increase the encryption density in a limited space?

TechTalk – Minimally Invasive Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Research @ HKU

Innovation Wing Two, TechTalk / By

June 27, 2025 (Friday) 4:30pm-5:30pm
This talk will present the latest advancements from Professor Chan’s research team and his startup company Brainsmart, dedicated to developing minimally invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies for stroke rehabilitation and neurological recovery. His team focuses on flexible neural probes and high-density ECoG arrays that can be implanted without craniotomy, offering safer options for high-risk patients. Professor Chan will highlight their recent results in decoding neural signals related to hearing perception and motor intentions, and discuss how these findings contribute to future neuroprosthetic applications. The talk will also cover our pathway from technology development to clinical translation, aiming to enhance functional recovery and quality of life for patients.

TechTalk – Building Multi-dimensional Parallel Training Systems for Large AI Models

Innovation Wing Two, TechTalk / By

June 24, 2025 (Tuesday) 4:30-5:30pm
The increasing modeling capacities of large DNNs (e.g., Transformer and GPT) have achieved unprecedented successes in various AI areas, including understanding vision and natural languages. The high modeling power a large DNN mainly stems from its increasing complexity (having more neuron layers and more neuron operators in each layer) and dynamicity (frequently activating/deactivating neuron operators in each layer during training, such as Neural Architecture Search, or NAS). Dr. Cui’s talk will present his recent papers (e.g., [PipeMesh, in revision of a journal], [Fold3D TPDS 2023], [NASPipe ASPLOS 2022], and [vPipe TPDS 2021]), which address major limitations in existing multi-dimensional parallel training systems, including GPipe, Pipedream, and Megatron. Fold3D is now the major thousands-GPU parallel training system on the world-renowned MindSpore AI framework.

TechTalk – More is Less: Dynamic Sparse Processing in the Era of Sustainable AI

Innovation Wing Two, TechTalk / By

June 19, 2025 (Thursday) 4:30-5:30pm
With modern AI seemingly transforming all aspects of our modern society like magic, it is easy to forget the impacts such modern technology marvel is causing to our fragile environment. From massive industry-scale training of large neural networks of epic sizes, to the proliferation of folding AI inference in our everyday activities, AI applications are rapidly increasing the stress to our global energy and water infrastructure. The coming era of AI demands not only the smartest AI models, but also a new generation of sustainable AI mindset that rethinks the when and how to apply AI intelligence.
In this talk, Professor So will discuss one angle that addresses the “how” question with intelligent algorithm-architecture co-designed systems that reduce both energy consumption and computing latency using dynamic sparse processing. Sharing the same “more is less” principle, a series of works from a dynamic sparse processing system for event cameras to token-steering in modern diffusion models will be discussed. Together, these works illustrate that by doing a little bit more upfront intelligently, it is possible to drastically reduce the amount of work necessary to perform the same AI inference operation during run time without affecting the accuracy of a model. The results are solutions that not only are fast, but they are also orders of magnitude more energy-efficient than typical GPU-accelerated systems.

HKAE TechTalk – Transforming Wastewater into Green Hydrogen: An Option to Produce the Fuel of the Future in HK?

Innovation Wing Two, TechTalk / By

June 17, 2025 (Tuesday) 4:00-5:00pm
Environmental Analytical Microbiology integrates advanced sequencing, absolute quantification, and standardization to address microbial pollution and antibiotic resistance. This talk traces microbial ecology’s evolution from microscopy to metagenomics, highlighting innovations like cellular internal standards for cross-study comparisons. Case studies demonstrate applications in wastewater treatment, anaerobic digestion, and microbial risk assessment, emphasizing quantification of pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). The global resistome analysis reveals anthropogenic impacts on ARG distribution, while frameworks prioritize high-risk genes. Future efforts focus on the Environment–Microbiome–Health axis, advocating for microbiome-informed urban design to enhance public health. By merging cutting-edge technologies with interdisciplinary collaboration, this field aims to mitigate environmental risks and promote sustainable co-evolution with microbial ecosystems.