News & Stories
2023

News
Digitalizing Disasters to Counter Climate Change
In the face of increasing extreme rainfall events that often trigger further dangers, School of Engineering civil engineers are setting out to develop a pioneering city-scale slope digital twin to boost forecasting, prevention, and mitigation of Hong Kong’s number one natural hazard: landslides.

News
HKUST researchers find how stem cell niche guides differentiation into functional cells, significant step towards stem cell therapies
Researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have found how stem cells’ surrounding environment controls them to differentiate into functional cells, a breakthrough critical for using stem cells to treat various human diseases in the future.
Stem cells play a crucial role in supporting normal development and maintaining tissue homeostasis in adults. Their unique ability to replicate and differentiate into specialized cells holds great promise in treating diseases like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and type I diabetes by replacing damaged or diseased cells with healthy ones.

News
HKUST Researchers Pioneers Technique to Self-assemble High-performance Biomolecular Films
A research team led by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed a novel technique to self-assemble a thin layer of amino acids with ordered orientation over a large area that demonstrates high piezoelectric strength, making the manufacturing of biocompatible and biodegradable medical microdevices, such as pacemaker and implantable biosensor, in the near future possible.
The generation of bioelectricity from the piezoelectric effect – reversible conversion between mechanical and electrical energies – has physiological significance in living systems. Piezoelectric charges generated by the human tibia during walking boost bone remodeling and growth. Also, piezoelectric potential in the lungs generated during respiration could assist in binding oxygen to hemoglobin.