News & Stories

Complex topological matter (peculiar materials with different bulk and surface properties) has become the focus of both industrial and academic research because it is seen as a way to eventually make quantum computing more noise-free and robust. Today’s physical quantum computers are still noisy, and the protection of fragile quantum information against noises is a growing field of research. The goal of fault-tolerant quantum computing is to maintain its functionality in the presence of noise, which has driven investment into complex topological matter.

Padmanabhan KRISHNAMURTHY (Paddy)’s sister worked with an NGO in India that helps people with visual impairment. He observed that people with any kind of impairments face immense difficulties, and wanted to do something to alleviate their problems. This inspired him and his teammate Amrutavarsh Sanganabasappa KINAGI (Amrut) to invent a lip-reader named “Helen”, which has just won the top prize in the 2019 HKUST President’s Cup that encourages undergraduate students to showcase creativity, innovation, and excellence.  Named after Helen KELLER, the renowned American author and educator who overcame the adversity of being blind and deaf to become one of the 20th century's leading humanitarians, the lip-reading device is expected to benefit millions of people when it’s well developed. According to the World Health Organization, there are 466 million people globally with some form of disabling hearing loss, and this number is forecasted to grow up to 900 million by 2050.

In Hong Kong, 1 in 6 couples struggles to get pregnant, compared to 1 in 10 two decades ago. In China, the infertility rate has risen to 12-15% from just 2.5% in the early 1990s. Many couples have begun to seek medical help to fulfil their desire to have a baby – there are 50 million patients with fertility problems in China. Listening to Dr. SHU Yiwei Ervin, current student of MPhil Program in Technology Leadership and Entrepreneurship (TLE) offered by the Division of Integrative Systems and Design of HKUST's School of Engineering, talk about the pain involved in the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) process, and his hope that his startup can eventually increase the success rate of the procedure, is both moving and inspiring. 

Researchers of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Science recently identified that an enzyme called atlastin (ATL) is used to regulate the transportation of proteins within cells. This novel finding offers new insights into the pathology of Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia – a rare inherited disorder with symptoms of lower limb spasticity accompanied by possible neurological deficiencies. 

Humans are creatures who often judge whether a dish is attractive or a stranger is friendly simply by their own eyes. But our sense of smell is just as important. We all may have the experience of eating with a stuffy nose and found a dish to be tasteless or using our nose to check whether it has gone bad. Moreover, people tend to keep their distance from a person with an unpleasant odor, while special odors like gas can alert us to dangers of a leak. As the old Chinese adage goes, "My shack is better than an emperor's bed." What makes our own shack better? Our smell, together with the smell of our family members, and pets as well if any, makes it unique and reassuring. To understand how smell impacts people, researchers at the University of British Columbia, Canada, invited 96 couples for a study last year.

HKUST Institute for the Environment today launched a new mobile app that aims to help users reduce their exposure to outdoor air pollution. PRAISE-HK stands for “Personalized Real-time Air-quality Informatics System for Exposure – Hong Kong” and will help build Hong Kong into a world-class smart and healthy city. Funded by HSBC 150th Anniversary Charity Program, PRAISE-HK is a five-year project commenced in November 2016, and covers three major release milestones for the mobile app and the system:

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Xunlei Limited (Xunlei or the Company) today announced the establishment of HKUST-Xunlei Joint Laboratory on Blockchain Technology (the Joint Lab). The Joint Lab aims to develop cutting-edge and influential blockchain technologies that are applicable to various industries and establish a high-performance blockchain ecosystem in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. A signing ceremony was held on HKUST campus, marking the official launch of the Joint Lab and research collaboration. Prof. Tim CHENG, Dean of Engineering of HKUST, and Ms. LAI Xin, the Chief Engineer of ThunderChain at Xunlei, signed the collaborative agreement as witnessed by Prof. Nancy IP, Vice-President for Research and Development of HKUST, and Mr. CHEN Lei, Chief Executive Officer of Xunlei and Onething Technologies.

An international and multidisciplinary research team led by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) was recently granted a research fund of HK$91.85 million by the University Grants Committee (UGC). Under the leadership of Prof. Charles NG Wang-Wai (HKUST Associate Vice-President for Research and Development and CLP Holdings Professor of Sustainability), this project will deliver a comprehensive extreme weather and landslide warning system. This novel system will increase the forecast lead time of heavy rainfall from three to six hours, thereby giving the general public and responders more time to prepare for potential disasters.