News & Stories

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has achieved yet another milestone in molecular neuroscience research. Prof Nancy Ip, Dean of Science and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience at HKUST, and her research team have made breakthrough discoveries in signaling mechanisms in brain development that have far-reaching implications for biomedicine. These groundbreaking discoveries by Prof Ip and her research team have been published in Nature Neuroscience, a prestigious journal in neuroscience.

A research team led by Prof Gary Chan, Associate Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), has developed a multi-hop wireless mesh network to greatly improve the data access of Wi-Fi networks. The software of the network LAviNet (Lean Aviation Network) implements a set of innovative channel selection and routing algorithms which effectively avoid traffic congestion and reduce signal interference. With LAviNet, user data rate is measurably increased by more than two times and the signal strength significantly enhanced by 100 times. This tremendously improves wireless data transmission efficiency and coverage. LAviNet has been successfully commercialized and well received by the industry and end users.

A research team from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), led by Prof Guanghao Chen of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has invented a sewage treatment technology, known as the ‘Sulphate Reduction, Autotrophic Denitrification and Nitrification Integrated (SANI)’ Process. This novel technology successfully minimizes the adverse environmental impact of sewage treatment plants by eliminating 90% of sewage sludge production, minimizing energy consumption as well as odour and greenhouse-gas emission. Moreover, it largely reduces the sewage treatment cost and space requirement by 50%.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Chair Professor Mingjie Zhang and his team of researchers in the Division of Life Science have achieved significant breakthrough concerning the visual systems of animals detecting light. The discovery has been published in Cell, one of the most prestigious scientific journals in biomedical sciences, as the cover story in its latest issue.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Chair Professor Mingjie Zhang and his team of researchers in the Division of Life Science have achieved significant breakthrough in explaining how genetic mutations of Motor Protein Myosin VIIa leads to hereditary deaf-and-blindness. This is excellent news for the medical profession in developing preventive and remedial measures against hereditary deaf-and-blindness. According to medical statistics, hearing deficit is a common occurrence among new born babies - for every 1,000 there are several born with this problem. Among those who are deaf or hearing-impaired, 3% to 6% suffer from the Usher syndrome - a genetic disorder which can cause different levels of hearing and vision loss or impairment at various stages of the patient's life. The research paper on this breakthrough was published in top scientific journal Science today.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) today announced the successful development of a smart anti-microbial coating that has the longest-lasting effect against the widest range of microbes."This revolutionary coating will set a new standard in the maintenance of public health, as it is easy to apply, safe to use, fast and effective in killing a wide spectrum of microbes, long-lasting, and environmentally friendly," said Prof King-Lun Yeung of HKUST's Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

An unmanned miniature helicopter developed by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has made the world's first autonomous flight to Mount Everest, setting a milestone both in the history of unmanned aviation and in the surveying and protection of high altitude environments. This was part of a series of test flights carried out over a 10-day period in mid June this year by Prof Zexiang Li of HKUST's Electronic and Computer Engineering Department, assisted by his postgraduate student Mr Frank Wang. The flights covered various spots in the Tibetan Highland, including Mount Everest, lakes, a glacier, and a maiden forest. "The biggest challenge of these test flights is the extreme climatic conditions in the high altitudes, particularly the thin air and the exceptionally strong and gusty winds," said Prof Li.

HKUST Physics Professor Wen Weijia and his research team have pioneered the development of foldable paper-like electronic displays. The device can be bent or wrapped around a column like a piece of paper for a wide range of commercial or industrial applications. Measuring about one sixth of the thickness of a credit card, the break-through device is made by embedding conductive wiring patterns into thermochromic composite films. With its thermochromic quality, the images produced are clear and the color displayed can be tuned, reversed or repeated by varying the temperature. Speaking at a press conference today (November 2), Prof Wen remarked, "Light weight and portable display technologies have been developed and applied to electronic gadgets including mobile phones and digital cameras, but most of them use LCD technology which can become very expensive as the size of the display increases."