News & Stories

As governments worldwide are planning to gradually ease lockdown or social distancing measures after months of life disruptions due to COVID-19, an interdisciplinary study co-convened by a Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) computer scientist has recently found that universal face mask wearing is an urgent non-pharmaceutical intervention to suppress the spread or second waves of the disease before effective vaccines or treatments are available.

Researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have decoded for the first time the genome of Scaly-foot Snail, a rare snail inhabited in what scientists called ‘the origin of life’- deep-sea hydrothermal vents characterized with impossible living condition. Unraveling the genome of this unique creature will not only shed light on how life evolved billions of years ago, but will also lay foundation for the discovery of potential remedies offered by these ancient creatures. 

Autonomous Vehicles Developed by HKUST Engineering Professor Serve the Community during COVID-19 Outbreak in Mainland China

Watch our video which highlights our all-round measures to curtail COVID-19.

Researchers from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed a novel Smart Fever Screening System (SFSS), which could help officials at the border points to easily identify and distinguish passengers with fever.  The system has been implemented at various control points, government facilities and the University in the fight against Covid-19. Since the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in 2003, thermal imaging detectors have been widely deployed at border points for screening of inbound travelers with fever – an important symptom for patients of SARS, Covid-19 and other infectious diseases.  However, officers would have to monitor two screens on both thermal and color (CCTV) images in order to track the unwell person within a matter of seconds.  

The collaborative efforts made by HKUST and its dedicated fellow allies to fight against COVID-19.

Researchers of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed a novel geo-fencing technology, offering a smart core solution that helps save the government’s manpower in monitoring those under compulsory home quarantine amid the novel pneumonia (COVID-19) outbreak. With the pandemic spreading quickly across the globe, the Hong Kong government has issued quarantine order on people entering the city from all overseas countries and territories.  As a compliance measure, people under quarantine have been required to regularly report their current real-time locations via instant messaging applications or answer surprise video calls from communication centers.  This approach incurs high monitoring cost to the government, and brings much inconvenience to the home confinees.

Researchers at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed a Multilevel Antimicrobial Polymer (MAP-1) coating that is effective in killing viruses, bacteria and even hard-to-kill spores.  MAP-1 can inactivate* up to 99.9 per cent of highly-infectious viruses such as measles, mumps and rubella, and 99.99 per cent of the surrogate feline calicivirus (FCV) - a gold standard for disinfection efficiency and is more resistant than coronaviruses such as the one responsible for COVID-19 epidemic.