News & Stories

As communities around the world are increasingly becoming aware of the importance of green and sustainable energy sources, fuel cells that convert chemical energy of hydrogen, natural gas, and alcohols directly to electricity have become a hot research topic. Current energy technologies that use fossil fuels, such as diesel, coal and oil, face many challenges including low efficiency, limited supply, air pollution, and climate change. Yet, to date, renewable energy still accounts for less than 3% of all electricity produced worldwide. Power density record Prof Zhao, Director of the HKUST Energy Institute, and his researchers have become global pioneers in raising the performance of Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells (DAFC). Among other achievements, his team holds the internationally acknowledged world record for the power density of direct ethanol fuel cells.

Prof Tianshou Zhao, Chair Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Director of HKUST Energy Institute, and his researchers have received one of the most prestigious awards in science and technology in China for the second consecutive year. Prof Zhao and his researchers received a 2013 State Natural Science Award (Second Class) from the State Council of the People’s Republic of China for their pioneering work on Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells (DAFC).

Dr Chi-ho Yeung and Prof Michael Wong from the Department of Physics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in collaboration with Prof David Saad from Aston University in the UK have applied polymer physics to derive a novel approach for coordinating optimal routes for individual passengers. Their simulations using data from the London underground network show that the new method reduces crowding experienced by passengers by 24%, while journeys take only 5% longer on average. The findings have been published in the   Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) of the USA.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), in collaboration with Sun Yat-Sen University, has established the "Partner State Key Laboratory on Advanced Displays and Optoelectronics Technologies (PSKL)", following approval from the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Central Government. The Laboratory aims to boost green displays and optoelectronics technologies. Prof Tony F Chan, President of HKUST, Ms Janet Wong, Commissioner of Innovation and Technology Commission, Prof Li Lu, Director of the Department of Educational, Scientific and Technological Affairs, Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR, Prof Jun Chen, Professor of Sun Yat-sen University and Deputy-Director of the Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Display Material and Technology, and others, officiated at the PSKL opening ceremony today.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has achieved another milestone in molecular neuroscience research. Prof Nancy Ip, Dean of Science, Director of the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience and The Morningside Professor of Life Science at HKUST, and her research team have discovered a novel mechanism that controls brain cell production and cortical expansion. The study has significantly contributed to our understanding of the evolution of the brain and the molecular basis of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, with far-reaching implications for biomedicine. These groundbreaking discoveries have been published in Neuron, a prestigious journal in neuroscience.

 UNESCO collaboration Under this significant collaboration, the innovative system will be introduced in Cuba later this year, together with local Cuban partners, as part of a three-year water-saving project funded by the European Union and UNESCO-IHE. Measures being piloted in the capital city of Havana cover seawater supply, wastewater reuse, and the SANI process.  SANI stands for Sulphate Reduction, Autotrophic Denitrification and Nitrification Integrated Process, an energy-efficient and low-carbon sewage treatment technology, developed by Prof Guanghao Chen, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and his research team and utilizing Hong Kong’s unique seawater toilet flushing system.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has achieved research breakthrough with a novel approach, using ultrathin lead nanowires to produce magnetic fields which are 200 times stronger and increase the temperature of the environment in which superconductors operate. The research, providing solutions to a bottleneck unsolved for over a century concerning low applications of superconductors due to ultra low temperatures and low magnetic critical fields required, is envisaged to greatly enhance superconductor-based technologies to facilitate their applications in medical and biological fields such as high-resolution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) devices for cancer and stroke detection. The breakthrough research is published in the prestigious nanoscience and technology journal ACS Nano..

Prof Albert Park, Director of the Institute for Emerging Market Studies, Chair Professor of Social Science and Professor of Economics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), collaborated with the researchers from Peking University, University of Southern California (USC), and other international partner institutions, and released today the first major report from a massive survey of Chinese adults over the age of 45, providing critical insights into the most rapidly aging population in the world. Across 17,708 individuals over the age of 45 from both urban and rural areas, from a nationally representative sample of China except Tibet, the researchers found stark gender differences in how men and women age in the developing world.