News & Stories

The Importance of Sustainable Polymer Materials Polymers are a fundamental component of modern life, used in a wide range of applications from packaging and textiles to medical devices and construction materials. The importance of polymers cannot be overstated, as they provide numerous benefits such as durability, flexibility, and resistance to chemicals and heat. However, the plastics industry has faced growing criticism in recent years due to its significant contribution to environmental pollution and waste management issues. As a result, there is an increasing emphasis on sustainability in the plastics industry, driven by evolving stakeholder expectations and environmental awareness. This shift towards sustainability is crucial for the long-term viability of the plastics industry, as it requires the development of innovative and eco-friendly strongest polymer materials that minimize environmental impact while maintaining performance and functionality.

A research team co-led by a scientist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed a method to study how HIV mutates to escape the immune system in multiple patients, which could inform HIV vaccine design. HIV, which can lead to AIDS, evolves rapidly and attacks the body’s immune system. Genetic mutations in the virus enable it to evade immune responses mounted by T cells and antibodies, which makes it all the more difficult to design an effective solution. While there is no effective cure for the virus currently available, it can be controlled with medication. Now, the international research team has devised a new method from conventional statistical physics to reveal patterns of selection in HIV evolution using 14 patient data sets, providing a means to efficiently distinguishing the mutations that help the virus escape the immune system from those that are only random variations.

Prof. Kei May LAU, Fang Professor of Engineering and Chair Professor of Electronic and Computer Engineering (ECE), has been selected as the 2020 recipient of The Optical Society (OSA) Nick Holonyak Jr. Award. She is recognized for significant contributions to hetero-epitaxy of compound semiconductors on silicon for future integrated lasers and advancing the field of light-emitting diode microdisplays.

The research team of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has recently made important progress in the field of new materials. Combining the characteristics of two-dimensional materials and topological materials, the team has for the first time discovered a universal generation mechanism of new materials with "type-II" Dirac cones. Many extraordinary properties of the material are realized in experiments, which addressed the key issue that the material could only be obtained sporadically under stringent limits. This mechanism can guide the preparation of new two-dimensional materials that have specific directional responses to external signals such as electric fields, magnetic fields, light waves, sound waves, etc., and will provide valuable applications for modern electronic communications, quantum computing, optical communications, and even sound insulation and noise reduction materials. 

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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.