新闻及香港科大故事

香港科技大学(科大)今宣佈，获李嘉诚基金会捐资5亿港元，创立香港首个聚焦「合成生物科技」的高水平研究平台，将命名为「李嘉诚合成生物学研究院」(研究院)。新学术及科研大楼提供最前沿的设备，云集世界级学者，致力推动香港成为全球合成生物科技先驱。合成生物学是未来经济发展核心，利用基因学和相关领域的大规模数据，探索生物学和非生物学科之间相互交流的新途径，结合物理学，计算机科学，数学，化学和工程学计算和设计、编写或修改微生物基因组建，令其能够像机器般自如操作，以应对和解决生命科学中的複杂问题和挑战。 为什麽我们需要合成生物学？ 到2025年，联合国预测全球人口将从目前的77亿增加至81亿。大约在2050年，这个数字预计将达到97亿。从增长的角度来看，这相当于把印度和中国的整个人口加入地球。在人口急增和资源有限的前提下，考虑到可能由此产生的环境后果，人类需要採用新的方法存活和可持续材料。合成生物学这跨科学领域是未来经济的核心动力，合成生物科技将在很多日常生活领域出现，如医学、塑料、材料、粮食、日用品等等；香港科技教育及科研必须加入这方面的竞争前列。 李嘉诚合成生物学研究院如何运作？ 李嘉诚合成生物学研究院是一个强调原创及基础应用并重的特色平台。在这个目标下，研究院首先发展科研设施和科技力量，以整合基因工程，人工智能及相关技术与分析方法，通过专业的自动化运作机制，发展从生物分子到细胞以至实际产品的开拓创新，推动公共健康、环境永续以促进社会进步和共享。研究院的愿景聚焦为香港打造成为全球合成生物学领域的重镇，同时也将通过提供相关政策、教育和创业的方式，转化研究成果，创造新型产业机遇，培育新一代科研创新型人才，为香港公民提供更丰富的创业和参与机会。 为何在香港科技大学？

The United States maintains it has the upper hand being the bigger "buyer" in the relationship, while the Chinese argue the goods of lower costs it exports are doing a big favor to US consumers, who would ultimately suffer if the costs of such goods continue to rise because of tariffs. While China is busy fighting the trade war externally, Beijing is concurrently trying to improve the efficiency of the economy to make it more robust and resilient in such difficult times. An often-overlooked feature of Sino-US trade imbalances is that although Beijing runs up huge trade surpluses in the manufacturing sector, it has large deficits in the service sector. These supply and demand mismatches suggest that there may exist inefficient misallocations in the Chinese economy. Economic efficiency is achieved when factors of production in an economy are distributed or allocated to most productive firms or sectors with the highest demand.

Padmanabhan KRISHNAMURTHY(帕德)是来自印度的国际学生，由于姊姊曾在家乡一家服务视障人士的志愿机构工作，他对残疾人士的困境体会甚深，很希望施以援手。皇天不负有心人，他跟队友Amrutavarsh Sanganabasappa KINAGI (雅麦) 合作发明了取名「海伦」的读唇器，并在刚结束的 2019年科大「校长杯」本科生发明大赛赢得大奖，体现赛事鼓励学生发挥创意、力求卓越的精神。  两人发明的读唇器取名「海伦」，是为了向已故著名美国作家兼教育家海伦凯勒致敬。凯勒既盲且聋，却能克服巨大难关，成为二十世纪其中一位最杰出的人道主义先锋。一待发展成熟，这个得奖读唇器预计将可惠及数以百万计人士。根据世界卫生组织统计，全球多达4亿6,600万人受听障困扰，而到了2050年，人数相信更会增至9亿。 「海伦」是首个可穿戴的读唇器。现时，助听器只使用音频，在嘈杂环境难以发挥效用，至于能抵御噪音的高档助听器，不但售价偏高，而且产量有限，并不普及。「海伦」面世后，听障人士可通过这装置接收视觉信息，无需再倚赖音频信息或昂贵的助听器。新发明应用人工智能，利用相机将人的说话实时串流到一个运行LipNet模型的远程装置。LipNet模型由牛津大学、英国 DeepMind科技公司及加拿大高等研究所共同研发，可以将不同长度序列的视频与文本配对。 Paddy修读计算器科学，队友Amrut则同时主修计算器科学及数学。将于九月升读大学三年级的两个小伙子，由衷感激项目顾问麦鉴荣教授的悉心指导，助他们把意念转化成得奖发明。他们说：「麦教授不但在比赛期间指点方向，更重要的是介绍我们认识有研发读唇器经验的学长，让我们有机会听取前辈的心得和意见。」  「海伦」的首要作用，自然是帮助听障人士与别人沟通，但它的潜能绝对不容小觑：除了可供法庭书记和法律专业人员在庭上使用，也能协助警方了解闭路电视片段中的人物说话内容，重组案情。 

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. 

A recent Consumer Council survey has found that only two out of eight tested anti-bacterial handwash products can live up to their claims of having 99.9 percent efficacy in killing germs, sparking worries amongst the public. Advertisements often imply that bacteria in homes are harmful and must be eliminated by using any antibacterial or antimicrobial products available. However, Boston University's School of Public Health suggests only about 5 percent of bacterial species are disease-causing, in other words pathogenic. In fact, the pursuit of a germ-free environment is futile. Some bacteria are just impossible to eliminate with chemicals in the cleansing agents, or at the concentrations level of the chemicals we are commonly using. Even the so-called 99.9 percent efficacy must rely on perfect usage of the product.

The recent Extinction Rebellion movement in the UK protested against climate breakdown, biodiversity loss and the risk of social and ecological collapse. Protesters called for policies that can achieve a net zero carbon footprint by 2025, one of the 17 sustainable development goals agreed by world leaders at the United Nations in 2015. Meeting these goals requires more than addressing climate change. Sustainable development is a balance between the needs of the environment, society and economy in order to maintain a quality standard of life for both present and future generations. Many countries, including the UK, have implemented goal-specific measures in a bid to achieve the 17 goals, with voluntary national reviews to see if the measures are effective.

由香港科技大学(科大)学生、校友和员工组成的三个团队，在逾100个参赛队伍中脱颖而出，赢得科大-信和百万奖金创业大赛2019香港区赛事三甲。他们将于今年九月在广州南沙，与其余六个赛区的胜出者进行总决赛。 今年已踏入第九届的百万奖金创业大赛，共吸引了117个队伍参赛，数目较去年增加逾百分之十五，深受科大及小区成员欢迎。为进一步推动多元化，比赛去年引入网上配对平台，让参加者与来自香港及其他地区、有兴趣参与赛事的人士及公司组队，促进不同背景的人士交流。在今年的比赛中，百分之十五的参赛队伍正是利用网上配对平台，成功觅得志同道合的队友。 今年进入总决赛的六支队伍，更将首次获邀参与由香港科学园举办的科技企业家计划 (STEP)。这个为期一年的计划旨在培育有志于科技发展的创业人才，开展初创企业，助他们落实创意概念。 香港区赛事的最高殊荣「校长奖」，由科大与厦门大学的校友及研究生所组成的公司「Horizon Biochip」夺得。他们研发的Cryochip，可以把冷冻胚胎的过程自动及标准化。冷冻胚胎是体外人工受孕一个关键的步骤，目的是将胚胎冷冻保存起来，以备日后使用。新技术能消除技术人员操作时出现的误差，减少发生人为错误的机会，有效提高冷冻胚胎的成功率。团队更荣获创新奖及健康医疗奖。 「道创智能科技控股有限公司」则凭借应用于农业的光谱传感器，赢得金奖及机器人与人工智能奖。该传感器能够在不破坏水果的情况下，根据水果的甜度与成熟程度进行分类，从而统一质量并提升生产力。另外，银奖得主「康怡科技有限公司」所开发的诊断方法，则可以在30分钟内，快速检测唾液、鼻液或血液样本是否含有近100种感染性病源体，包括肺结核、麻疹、流感、非洲猪瘟及其他传染病等，不但较需时几小时甚或几天的传统检验方法更便捷，有效提升诊治效率，亦较传统方法便宜。 信和集团创新联席董事杨孟璋先生表示：「信和集团深明创科的重要，全力支持创新科技，建立全面的创科生态系统，支持香港发展成为国际创新科技中心。今年是第二年支持这项比赛，非常高兴为科大的学生和校友提供多元化的学习经验，为创业做好准备。我们衷心恭贺和祝愿三支获胜队伍，并期待他们把创业概念转化成真正的产品和服务。」

These alumnae graduated a decade apart, and since then they have travelled very different career paths. But WONG Hiu-King Kyna and CHAN Kiu-Kei Bella retain much in common – and that’s apart from their obvious delight at being back in their beloved campus. They were both eager at an early age to explore the secrets of science and technology, they both graduated from the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, and have since maintained their close linkage through their proactive engagement with their alma mater’s student and alumni groups. Sharing a Common Dream