knowledge transfer office newsletter · support from the university’s idea incubator scheme, the...

Knowledge Transfer Office

NewsletterTransforming Knowledge Into Practice

www.cityu.edu.hk/kto

No.12, January 2014

Technology Licensing TeamAssociate Vice-President(Knowledge Transfer)Mr H Y WongTel: 3442 6428Email: [email protected]

Associate DirectorMr David CheungTel: 3442 6733Email: [email protected]

Senior Technology Transfer OfficerMr Tomson LeeTel: 3442 6441Email: [email protected]

Technology Transfer OfficerDr Victor LauTel: 3442 6822Email: [email protected]

Technologies for Licensing DatabaseBrowse our database to find a technology that suits your needshttp://www6.cityu.edu.hk/kto/Technology-Licensing.html

Enquiries / comments on this newsletterEliza ChanTel: 3442 6442Email: [email protected] Transfer OfficeCity University of Hong KongKowloon TongHong Kong

Join CUBICCUBIC regularly organizes seminars and gatherings where members can mix and mingle with CityU researchers and industrial leaders. Please scroll to the last page for the membership form.

Knowledge Transfer Office

NewsletterTransforming Knowledge Into Practice

www.cityu.edu.hk/kto

Hands-on Exhibits A Big Draw at InnoCarnival

(Continued on next page)

At the rotorcraft demonstration: The Hon Charles Mok (third from left), Mr John Tsang (middle), Prof Horace Ip, then Acting Vice-President for Research and Technology (second from right), and Prof Li Wen Jung (far right).

Ms Janet Wong (far left) and Mr John Tsang (second from right) smile on the mobile manipulator as it grips a bottle of water held by Mr Tsang.

Table of ContentsHands-on Exhibits A Big Draw at . . . . . . . 1

InnoCarnival

General Chamber of Commerce . . . . . . . . 2 Visits CityU Labs

Visit to BYD Automobile Plant . . . . . . . . . . 3

CityU Technologies Displayed in . . . . . . . 3 Biotech Forum in Shenzhen

Human Interface Technologies Forum . . 4

Forum on Rare Earth Application . . . . . . . 5

Technologies Licensed to Industry . . . . . 6 and Licensing Service Agreements

Patents Recently Granted to CityU . . . . . . 7

S enior government officials and dignitaries visited the CityU booth, and experienced first-hand the excitement offered by CityU’s innovative technologies at InnoCarnival 2013, held from 2 to 11 November in the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks. InnoCarnival was the flagship event of InnoTech Month organized by the Innovation and Technology Commission to promote science and technology.

The visitors to the booth included the Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Government, Mr John Tsang, Legislative Councillor the Hon Charles Mok, and Ms Janet Wong, Commissioner for Innovation and Technology. On display were the robots developed by Professor Xi Ning and his team. Quadrocopter is a rotorcraft propelled by four rotors. Equipped with inertial measurement units and ultrasonic distance sensor, the quadrocopter can conduct aerial photography, damage inspection, and remote surveillance. The second robot was a mobile manipulator made up of a mobile robot and a manipulator arm. It could detect explosives, defuse bombs, clean up toxic waste, and operate in dangerous or harsh environments.

Dr Howard Leung of the Department of Computer Science used interactive games to raise awareness on environmental protection by encouraging users to save paper and read e-books. Users had to use hand movements to “brush off” the characters on screen to prevent them from approaching the printer.

About half of the projects on display were students’ works conducted under the supervision of faculty members. The young innovators experimented with the use of interactive systems to enhance musical performance and language learning. Except

Knowledge Transfer Office Newsletter – No.12 January 2014

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for the robots that required training to control, all exhibits could be operated hands-on, and visitors found the installations and their demonstrations entertaining.

SoloTouch was developed by Jackie Chui and Mubarak Murafa under the supervision of Dr Samson Young of the School of Creative Media. The musical device allows inexperienced guitar players to play music resembling blues and rock. It comes with an iPhone app for controlling the device and rendering special effects.

Bananas and pianos seem to be an unlikely combination, but nevertheless they do make an interesting pair. The banana piano installed by George Ho and Chan Tsz Yu under the supervision of Dr Oscar Au of the School of Creative Media comprises real bananas, an Arduino board, electronic components, and portable speakers. The installation was particularly popular among young teenagers.

Another invention developed by the students of the School was Pinyin Fighter, a software tool running on Flash platform. Jacky Cheung and his supervisor Mr Yim Chun Pang wanted to design

Visitors of all ages are intrigued by the exhibits.

Mr K C Leung (right) presents a souvenir to Mr H Y Wong.

an interactive system that makes learning Putonghua fun. The idea to develop a Putonghua learning software tool struck Jacky after he joined an exchange programme in Beijing. Users need to match a Chinese character with its corresponding Pinyin symbols through gestures and movements.

General Chamber of Commerce Visits CityU Labs

A bout 30 members of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce visited CityU on 4 October 2013. The facilities visited by the Chamber were the Innovation Centre, Centre for Smart Energy Conversion and Utilization Research, Plasma Laboratory, Centre of Super-Diamond and Advanced Films, Laboratory for Organic Electroluminescent Displays, and KEF Acoustic Centre.

The tour started with welcoming remarks by Mr H Y Wong, Associate Vice-President (Knowledge Transfer) and a presentation on CityU’s technology transfer activities by Mr Tomson Lee, Senior Technology Transfer Officer. The HKGCC delegation was led by Mr K C Leung, Chairman of the HKGCC’s Industry and Technology Committee, who presented a souvenir to Mr Wong.

At the Innovation Centre, the delegates were shown advanced technologies developed by the scientists of the Department of Electronic Engineering. Dr Ray Cheung and his students demonstrated the innovative apps that they developed at the CityU Apps Lab (CAL). CAL was set up with the financial support from the University’s Idea Incubator Scheme, the UGC Communities of Practice — Technology and Creative Community, and sponsorship from several Hong Kong companies. Professor Leung Kwok Wa demonstrated the uniqueness of his glass antennae which can be fashioned into decorative items, such as a swan or a lamp cover. Professor Chiang Kin Seng explained how high-speed data transmission is supported by his optical printed circuit boards, which made possible the implementation of chip-to-chip interconnect. By using Doppler radar speed detector, Dr Ricky Lau created an interactive game that matched the speed of players’ hand movements with multimedia video resources.

At the Centre for Smart Energy Conversion and Utilization Research, Professor Henry Chung presented a quick

walkthrough of the research projects undertaken by the Centre. Afterwards they made way to the KEF Acoustic Centre and talked to staff and students over their research projects. The group was impressed by the acoustics and architecture of the audio-visual room specially designed by the researchers of the Department of Electronic Engineering.

The innovative white organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and nanostructures for oil absorption were the centre of attention at the Laboratory for Organic Electroluminescent Displays. Dr Roy Fung of the laboratory pointed out that they focused on the development of white OLEDs for general illumination and decorative lighting purposes. A researcher at the lab demonstrated how sponges grown with nanostructures surpassed commercial oil absorbents in absorption of spilled oil.

The trip was concluded by a visit to the Plasma Laboratory where the delegates learnt about the lab’s achievement in surface treatment of nickel-titanium surgical parts by plasma immersion ion implantation to prevent nickel release. The lab also developed memory alloys for surgically treating scoliosis.


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Mr Michael Cheung

Visit to BYD Automobile Plant

T he CityU Business and Industrial Club (CUBIC) organized a visit to the BYD automobile plant in Pingshan, Shenzhen on 6 September 2013. About 40 industrial and business executives and 10 CityU staff members attended the event.

BYD is a China-based enterprise specializing in IT, automobile, and new energy and its major products include electric buses and cars. Apart from the 1.83 million sq m plant in Pingshan, the company also has production bases in other cities in Guangdong, Beijing, Shanxi, Shanghai and Changsa.

The CUBIC group was welcomed by Mr David Ding, General Manager Assistant of BYD Asia-Pacific Auto Sales Group. Participants visited the BYD showroom, electric charging station, Future Village, and auto assembly workshop.

One of the participants, Mr Michael Cheung, Chief Executive Officer of Hing Yu Metal Works Limited, found the gallery at BYD well-laid out. Commenting on the differences between mainland and Hong Kong manufacturing practices, Mr Cheung, a veteran industrialist specializing in automobile parts, pointed out that manufacturing practices often reflect the company ethos and more broadly, cultural differences. While manufacturers on the mainland can tap into the abundant land resources in China, he is confident that Hong Kong’s manufacturing industry has its own edge too.

“What Hong Kong plants lack in space can be made up for by a sound legal system and good work ethics,” he said.

CityU Technologies Displayed in Biotech Forum in Shenzhen

S ix CityU research projects were on display at the second Shenzhen International Biotech and Innovation Forum and Exhibition held from 25 to 27 September 2013. The exhibition was co-organised by the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government, the China Association of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, and Shenzhen Genomics Industry Alliance. Below is a brief description of the projects.

A Low Complexity and Customizable Architecture for Relaxation Labelling AlgorithmDr Ray CheungDepartment of Electronic EngineeringDr Cheung developed a novel architecture for probabilistic relaxation labelling algorithms to be applied in image processing / recognition and bioinformatics. Dr Cheung’s architecture can handle multiple objects and labels, and at the same time reduce the time complexity. The experimental results show that the execution time of the new design is about 15 times less for five objects and about 35 times less for a 128X64 image block than the software implementation running on a Quad-core Intel 32nm machine.

An Intelligent Electrocardiography Jacket Based on Microfabrication of Elastomers for Long-term Monitoring of Heart Disease PatientsDr Raymond LamDepartment of Mechanical and Biomedical EngineeringTo monitor heart diseases, Dr Lam developed an ECG jacket capable of recording continuous heart activities of patients, as well as indicating myocardial infarction at its soonest. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is used as an interface material between textile products and highly integrated electronic circuits, and this technique is conducive to the development of intelligent clothes. Apart from the ECG jacket, Dr Lam’s technology can be used to measure electromyography (EMG), i.e. signals from muscle contraction and relaxation, and thus can be applied in sports science.



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Bio-manipulation and Bio-marking by Optically-induced ElectrokineticsProfessor Li Wen JungDepartment of Mechanical and Biomedical EngineeringProfessor Li’s research group at CityU and the Shenyang Institute of Automation jointly developed Hong Kong’s and China’s first integrated optically-induced dielectrophoresis (ODEP) platform for cell manipulation, separation, and assembly. The research teams discovered that self-induced rotational motion of cancer cells is possible, suggesting that ODEP may be used as biomarking tool for the detection and isolation of cancer cells. The operation cost of the novel platform is at least 10 times less than that of laser-based cell manipulators and it does not cause any damages to cells.

Electrogastrogram (EGG) SystemProfessor Xi NingDepartment of Mechanical and Biomedical EngineeringProfessor Xi’s EGG system is a non-invasive tool for gastric myoelectrical activity acquisition and analysis. It investigates the characteristics of the spike potential to provide information about the intensity of gastric motility. Possible applications include diagnosis of gastric functional abnormalities. EGG-based stimuli can be used as electric feedback to treat nausea, vomiting, or functional dyspepsia. The system also supports medical research.

Mechanically Robust Fast-dissolving Microneedles for Transdermal Drug / Vaccine DeliveryDr Chen XianfengDepartment of Physics and Materials ScienceFast-dissolving microneedle arrays can be used for skin delivery of vaccines and drugs, but their application is limited by their low mechanical strength. Dr Chen’s polymer microneedles are treated with nano additives to strengthen their mechanical properties without compromising the dissolution rate within the skin. The technique is painless, convenient, efficient and safe. Furthermore, there is no sharp waste after application.

Prediction of Biomolecular Interactions and Drug ResistanceProfessor Yan HongDepartment of Electronic EngineeringProfessor Yan’s research group developed a molecular modeling based technique for predicting cancer drug resistance and interactions between proteins and proteins, proteins and DNA, and proteins and ligands. The method supports optional matching of the geometric and energetic features of two molecules. It is conducive to drug development, cancer drug resistance analysis, and comprehensive analysis of protein mutants.

Human Interface Technologies Forum

F our speakers were invited to speak in the Emerging Technologies Forum on human interface technologies held on July 26. Human interface technologies study the ways human beings comprehend and interact with tools, devices, and their environment, and are therefore essential to technologies calling for “user-friendly” designs.

The four speakers were Dr Oscar Au of CityU’s School of Creative Media, Dr Joseph Mak, Senior Research Scientist of Neurosky Hong Kong Co Ltd, Professor Li Wen Jung of CityU’s Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, and Dr Cannie Lam, General Manager of the Sustainable Development Department of Leo Paper Group. A summary of their lectures is provided below:

Multitouch Gestures for Constrained Transformation of 3D Objects by Dr Oscar AuBy using transformation widgets, a user can turn 2D objects into 3D representations, but most transformation widgets are not designed for use on multitouch screens. To solve the problem, Dr Au developed an interface that does not require any widget, thus precluding the use of handles and minimizing visual clutter. It is applicable to screens of any size and touch locations. The transformation is seamless because only one single gesture is needed to perform the manipulation.

Fusing MEMS and Optical Sensors for Human Interface Technology by Professor Li Wen Jung.Professor Li’s presentation started off with an introduction to MEMS, short for microelectromechanical systems, an enabling technology for the fabrication of micro-machines, such as small-scale sensors. He discussed in length the benefits of combining MEMS motion sensors and inertial measurement units (µIMU), a technique applicable to airbag jackets and helmets and 3D digital pens. Airbag jackets and helmets have a huge market, considering the growing elderly population in China and most of the developed countries worldwide. Body positions and movements are captured by MEMS sensors and sensor signals filtered in real time to initiate the inflation of airbags if needed. Other applications include handwriting and gesture recognition for digital home entertainment applications.

(From left) Dr Cannie Lam, Dr Joseph Mak, and Dr Oscar Au

Professor Li Wen Jung



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Beyond Boundaries: Applying Our Minds to Human-interface Technology by Dr Joseph MakDr Mak’s lecture gave an overview of the mechanism and application of active and passive brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). Active BCIs allow the manipulation of external devices by brain signals alone, pre-empting the usual neuromuscular pathways that translate brain signals into movements. Passive BCIs serve to detect implicit mental states information instead of controlling devices. They can be used to monitor learning progress, mental workload, meditation, and concentration. The use of BCIs is not restricted to clinical and healthcare uses, but can be applied to different areas such as entertainment and education. The future of BCIs is promising, as seen in the development of minuscule biosignal processing chips that measures 3 X 3 mm only.

Human-Paper Interaction: How Traditional Printing Industry Interacts with Modern Society by Dr Cannie LamDr Lam’s lecture shows how technological innovation and human ingenuity have worked together to create new sensory experiences through paper products. For example, paper can be processed to imitate leather texture, emit fluorescence, or give off scent upon application of pressure or heat. The potential of paper is further enhanced by the integration of paper technology with interactive elements and electronic technology.

Forum on Rare Earth Application

F our scientists and industrial executives were invited to speak on the applications of rare earth elements in a forum organized by the CityU Business and Industrial Club of the Knowledge Transfer Office on 25 October 2013. A summary of the lectures is presented below.

A Strategic Feasibility Study for Hong Kong to Upgrade Innovation and Technology Industries Through Rare Earth ElementsDr Lo Wai-yinSenior Consultant, Materials and Manufacturing Technology Division, Hong Kong Productivity CouncilDr Lo advocates the drawing up of a five to 10 years’ roadmap for industry to develop Hong Kong as a manufacturing hub of high-value added rare earth specialty intermediate materials. The roadmap should cover R&D activities, infrastructural development, overseas technology partnership and government support measures, eg tax refund and provision of industrial land. He proposed the establishment of rare earth elements platform for industries enhancement and product development. Electronics, lighting, and display and automotive components were most likely to benefit from rare earth development. Dr Lo explained how the rare earth value adding chain operated and presented an analysis of the rare earth elements market.

Rare Earth Elements as High Performance and Transparent Electrodes in OLEDDr Roy Fung, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Physics and Materials ScienceDr Fung explained the use of rare earths in a wide range of industries, and illustrated the importance of rare earths by using iPhones and automobiles as examples. Rare earths may not be as rare as the term “rare” suggests. In OLED industry, rare earths can be applied as emitting materials and cathodes for displays and lightings. In particular, Dr Fung focused on the utilization of rare earths as power-efficient and long-lifetime opaque/transparent white OLEDs for general illumination and fancy/decorative light sources.

Dr Roy FungDr Lo Wai-yin



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Prof Lawarence Wu

Rare Earth Magnet Manufacture: Between the Tightening Raw Material Supply and Cut-throat Competition from Mainland CompaniesMr Horris Leung, Director of Business Development, TDK China Co LimitedThe ubiquity of rare earth magnets was addressed in this presentation. Rare earth magnets are found in electrical appliances, electronic devices, automobiles, and industrial machineries. Mr Leung focused on the unique characteristics of rare earth magnets, imparting to the audience the importance and ubiquity of rare earth magnet components. He showed how China, as the biggest rare earth supplier, held sway over the rare earth magnets industry through regulating rare earth exports. Rare earth magnet industries tackled the fluctuation in raw material supply by recycling and reducing the use of rare earth magnets. The speaker pointed out that a growing number of Chinese companies were seeking more active involvement in the rare earth value chain, and leading companies had devised strategies to thrive in the intensely competitive rare earth market.

Mr Horris Leung

Use of Rare Earth Elements in Engineering ComponentsProfessor Lawrence WuDepartment of Physics and Materials ScienceProfessor Wu gave a scientific explanation of rare earths’ suitability for industrial application. Specifically, he discussed the use of rare earths in optical technology and their use as additives to modify the quality of steels, alloys, and lead-free solder alloys. Rare earths can react with impurities in steels to form extremely stable compounds with improved mechanical properties. Regarding optical application, rare earths such as neodymium, yttrium, erbium, and cerium are selected for doping laser glass. Professor Wu pointed out that while rare earths have great potential in science and technology, the environmental impact of mining and producing rare earths is a concern for many industries.

Technologies Licensed to Industry and Licensing Service AgreementsFrom July to October 2013, five licensing deals were closed, and two licensing service agreements signed. The licensees include local, mainland, and overseas companies engaged in high technology solutions, software development, manufacturing, and facilities management. The two licensing service agreements concern the appointment of two mainland technology licensing organisations as agents to market CityU’s intellectual property. Below is a brief description of the licensed technologies.

Composite of Porous Substrate and One-dimensional NanomaterialProfessor C S LeeDepartment of Physics and Materials ScienceThe composite developed by Professor Lee can absorb organic solvents and greases such as lubricating oil, motor oil, and crude oil. It can absorb at least 40 times of its own weight of oil. The performance surpasses the oil absorption capacity of existing commercial products.

On-road Plume Chasing and Analysis System (OPCAS)Dr Ning ZhiSchool of Energy and EnvironmentOPCAS provides real time measurements of tailpipe air pollutants and determine their emission rates by chasing the target vehicles. The system can be mounted on any vehicle and can be used for urban mobile source emission control and management.



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Patents Recently Granted to CityU

Sustainable Water Treatment Technology for Reuse of Grey WaterDr Oscar HuiDepartment of Systems Engineering and Engineering ManagementThe technology is a highly efficient system for decomposing organic compounds into carbon dioxide and water. The system can operate at a wide range of organic compounds concentrations.

The Online Platform for Teaching / (Self-) Learning of Translation and Bilingual WritingProfessor Zhu ChunshenDepartment of Chinese, Translation, and LinguisticsThis platform is the principal output of one of CityU’s Institutional Teaching Development Grant Projects, TDG

6000304. It features a variety of genres / subject domains and real-time study progress monitoring devices. It also supports tutor-learner communication channels for online learning. The system is used in both classroom teaching and online self-learning in the department on both BA and MA levels.

ZigBee Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) SolutionDr K F TsangDepartment of Electronic EngineeringDr Tsang’s AMI solution, also known as “Natural”, is a server platform that concurrently interacts with multiple front-end AMI systems to perform metering, energy auditing and energy management.

Solvatochromic Molecularly Imprinted Polymer for ChemosensingUS patent: 8338553

PI: Dr Michael Lam

Department of Biology and Chemistry

Molecularly-imprinted polymer (MIP)-based chemosensing detects target substances by binding molecular entities of specific shapes, rather than chemical functionality, to yield measurable signals. As a result, analytes lacking intermolecular interaction with a signal transducer or functional monomer cannot be easily detected by MIP-based chemosensing. To solve the problem, the researcher and his team developed a solvatochromic functional monomer which can be used for incorporation as signal transducer to form a reporter site within the MIPs. The salvatocrhomic functional monomer is highly sensitive to the change of the media polarity of receptor micro-environment when an analyte enters the reporter site by displacing solvent molecules originally accommodated inside the receptor site. The displacement results in the significant change of colour and luminescent properties of the solvatochromic functional monomer detectable by the naked eye.

Nitridoosmium (VI) Complexes for Treatment of Cancer (jointly owned with Hong Kong University)US patent: 8383673

PI: Professor Lau Tai Chu

Department of Biology and Chemistry

This invention offers an alternative to cisplatin, a platinum compound used to treat cancer. Widely used in cancer treatment, cisplatin can lead to some undesirable side effects and toxicities. Many solid tumours that initially respond to platinum-based therapy become resistant. To alleviate the problem, the research team has developed nitridoosmium compounds that may treat or prevent tumour growth caused by cells that are resistant to cytotoxic drugs such as cisplatin. Nitridoosmium compounds have been found to exhibit cytotoxic activity against several types of cancer cell lines.


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