Notices

The BOCHK Science and Technology Innovation Prize (STIP) announced today (13th December) the inaugural Laureates, awarding HK$ 2 million to each of the winners from five categories. The award ceremony will be held on 22nd December.

Organised by the Hong Kong Alliance of Technology and Innovation and sponsored by Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, STIP has been established with the objective of encouraging and promoting the development of science and technology innovation in Hong Kong. Following the nomination period from 15th July to 30th September, and evaluation by experts from October to November, one or a group of winners has been selected for each of the five eligible fields.

Professor Yuk-Ming Dennis Lo, President of the Hong Kong Alliance of Technology and Innovation, said the five major fields of STIP are Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Life Science, Advanced Manufacturing, Fintech, and New Materials and New Energy. STIP has been established in response to the nine Strategic Emerging Industries proposed by the nation’s 14th Five-Year Plan, and the strategic fields that Hong Kong enjoys clear advantages as listed by the Hong Kong SAR government. It also attaches great importance to the application and transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

He added that STIP encourages researchers and innovators to aim at the forefront of world science and technology, meet the country's major strategic needs, and make impact to economic development and people's livelihood. The laureates are outstanding in the corresponding areas, and they are all talents who have made major scientific or technological contributions to Hong Kong and the country. Lo hopes that through the recognition of STIP, they will be encouraged to continue to push forward the frontiers of their fields and to attract more resources to accelerate their endeavours.

Laureates of STIP：

Annex: About the Laureates

【Artificial Intelligence and Robotics】 Laureates: Hongbin Liu & Tat Ming Danny Chan

Professor Hongbin Liu is currently the Executive Deputy Director of Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Hong Kong Institute of Science & Innovation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a Professor at the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr. Tat Ming Danny Chan is currently the Head of the Neurosurgery Division, Prince of Wales Hospital, Honorary Clinical Associate Professor of the Department of Surgery and Co-Director of the Otto Wong Brain Tumour Centre, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Professor Liu and Dr Chan jointly developed a flexible endoscopic robotic system for minimally invasive neurosurgery and successfully carried out the first cadaver trial in Hong Kong. It was proven that this robotic system can complete the required surgical tasks under minimally invasive conditions, marking a technological milestone.

Using this system, the neurosurgeon only needs to create one skull burr hole, no larger than 5 mm, and operates the flexible endoscopic robot, MicroNeuro, to reach the deep brain of the third ventricle through a single brain access under the guidance of augmented reality (AR) and then performs the surgery safely and precisely. It has addressed and tackled the surgical difficulties of reaching the deep brain lesions through single linear trajectory and the surgical manipulation in small space under the minimally invasive paradigm. Precision control of sub-millimetre accuracy was achieved at the robot tip while avoiding brain tissue damage. This work has put Hong Kong on the international map in the field of robotic neurosurgery research, underscoring Hong Kong’s excellence in medical robotic research and clinical research for neurosurgery.

 【Life and Health】 Laureate: Yongping Zheng

Professor Yongping Zheng, Henry G. Leong Chair Professor in Biomedical Engineering, is the Founding Head of Department of Biomedical Engineering of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Director of the Research Institute for Smart Ageing. He has filed more than 50 families of patents. In 2021 and 2022, he was ranked among the "Top 2% Top Scientists in the World" released by Stanford University, and was named "Top 2% Highly Cited Scholars in Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing".

Scoliosis is listed as one of the top three diseases affecting children in China. The "radiation-free three-dimensional ultrasound scoliosis assessment system - Scolioscan" invented by Professor Zheng enables scoliosis assessment to be performed more safely, at lower cost and more frequently, even at schools and homes. His invention has been applied to clinical assessment in many countries to facilitate early diagnosis and early treatment of scoliosis, and to assist control of the condition using non-surgical interventions, thus benefiting adolescents all over the world.

【New Materials and New Energy】 Laureate: Zhiyong Fan

Professor Zhiyong Fan is currently a professor of the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering and the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He is the director of the Center for Smart Sensors and Environmental Technologies, and a founding member of the Young Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong. He has published about 220 academic papers in top journals such as Nature, Nature Photonics, Nature Communications and Science Advances, and has more than 30 Chinese and US patents.

Professor Fan is an internationally renowned expert in biomimetic optoelectronic materials and devices. The bionic eye he developed has attracted widespread attention around the world. This award recognizes his innovation on 3D integration of nanomaterials on curved substrates and applications to robotics and visual prostheses as a new generation of optoelectronic sensors. This technology can be used in intelligent robots, drones, unmanned vehicles, etc. in the future.

【Advanced Manufacturing】 Laureate: Zuankai Wang

Prof. Zuankai Wang is the Associate Vice President (Research & Innovation) and concurrently Chair Professor of Nature-Inspired Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He was the Associate Dean of the College of Engineering from 2019 to 2022 and the founding Deputy Director of the Research Centre for Nature-Inspired Engineering from 2021 to 2022 at City University of Hong Kong. He has published over 200 papers in Nature, Science, Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences and other journals.

Professor Wang is awarded for his multidisciplinary research at the interface of advanced manufacturing, surface science, fluid mechanism, materials science and physics. Scientifically, his team answered three century-old scientific questions—what's the shortest contact time between solid and liquid, how to steer directional liquid flow, and how to overcome the Leidenfrost effect first observed in 1756. Technologically, his team explored the innovative applications of nature-inspired surfaces in water and energy harvesting, thermal cooling, and flexible electronics.

【Fintech】 Laureate: Calvin Cheng

Calvin Cheng is the founder and CEO of Wizpresso, a Hong Kong-based technology company that primarily focuses on the development of capital markets software. Mr. Cheng started his career in banking where he witnessed the challenges of using unstructured qualitative data for research and credit assessment. With new data emerging every day, businesses face unprecedented challenges and complexities in digesting an overwhelming amount of information. This is why Mr. Cheng has decided to help businesses in harnessing the full potential of data and make better decisions by the technology of deep learning and natural language processing (NLP).

Mr. Cheng and his team develop technologies that augment capital markets workflows, specifically in research, reporting, and due diligence. His solutions have received wide adoption across banks, law firms, and issuers. For example, his due diligence software can empower deal teams to collaborate, streamline legal workflows, and save 75% of the time from Initial Public Offerings (IPO) verification processes.