HKUST(GZ) debuts at Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions, winning multiple awards

The 50th Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from April 9 to 13. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) (HKUST(GZ)) participated for the first time this year, achieving outstanding results. All four participating teams from the University received awards, including a Special Grand Prize, three Gold Medals, and a Bronze Medal.

Professor Lionel M. NI, President of HKUST(GZ), expressed his appreciation for the University's faculty and student teams, who shone on the world stage.

"HKUST(GZ) has been committed to cultivating compound innovative and entrepreneurial talents. This year, for our first exhibition, we were able to send teams with diverse objectives in research, engineering, and entrepreneurship, all of whom achieved excellent results. This indicates that we are steadily progressing toward our vision of diverse and integrated development. In the future, the University will continue to embrace technological and industrial transformation, seeking to empower the country's high-quality development," said NI.

The team led by Assistant Professor Hao LIU from the Artificial Intelligence Thrust, Information Hub, HKUST(GZ), won the Special Grand Prize, "Swiss Automobile Club Prize – ACS", and a Gold Medal at the exhibition for their project LLMLight: An LLM-empowered autonomous agent for traffic signal control.

The team applied large language models to intelligent traffic signal systems, integrating real-time traffic data to optimize traffic flow across the city.

Members of the award-winning team: Hao LIU, Siqi LAI, Zhao XU, Weijia ZHANG, and Hui XIONG.

The project team behind the "Wet Processing System in Semiconductor Scientific Research", led by Associate Professor Wei XU, Director of the Nanosystem Fabrication Facility (NFF) at HKUST(GZ), won the Gold Medal.

Members of the award-winning team: Wei XU, Yijie LI, Zhaoyang WU, Xiangjun ZENG, Ji LI, Nina WANG, Xuemeng FENG

Jacobi.ai, a spin-off startup from HKUST(GZ), was awarded the Gold Medal. Founded by Dicong QIU, PhD candidate from the Artificial Intelligence Thrust, the Jacobi.ai team is dedicated to developing multimodal embodied AI across embodiments, endowing robots with flexible adaptability to seamlessly help people in diverse situations, from the retail industry to restaurants, household services, and elderly care.

Members of the award-winning team: Dicong QIU, Zhuoyun LIU, Junwei LI

The "SmaTech Automation" project team led by Dr. Li CHEN, a Lead Engineer and Assistant Professor of Practice at HKUST(GZ), was awarded the Bronze Medal. This project focuses on the field of integrated additive and subtractive manufacturing technology for metals, aiming to overcome process bottlenecks in manufacturing complex-shaped components.

Members of the award-winning team: Li CHEN, Xiaoke DENG, Yuanzhi CHEN, Wenze ZHANG, Pengcheng HU, Kai TANG.

The Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions is one of the world's top three invention exhibitions. This year, it attracted nearly 1,050 inventions by inventors, universities, institutions, and companies from around 35 countries and regions.

Thirty-seven HKUST and HKUST(GZ) teams won a total of 38 awards at the exhibition, including two Special Grand Prizes, 22 Gold Medals (of which seven received Congratulations of the Jury), and multiple Silver and Bronze Medals. Not only did HKUST(GZ) achieve impressive results, but HKUST also surpassed its previous years' award counts, setting a new record and leading among its Hong Kong peers.

HKUST and HKUST(GZ) showcased to the world their impressive achievements in various fields including healthcare, artificial intelligence, data science, advanced manufacturing, new energy technologies, and aerospace engineering, highlighting the University's leading position in innovation and invention.

The research team led by Prof. Qingping SUN from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) of HKUST won the Prize of the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca – Romania, as well as the Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury. Their solid-state sub-zero Celsius freezer, if it were to replace existing vapor-compression refrigerators, would reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by a projected 6.5 million metric tons per year.