FLASS sweeps global innovation awards with 13 wins in health, education, and tech
The Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (FLASS) has distinguished itself by earning 13 invention awards at the 10th International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada (iCAN 2025) and BRICS Inventions 2025. This remarkable achievement showcases FLASS’ strong capabilities in innovative research. The University as a whole secured a total of 19 awards from the two events.
A FLASS scholar claimed a Gold Medal at BRICS Inventions 2025, while the FLASS team collected 12 awards at iCAN 2025, including Gold and Silver Medals, Organiser’s Choice Awards, Top 20 Best Invention Awards, and Special Awards. These honours highlight our scholars’ outstanding innovation in the fields of health technology, educational technology, information technology, and data science.
The innovative project “Novel Biomaterials Used for Dendritic Cell Vaccine for Cancer Immunotherapy” led by Professor Ken Yung Kin-lam, Associate Vice President (Knowledge Transfer and Sustainability) and Chair Professor of Biology and Neuroscience at the Department of Science and Environmental Studies (SES) won a Gold Medal at both iCAN 2025 and BRICS Inventions 2025. His invention also received a Top 20 Best Invention Award and a Special Award at iCAN 2025.
In addition to Professor Yung’s work, three other projects led by FLASS scholars also achieved Gold Medals at iCAN 2025. These include “Nanopore Sensing for Rapid Screening of Epigenetic Disruptors in Food, Healthcare Products, Consumer Goods and Environmental Matrices” led by Professor Rudolf Wu Shiu-sun, Advisor (Environmental Science) at SES; “Dynamic SyncAnUp: Eye-Body Coordination Capture for Elite Sports Performance” headed by Dr Fu Hong, Associate Professor at the Department of Mathematics and Information Technology (MIT); and “Automatic Multi-modal Deep Learning Analysis System” led by Professor Philip Yu Leung-ho, also from MIT.
Alongside the Gold Medals, Professor Wu’s project also received two Special Awards, Dr Fu’s innovation earned her an Organiser’s Choice Award, and Professor Yu’s was further recognised with a Special Award at iCAN 2025. Dr Fridolin Ting Sze-thou, Senior Lecturer at MIT, received a Silver Medal and a Special Award for his project “YoChatGPT!: Unleashing the Power of Collaborative AI”.
Organised by the Swiss company Deban Trading SA under the patronage of the International Federation of Inventors’ Associations (IFIA), BRICS Inventions promotes global exchange and cooperation in innovative technology. It serves as a key platform fostering innovation and collaboration among inventors from BRICS countries and beyond.
Since its inception in 2016, iCAN has grown into a world-renowned invention competition, expanding in scale each year. The 2025 event attracted 802 projects from over 62 countries and regions. In addition to international recognition, winners gain valuable opportunities to expand global networks, promote their research outcomes, and enhance cooperation between scientific research and commercial development. Organised by the Toronto International Society of Innovation & Advanced Skills (TISIAS), the iCAN 2025 award presentation was held online on 30 August.
List of FLASS awarded projects and related awards:
| Date | Topic and YouTube link | Speakers | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novel Biomaterials Used for Dendritic Cell Vaccine for Cancer Immunotherapy | Professor Ken Yung Kin-lam, Chair Professor of Biology and Neuroscience at Department of Science and Environmental Studies | Traditional cancer treatments often rely on cytotoxic agents. The invention enhances dendritic cell maturation using silica nanomatrices, offering a safe & biocompatible approach to improve treatment efficiency, effectiveness and survival rates. |
iCAN 2025: Top 20 Best Invention Awards; Gold Medal; Special Award BRICS Inventions 2025: Gold Medal |
| Dynamic SyncAnUp: Eye-Body Coordination Capture for Elite Sports Performance |
Dr Fu Hong, Associate Professor at Department of Mathematics and Information Technology |
A unified system advances computer vision and synthesise contactless 3D joint tracking, AI and gaze clustering to offer personalised visual analysis, optimising athletic skills and training standards across sports. |
iCAN 2025: Organiser's Choice Awards; Gold Medal |
| Nanopore Sensing for Rapid Screening of Epigenetic Disruptors in Food, Healthcare Products, Consumer Goods and Environmental Matrices | Professor Rudolf Wu Shiu-sun, Advisor (Environmental Science) at Department of Science and Environmental Studies | A cost-effective technique was developed for rapid quantification of epigenetic changes associated with expression of genes related to reproduction, development and growth. Based on which, derived a quantitative index representing epigenetic risks posed by all chemicals in the sample. |
iCAN 2025: Gold Medal Special Awards x 2 |
|
Automatic Multi-modal Deep Learning Analysis System |
Professor Philip Yu Leung-ho, Professor at Department of Mathematics and Information Technology |
Reliable datasets are crucial for AI training, but evaluating ground-truth descriptions is error-prone. The invention automates this, offering quality, domain-specific feedback that improves AI model performance, effectiveness and quality control. |
iCAN 2025: Gold Medal; Special Award |
|
YoChatGPT!: Unleashing the Power of Collaborative AI |
Dr Fridolin Ting Sze-thou, Senior Lecturer at Department of Mathematics and Information Technology | YoChatGPT! is a context-aware collaborative virtual platform engaging multiple users with dynamic AI. It revolutionises advisory, business productivity and education through intelligent features, all within a secure environment. |
iCAN 2025: Silver Medal; Special Award |
