Triple triumph! FLASS researchers win big at Asia’s innovation showcase

Two ground-breaking projects by FLASS researchers achieved outstanding success at the 5th Asia Exhibition of Innovations and Inventions (AEII 2025), held on 4 and 5 December 2025. The two FLASS projects proudly brought home three awards—the Prize of The International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva, a Gold Medal, and a Silver Medal—highlighting the Faculty’s excellence in cancer immunotherapy and artificial intelligence.

The research 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), received both the Prize of The International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva and a Gold Medal. This invention offers a safe and biocompatible approach to improving cancer treatment.

“Traditional cancer treatments often rely on cytotoxic agents. My team’s invention provides a safer and more efficient biocompatible method, using extracellular silica nanozigzags (NZs) to mature dendritic cells (DCs) in vitro through the mechanical activation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) within DCs. This enhances the ability of NZs to activate immune cells and suppress tumour growth in vivo. Such biomaterials hold strong promise for effective cancer immunotherapy, strengthening the body’s natural defences against cancer without resorting to harmful chemicals,” Professor Yung explained. While in vitro refers to studies or experiments conducted outside the body of a living organism, in vivo refers to those conducted within the body.

Professor Yung’s ingenious invention has won him several international acclaims. In addition to the awards received at AEII 2025, it also received a Top 20 Best Invention Award, a Special Award and a Gold Medal at the 10th International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada (iCAN 2025) in August 2025, and a Gold Medal at BRICS Inventions 2025. His invention also received the WIPO National Award for Inventors and a Gold Medal at the Silicon Valley International Invention Festival (SVIIF) in August 2025, and a Gold Medal and an International Special Merit Award at the 50th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva in April 2025.

The Silver Medal was awarded to the project “Automatic Multi-modal Deep Learning Analysis System”, developed by Professor Philip Yu Leung-ho and his PhD student Mr Xie Zhiwei from the Department of Mathematics and Information Technology (MIT). The invention delivers personalised interactive learning experiences tailored to students’ abilities and educational levels, together with instant automated grading and targeted feedback to promote continuous improvement.

“It’s an automated system designed to assess the accuracy and relevance of image descriptions provided by users. The system furnishes immediate, high-quality personalised feedback at varying proficiency levels to help users progressively enhance their expertise. It achieves this through a fine-tuned Multimodal Large Language Model (MLLM), deep learning, contrastive learning techniques, and generative AI,” Professor Yu said.

Besides bagging the Silver Medal at AEII 2025, Professor Yu’s invention also won several other international accolades. These include the Silver Medal at the 50th International Exhibition of Inventions at Geneva in April 2025, the Gold Medal at the Silicon Valley International Invention Festival 2025 in August 2025, and the Gold Medal and Special Award at the 10th International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada (iCAN 2025) in August 2025.

Hosted at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, AEII 2025 is Asia’s premier annual exhibition and competition celebrating innovations and inventions from across the region. The event featured over 140 innovative submissions, offering a valuable platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration.

AEII award-winning projects by FLASS scholars: