EdUHK EdTech Innovations Win 26 iCAN Awards
The Education University of Hong Kong received 26 awards at the 7th International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada (iCAN) in 2022, including seven gold medals, three silver, five grand awards and 11 special prizes. It marked a new record high since the University’s first participation in 2018.
Two of the University’s inventions received the Best Invention Awards, including ‘A New Generation of Dissolved Oxygen Sensor Using Replaceable Photo-sensing Film’, which was granted the Top 10 Best Invention Award. The invention was developed by Professor Rudolf Wu Shiu-sun, Advisor (Environmental Science) at the Department of Science and Environmental Studies (SES), and his team. It is a novel device which detects and sends out a permanent record of dissolved oxygen levels using replaceable photo-sensing film. It overcomes the prolonged difficulties of monitoring the marine pollution over large areas of water bodies.
An EdTech invention ‘e-Orch’ developed by Dr Leung Chi-hin, Assistant Professor at the Department of Cultural and Creative Arts (CCA), was awarded the Top 20 Best Invention Award. It is a system consisting of an app and cloud-based software specifically designed for music performance and composition. Integrated with the patented Grid Notation, virtual instruments and AI music generator, the invention makes music education accessible and inclusive.
Congratulating the winners, Professor Chetwyn Chan Che-hin, Vice President (Research and Development), said, “The award-winning innovations cover educational technology, marine conservation, art tech and green construction material, etc. It reflects the broadening scope of our research and knowledge transfer. It is encouraging to see that some of our inventions have been successfully licensed or patented, and are creating a positive impact on society. EdUHK will continue to forge knowledge transfer collaboration with different sectors.”
iCAN is an international competition launched in 2016. This year, the competition received 650 applications from 81 countries and regions. EdUHK’s awarding-winning projects are as follows:
| Project | Principal Investigator | Award(s) |
|---|---|---|
| A New Generation of Dissolved Oxygen Sensor Using Replaceable Photo-sensing Film | Professor Rudolf Wu Shiu-sun at SES | Gold Medal, Top 10 Best Invention Award, Special Award |
| Reimagining Music Learning with e-Orch | Dr Leung Chi-hin at CCA | Gold Medal, Top 20 Best Invention Award, Special Award |
| Upcycling Waste Residuals into Value-added Eco-coasters: From Environmental Facilities to Tables | Dr Tsang Yiu-fai at SES | Gold Medal, Organizer’s Choice Award, Special Award |
| Facilitating Emotion Classification Based on Non-Intrusive Learner Data via Deep Neural Networks | Dr Zou Di at the Department of English Language Education (ELE) | Gold Medal, Jury’s Choice Award, Special Award |
| Advanced Tai Chi Experience: An Integration of Novel Typefaces and AR Technology | Dr Hung Keung at CCA | Gold Medal, Two Special Awards |
| UNISON: Unpaired Cross-lingual Image Captioning | Professor Philip Yu Leung-ho at the Department of Mathematics and Information Technology | Gold Medal, Special Award |
| Personalised vocabulary learning system based on artificial intelligence techniques | Dr Zou Di at ELE | Gold Medal, Special Award |
| iMaze: A Fun Working Memory Training for Pre-school Children from Low-income Families | Dr Kean Poon Kei-yan at the Department of Special Education and Counselling | Silver Medal, Best Woman Inventor Award, Special Award |
| CKC Strokes – An Online Practice Tool for Chinese Strokes Writing | Dr Tse Ka-ho at the Department of Chinese Language Studies | Silver Medal, Special Award |
| Smart hands: Are you sure? | Dr Peggy Or Pui-lai at the Department of Health and Physical Education | Silver Medal, Special Award |
For the details of the award-winning projects, please click here.