Faculty Awards for Outstanding Achievement 2025
The Faculty Awards for Outstanding Achievement 2025 acknowledge the exceptional accomplishments of our faculty members in the areas of teaching, research and scholarly activities, and knowledge transfer. We are thrilled that the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology (ABCT) has been honored with this prestigious award, recognizing our team's dedication and outstanding contributions!
Faculty Awards:
(Category: Research and Scholarly Activities - Individual)
Prof. Zhao Xin, Professor, ABCT
Professor Zhao Xin advances biomaterials, tissue engineering, drug delivery, microfluidics, and cell microenvironment design, creating light-curable polymers, curvature-programmed TPMS bone scaffolds, and sprayable/microneedle dressings to improve bone repair, minimise scarring in wound healing, and enhance tissue regeneration.
Testimony from Prof Zhao Xin:
"I am deeply honoured to receive the prestigious Individual Award in the category of Research and Scholarly Activities, which recognises the collective effort of my team, collaborators, and clinical partners. This achievement inspires us to continue developing nature-inspired, clinically driven biomaterials that can be translated into solutions improving patient outcomes.”
Faculty Awards:
(Category: Knowledge Transfer: Industry)
Prof. Zheng Zijian, Chair Professor, ABCT
Current collectors (CCs) are essential components but inert materials in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Prof. Zheng’s team develops an ultralight and ultrathin composite CCs, based on metal coated carbon nanotube films, to replace pure metal CCs used nowadays. LIBs utilizing these composite CCs exhibit a 20~25% increase in gravimetric energy density and a 9~12% increase in volumetric energy density. Prof. Zheng received the funding support from RAISe+ and a startup company is setup to scaleup and commercialize this technology.
Testimony from Prof. Zheng Zijian:
“The development and commercialization of ultralight and ultrathin composite current collectors for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries”
Faculty Awards in Teaching:
(Category: Team)
- Prof. LEE Kin-wah, Terence, Associate Head & Professor, ABCT (Team Leader)
- Prof. WONG Tsun-ting, Clarence, Assistant Professor, ABCT
- Prof. MU Quanhua, Assistant Professor, ABCT
- Dr CHEUNG Ching-mei, Chartia, Lecturer, ABCT
- Dr YAN Sau-woon, Clare, Lecturer, ABCT
- Dr WONG Wai-ting, Instructor, ABCT
Our innovative teaching team at PolyU transformed education by integrating hands-on research experiences into student projects focused on global health issues. By collaborating with NGOs and experts in clinical oncology, we developed a scaffolded learning model that empowered students to become creative problem solvers addressing real-world social needs. This impactful approach not only elevated passive learners into active innovators but also garnered international recognition, culminating in a Gold Medal and placing us among the top 10 global institutions. Our commitment to excellence and impactful education is now being formalized into a dedicated teaching subject, ensuring that even more students can benefit from this transformative experience. This outstanding integration of research, collaboration, and real-world application was key to our receipt of the prestigious team-teaching award.
Testimony from Prof. Terence Lee (on behalf of the team):
“On behalf of our team, we are deeply honored to receive this prestigious recognition from the faculty for our two years of collaboration. The initiation and execution of this teaching innovation have presented significant challenges, but the rewards are immeasurable as we witness the remarkable intellectual growth of our students throughout the process. We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to Prof. Larry Chow for his unwavering support of this teaching initiative.”
