The Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is proud to announce that two of our distinguished professors, Prof. YANG Hong Xing and Prof. HUANG Xinyan, have been recognized as recipients of the PolyU Patents Achievement Award 2024. This prestigious award celebrates outstanding contributions to intellectual property (IP) filing and innovation at PolyU.
Award Highlights:
- Prof. HUANG Xinyan
- Top Patents Filing Award 2024: Recognizes IP filing activities over the past five years (2020–2024).
- Most Active Patents Filing Award 2024: Acknowledges IP filing activities within the year 2024.
- Prof. YANG Hong Xing
- Outstanding IP Commercialisation Award 2024: Honours high-value licensing cases over the past three years (2022–2024).
Prof. Huang has filed more than 10 patents covering innovative technologies such as smart fire detectors, firefighting robots, fire services systems, battery safety management, and advanced combustion reactors.
Prof. Yang’s award is attributed to two successful IP license transfers to local engineering companies, showcasing the real-world impact of BEEE’s research and innovation. The licensed technologies are:
1. Indirect Evaporative Cooling Technology for Air-Conditioning
A highly efficient indirect evaporative cooler (IEC) has been developed for energy recovery in central air-conditioning systems. This innovation utilizes the cooling potential of exhaust air, enabling effective evaporative cooling even in hot and humid regions. Installed before an air-handling unit (AHU), the IEC pre-cools fresh air by harnessing cool, dry exhaust air from air-conditioned spaces. Specially designed channels with hydrophilic and hydrophobic coatings further enhance cooling efficiency. This technology can save approximately 17% to 35% of energy for fresh air supply in commercial buildings.
2. Micro Incline Hydropower Harvesting Device
An innovative self-adaptive hydropower harvesting system has been developed to generate electricity from water flow in urban pipelines, powering the Waterpipe Intelligent Network (WIN) while minimizing water head loss. The fourth-generation system has been successfully tested on WSD water pipelines for over a year, providing reliable and continuous power. This micro power generation system offers significant economic and sustainability advantages over traditional chemical batteries, with potential applications in water pipelines in other cities. It enables cost-effective and reliable power for data monitoring meters and sensors, reducing maintenance costs and improving system reliability.
Please join us in congratulating Prof. Yang and Prof. Huang for their remarkable achievements and contributions. Their dedication to innovation, impactful research, and the successful translation of intellectual property into societal and commercial value is truly inspiring. We hope these awards will continue to motivate our BEEE community to strive for excellence in IP creation, commercialisation, and knowledge transfer, further strengthening our department’s role in shaping a future of innovation and impact at PolyU.
