News

The research team led by Professor Tam Hwa-yaw developed the world’s first optical fibre-based data-driven predictive maintenance system

Please check Here for his interview with TVB programme (Chinese Only)   Description:   Tremendous pressure is being imposed on railway operators to enhance service reliability and infrastructure maintenance to reduce disruption arising from train, track and overhead power line failures. This requires condition-monitoring systems that can effectively and continuously monitor mission-critical components to produce big data in respect of railway asset maintenance for the development of advanced fault identification and prediction techniques. PolyU developed the world’s first optical fibre-based data-driven predictive maintenance system that enables railway industry to shift from costly and inefficient scheduled maintenance regimes to predictive maintenance.  The system identifies defects in rail tracks, overhead power lines, wheel flats, and cracks in bogies and carriages. Five systems were installed in MTR Hong Kong and two in SMRT lines in Singapore in 2014, and 2016, respectively. The system monitors developing faults and had successfully predicted broken power line along the Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport Line in 2015, several weeks in advance. The goal is to herald a safer railway industry with reduced maintenance cost, and high quality of service. 

PRI researchers Dr Chai Yang and his research teams developed Retina-like sensors give machines better vision

PRI researchers, Dr Chai Yang and his research teams, developed devices that can perceive objects in a light-intensity range substantially wider than that of state-of-the-art sensors based on silicon. Such instruments could improve the efficiency and reduce the complexity of machine-vision technology.   The research achievement has been published in Nature Electronics and selected as the “Research Highlights” in Nature journal. Please click the following links for details:   Nature Electronics:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41928-022-00713-1 Nature’s Research Highlights: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00360-8

PRI researchers Professor Tam Hwa-yaw and his research teams developed fibre-optic sensor for pioneering biomedical monitoring ability

The research team led by Prof. Tam Hwa-yaw, Associate Director of the Photonics Research Institute developed fibre-optic sensor for pioneering biomedical monitoring ability.   Please check Here for his interview with TVB programme: Innovation GPS (Chinese Only)   Description: Cochlear implantation surgery is the current standard of care to treat profound sensorineural hearing loss. The quality of hearing restored to a deaf patient vastly depends on accurate positioning of the Electrode Array of the cochlear implant while preserving the delicate cochlear membranes. PolyU fabricated novel ZEONEX based polymer optical fibers integrated with these cochlear implants aid in force detection and navigation in real-time during the implantation process. The low stiffness properties of these fibers compared to the widely used glass fibers can be considered as one of the key features that make them excellent candidates for this surgical prosthesis. The ZEONEX based polymeric fibers have also been incorporated in the assessment of femoral fracture recoveries. Femoral fracture is a life-threatening injury where early surgical stabilization is now the standard treatment for this injury to allow mobilization and rehabilitation. The outstanding flexibility of these novel fibers together with biocompatibility and insensitivity towards humidity permit them to be utilized with orthopaedic implants to estimate the recovery of the fractured femurs. This is carried out by observing the strain response of polymer optical fiber sensors to various loading and unloading conditions of the femurs.  

PRI Members obtained The President’s Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Knowledge Transfer 2021 of PolyU

Further to the invitation of nominations in February 2021 and the subsequent assessment processes for The President’s Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Knowledge Transfer 2021 of PolyU. We are pleased to announce the following results of the Awards.   Team Awards  Faculty/School  Sub-category   Name of Awardee  Unit  FENG  Industry  Prof. Tam Hwa-yaw Ir Dr Lee Kang Kuen Dr S.Y.M. Liu Dr Stephen Cho Mr David H.Y. Au EE   Individual Awards  Faculty/School Sub-category Name of Awardee Unit FAST Society Dr Joanne Yip ITC   We take this opportunity to congratulate all the awardees for their achievements.

PRI and Department of EIE co-organized seminar: Searching compact binaries using space-based photometric observations

Photonics Research Institute and Department of Electronic and Information Engineering co-organized a seminar with the topic of “Searching compact binaries using space-based photometric observations”. The seminar was successfully held on 24 February 2022 at 10 a.m. (Hong Kong Time) via Zoom. It was honor to invite Prof. Pak Hin (Thomas) Tam, Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at Sun Yat-Sen University in Mainland China, to be the keynote speaker in the seminar.   ABSTRACT The mass and orbital distribution of existing black holes and neutron stars in binaries can have important implications on binary massive stellar evolution, shedding light on gravitational wave astronomy. However, the known number of compact objects in binaries is orders of magnitude less than those predicted. Traditional ways to look for black holes (e.g., in X-ray binaries) are biased against wide binaries, and possibly mass-gap black holes. Recent studies employing radial velocity searches and optical photometry have started to reveal such systems less probed before. In recent years, exoplanet-search satellites such as Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have opened an era of high-precision photometry of a large number of stars. I demonstrate that TESS photometric data do contain periodicity signals of known pulsar-like systems, by observing the orbital period-modulated flux variation from the stellar companion. We have also made an estimate of searchable black hole binaries (~a few) in the field of Kepler. In the end of the talk, I will introduce the CSST Big Bay Area Science Center and the upcoming funding opportunities.      

Professor Tam Hwa-yaw has led a research team to develop novel fibre optic microsensors

Professor Tam Hwa-yaw, Associate Director of PRI, has led a research team to develop novel fibre optic microsensors, which can be implanted into people’s bodies to enable more accurate medical surveillance for surgery and treatment. The research team used an advanced plastic material to develop the microsensors. Named the “Side Hole Polymer Optical Fibre Sensors”, the microsensors are biocompatible, supple and extremely sensitive to very small pressure changes inside human bodies. It can be made as small as a few micrometres and their sensitivity to pressure is 20 times that of traditional optical fibre sensors. Also, as the microsensors are humidity insensitive, shatter-resistant, chemically inert and biocompatible, they can potentially be used for a broader range of medical applications.   The “Side Hole Polymer Optical Fibre Sensors” research findings were published in 2021 in US-based The Optical Society’s Optics Letters. Some of the applications jointly developed with other universities have already been granted patents.   Please click here to view more detail about the report.

15 PRI Members Recognised World’s Top Two Percent Scientists Released by Stanford University

The latest top 2 percent Scientists complied by Standford University has been announced. The report was prepared by a team of experts led by Prof. John Ioannidis, the eminent Professor at the Stanford University. We are pleased to report that 15 PRI members have been recognised on this list. This recognition demonstrates PRI’s influence in multi disciplines and signifies our dedication in conducting world-class research.   Congratulations to our top scientists!   The full report can be downloaded from here.

PolyU and Huawei signed a MoU to pursue in-depth research collaboration to advance the technology development of photonics and its applications

PolyU received a generous donation from HUAWEI TECH. Investment Co., Ltd. (Huawei) to support the “PolyU-Huawei Joint Laboratory for Optical Interconnection Network and Advanced Computing System”. A signing ceremony was held on 3 December 2021 successfully. PolyU and Huawei signed a strategic research cooperation MoU to pursue in-depth research collaboration to advance the technology development of photonics and its applications.

Won Award - Second Prizes in the innovation category in The 7th Hong Kong University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition 2021

The 7th Hong Kong University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition was organized by the Hong Kong New Generation Cultural Association. The competition was co-organized by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) and funded by the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC). It aims to develop science and innovation education, and gather the most talented innovators and entrepreneurs from all tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. One team of postgraduate students and research staff from the Photonic Systems and Devices Focus Area attained the Second Prizes in the innovation category of this competition! The award ceremony was successfully completed in November 2021.    (Innovation - Information Technology category) Project: Intelligent Driver Health Assessment System Based on the Optical Fiber Interferometer Supervision of Professor: Prof. Yu Changyuan Student: YU Jianxun CHEN Shuyang QU Jiaqi While the winning project “Intelligent Driver Health Assessment System Based on the Optical Fiber Interferometer” developed an assessment system to monitor the drivers’ health. The system is implemented in the sensing part, which is a smart cushion embedded by the optical fiber interferometer to collect human’s ballistocardiograph (BCG) signal. The raw data collected will be transmitted to the cloud server by the 4G communication module for analysis. It achieves contactless health condition assessment and non-invasive vital signs monitoring for drivers to avoid traffic safety hazards caused by the drivers in poor health condition.   We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the success of the team and achievement on winning the award.  We wish them continued success.

PRI Member Prof. Li Gang elected as 2022 Optica Fellow

Professor Li Gang was elected as a 2022 Optica Fellow for his seminal and sustained contributions to the research and development of organic solar cells and perovskite solar cells, according to an announcement by Optica in mid-November. Optica is an esteemed US-based professional body formerly known as The Optical Society (OSA).   It is a distinguished honor as Prof. Li is among the 106 members from 24 countries or regions elected to the 2022 Fellows Class, out of a total of 262 nominations in a highly competitive election process.   Congratulations to Prof. Li!