News

Knitwear study tour to Mainland China

A group of 16 knitwear design students, led by Drs Zhou Jinyun and Lo Kawai, embarked on a seven-day study tour to Mainland China to explore yarn spinning, knitwear manufacturing, and the latest design trends. During the trip, the students and staff members visited prominent yarn mills and knitting factories in Zhejiang Province, including the Consinee Group in Ningbo; Xinao Textiles and Diwei Fashion in Tongxiang City; and DongJing Group in Cixi City, and the design centre of Diwei Fashion in Shanghai. The students had the opportunity to observe various spinning and dyeing techniques, as well as the manufacturing process of sweaters, while exploring the latest knitting technologies and facilities. The group also went to the Shanghai Spin ExpoTM which took place from 4 to 5 September. They were inspired by the trend forum and noted the latest trends in yarn at the different in-booth presentations.

Professor Fei Bin visits Kazakhstan universities

In order to extend collaboration networks with the Belt and Road Initiative countries, Professor Fei Bin visited several universities and organisations in Kazakhstan in August 2024, together with a delegation from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) led by Professor Hu Yuan. Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country in the world and generates 60% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Central Asia. As a significant member nation along the Silk Road, Kazakhstan has an abundance of oil, gas and mineral resources but a somewhat modest population of around 20 million people. On 2 July, President Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, attended the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. The delegation composed of Professors Fei Bin, Hu Yuan, Wang Zhengzhou, Zhu Jixin, and Wang Xin arrived at the Zhubanov Aktobe Regional State University (ARSU, 阿克托别州朱巴诺夫国立大学). This University is ranked the 4th most comprehensive university and the largest university in the western region of Kazakhstan. Its Vice President, Professor Rakhym Beknazarov, provided an introduction on their academic programmes, research achievements, and international collaborations. He also expressed a keen interest to develop joint education programmes with universities in Hong Kong and Mainland China. ARSU has over 15,000 students and holds a joint undergraduate programme with the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. Prof. Hu provided an introduction on the history and achievements of the USTC and State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, while Professor Fei outlined the recent achievements of PolyU and SFT in teaching, research and industrial partnerships. After a discussion, they agreed to further explore collaborations in research, academic exchange, and partnership workshops. In the days that followed, the team members gave lectures to the local academics and students. 

SFT alumni shine at YDC 2024

The Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers' Contest (YDC) organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is one of the most anticipated fashion extravaganza in Asia. The contest was successfully held on 7 September at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Ten local fashion designers with immense talent and creative design flair were shortlisted, including SFT alumni Yoyo Chan (BA, 2022), Catherine Hui (BA, 2024), Einar Lai (BA, 2024) and Jenice Tam (BA, 2024). Yoyo took home “Best Art Direction Award” and “My Favourite Collection Award” for her “Trouble X” collection. Yoyo’s collection breaks the stereotypes of school uniforms by deconstructing the style, adding playful elements, and defying normative expectations in the design details. Highly saturated reds are interspersed with warm yellows, reminiscent of a spirited attitude and independent personality. As she frees the garments from the rigidity of its intentions as a uniform, her design becomes an advocate for ageless rebellion.

Best Use of Australian Merino Wool Award goes to knitwear student Shirley Cheung

The Woolmark Company and Flinders Merino Group presented the Best Use of Australian Merino Wool Award to knitwear design graduating student, Cheung Wai-yee, Shirley, for her graduation collection that is representative of innovative applications of Australian Merino wool at the PolyU Fashion Show 2024. The award presentation was successfully held at The Woolmark Company’s Wool Resource Centre on 29 August. Shirley’s collection is called “Magic Mushroom Dreamland”, and inspired by mushrooms found in enchanting fairy tales. Through the creation of distinct patterns, magic mushrooms come to life and explore in a whimsical fairytale realm. Her designs not only encapsulate a sense of joy and playfulness, but also emphasise practicality for everyday wear, thus harmoniously balancing imagination and functionality. Shirley’s collection highlights the meticulous use of fancy yarns in stitching, hand embroidering and crocheting. The Woolmark Company is the global authority on Merino wool and owns the Woolmark logo, a quality assurance symbol found on more than 5 billion products. As a not-for-profit organisation, The Woolmark Company works alongside 60,000 woolgrowers in Australia to research, develop and certify Australian wool. They support and collaborate with like-minded fashion designers and brands. SFT would like to thank The Woolmark Company and Flinders Merino Group for their continuous support in nurturing the next generation of fashion design talents.

“Stitchable Chinese Arts” Fashion Design Competition and Catwalk Show 2023/24

Co-organised by the Art Education Section of the Curriculum Development Institute - Education Bureau and SFT, the “Stitchable Chinese Arts” Fashion Design Competition and Catwalk Show 2023/24 successfully took place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 29 August 2024. Dr Christine Choi Yuk-lin, JP, Secretary for Education, and Professor Wong Wing-tak, Deputy President and Provost, PolyU, honoured the event as the officiating guests to deliver the welcome speeches. The event showcased over 1,500 entries from more than 120 primary and secondary schools, with 48 talented students shortlisted for the final catwalk show. The finalists demonstrated their exceptional skills in blending fashion design with Chinese cultural elements, and presented a variety of distinct garments that captivated the audience. This initiative aims to inspire students to incorporate Chinese art and design into their fashion creations, thus fostering more appreciation for aesthetics, creativity, and cultural heritage. Under the expert guidance of the SFT’s staff and students, the finalists crafted exquisite garments that highlighted their innovative approaches. The catwalk show was met with an enthusiastic response, and testifies to the future of fashion in Hong Kong while promoting the rich tapestry of Chinese art and culture. Click here for the digital version of the show brochure.

Dr Fu Jimin secures HK$1.2M from MTR Research Funding Scheme 2024

Dr Fu Jimin, Research Assistant Professor proudly secured funding of HK$1,207,800 from the MTR Academy’s 2024 MTR Research Funding Scheme (MRF 2024), with his project “Enhancing Rail Resilience with Cellulosic Zinc-Ion Batteries: A Sustainable Energy Storage Solution for Future Railway Systems”. The research initiative targets the development of cellulosic zinc-ion batteries as a sustainable energy storage solution for railway systems. By leveraging the inherent properties of cellulosic materials, specifically carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), this project aims to create lightweight, flexible three-dimensional nanofiber electrodes that are dendrite-free and compatible with aqueous zinc-ion full batteries. The research approach involves a molecular-level functionalization or modification of cellulosic materials to enhance their electrochemical performance and target to enable the introduction of features such as thermal responsiveness and ion selectivity, crucial for railway applications. MRF aims to support exploratory and upstream research to create and build future operations and services in mass public transportation. The proposals are expected to put forward innovative solutions to address the challenges and define the future rail transport system performance, commuting experience, business models, community integration, social impacts, etc.

Prof. Xu Bingang’s team publishes in Advanced Energy Materials

Rapid technological advancements have reduced the size and increased the portability of electronics. In 2021, the number of portable devices reached 12.2 billion globally, and is predicted to exceed 25 billion in 2025. Such an immense number of small electronics has resulted in an ever-increasing demand for energy. However, existing energy sources are primarily derived from unsustainable resources such as coal, oil and natural gas, which are non-renewable and cause pollution. Therefore, developing renewable and sustainable types of energy is an important, urgent, albeit challenging task. Prof. Xu Bingang’s research focuses on an important direction: determining how to provide a green, renewable and sustainable power supply for wearable electronic devices. To tackle this issue, his team has carried out avant-garde research on utilising human motions like walking and running, and environmental sources like sunlight, heat and humidity, to convert mechanical, solar, thermal and humidity energy into usable electric energy for sustainable applications. The works are based on the individual energy-conversion effects of piezoelectric, triboelectric, photoelectric, thermoelectric, and moist-electric effects. To further enlarge the input energy capacity for higher performance, his team has also made effort to combine or integrate these energy-conversion effects by developing a kind of hybrid energy harvester that is able to harvest renewable energies from multiple sources simultaneously (like mechanical, solar, moisture and thermal energy) and then convert them into electricity. The main challenges for developing this kind of hybrid energy harvesting method lies in the fundamental study and novel designs of functional materials that can effectively resolve the problem of synergistic coupling and fusion of different input energies into a single device unit. More recently, Prof. Xu’s team has made an innovative breakthrough in the field by fundamentally disclosing and designing a new type of hybrid multi-energy harvesting strategy. This development is based on their new understanding and synergistical regulation of charge generation and transfer dynamics by integrating ferroelectric and photovoltaic effects with the tribovoltaic effect. With this new strategy, the developed multi-energy devices are flexible for wearing and can also deliver an impressive direct current (DC) electric output of 7.3 V and 69.8 µA, thus outperforming those in other reported works. In addition to driving portable devices, the flexible multi-energy harvesting device is also capable of self-powered multifunctional sensing, including sensing temperature, humidity, bending, and photodetection. This study proposes new scientific insights into modulating the electric performance of hybrid energy harvesting while extending its functionality to applications in smart wearables and e-textiles. This work is published in Advanced Energy Materials (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aenm.202402145), a top-tier journal in Materials Science with an impact factor of 24.4. The first two authors are respectively Drs Xin Yin and Yujue Yang, a postdoctoral fellow and a new PhD graduate (2024) under the supervision of Prof. Xu.

PolyU and Fung Retailing Group sign MoU to promote sustainable fashion

We are excited to announce a new partnership with the Fung Retailing Group of the Fung Group. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Signing Ceremony was held at the Opening Ceremony of Li & Fung Sustainable Fashion Week (利丰可持续时尚周) in Shanghai on 13 August. This collaboration will practise the concept of sustainable fashion together and facilitate the commercialisation of results of research on new functional fabrics in collaboration with companies in Minhang District in Shanghai.

Dr Fan Di receives media attention for publication

Dr Fan Di, Associate Professor, has published a significant study titled "Locking in Overseas Buyers Amid Geopolitical Conflicts" in the Journal of Operations Management. This collaborative research, conducted with scholars from Renmin University, the Australian National University, and Singapore Management University, explores the impact of the ongoing U.S.–China trade war on cross-border trade relationships. The study reveals that transactions between U.S. buyers and Chinese suppliers dropped by 18.42% following the 2018 trade war. It also highlights strategies for mitigating these impacts, emphasising the importance of innovation and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in building resilient international relationships. The study provides essential insights for businesses that are navigating today’s deglobalised world. Dr Fan and his team suggest that Chinese suppliers with strong innovation capabilities and high CSR performance are better equipped to retain overseas buyers. Furthermore, while political connections can be beneficial during stable times, they may become liabilities amid geopolitical tensions, thus posing risks to international partnerships. Buyers, on the other hand, should carefully assess their dependence on specific suppliers and strive to balance supplier capabilities with supply chain flexibility to enhance resilience against geopolitical risks. The importance of Dr Fan's research work has caught the attention of major media outlets, including the South China Morning Post and Asia Times. An article in the South China Morning Post, "Is Vietnam losing its appeal for China’s manufacturers bypassing US tariffs?," examines how Chinese firms adapt their strategies amidst changing geopolitical dynamics. Similarly, the Asia Times discusses the ongoing challenges faced by Chinese EV manufacturers in "China EVs still driving for EU’s protected markets." These features underscore the relevance and impact of Dr Fan’s work, which offers a comprehensive analysis of the strategies that businesses can use to navigate the complexities of geopolitical conflicts. The Journal of Operations Management is a flagship peer-reviewed academic journal in the area of operations and supply chain management. It is listed in the Financial Times 50 and UT-Dallas journal lists, and ranked 4* on the UK’s ABS journal list and A* on Australia’s ABDC list. The full article is available here.

Prof. Joanne Yip garners two awards at the Silicon Valley International Invention Festival

Professor Joanne Yip, Associate Dean, garnered two prestigious awards at the 2024 Silicon Valley International Inventions Festival (SVIIF), including the Prize of the Korea Invention Promotion Association and one gold medal. Professor Yip’s awarded project titled “Development of Intelligent Nighttime Brace with Smart Padding to Treat Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis” introduces an intelligent nighttime brace for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) patients with a Cobb’s angle of 10 to 25 degrees, using soft robotics and smart padding. Integrating clinical research, material science, and wearable technology, the brace features a smart system that automatically adjusts corrective forces and positioning, ensuring optimal spinal correction. Covered with sweat-wicking and breathable textiles, and equipped with an air-bag support belt for additional tractive forces, the brace promises comfort and efficiency. Real-time sensors monitor body-brace contact and sleeping posture, allowing dynamic adjustments to the wearer's movements, enhancing correction effectiveness, and minimising discomfort. The invention offers significant advantages: personalised treatment, improved patient compliance due to comfort, and reduced risk of skin issues. Its impact lies in providing a more effective, comfortable, and user-friendly solution for AIS treatment, potentially improving the quality of life for adolescents with scoliosis. Ongoing clinical trials aim to optimise this innovative brace, highlighting a commitment to advancing scoliosis management. SVIIF, which is the largest event of its kind in the United States, this year drew participation from approximately 30 countries and regions, representing a wide array of academic institutions, research institutes and enterprises. Supported and attended by multinational corporations, investors and entrepreneurs, the event serves as a crucial platform for inventors and the business community to explore commercialisation opportunities and seek partnerships.