HKU establishes Five Jockey Club STEM Labs to foster innovative and sustainable research
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has received a generous support of HKD 48.51 million from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust to establish five Jockey Club (JC) STEM Labs. The establishment of the JC STEM Labs aligns with the University’s strategic plan to nurture future leaders in STEM fields and promote interdisciplinary research and collaboration.
The University held an inauguration ceremony today (April 10) to express gratitude and appreciation to the Trust. The officiating guests at the ceremony were Professor Peng Gong, Vice-President (Academic Development) of HKU and Ms Ada Chu, Head of Charities (Talent and Sector Development; Institute of Philanthropy) of The Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Professor Gong expressed his gratitude to The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust for its generous support of the University’s research and development, “HKU aspires to nurture future leaders in STEM fields. We strongly believe that they can harness their expertise in inter-disciplinary research and create impact to the society. Our JC STEM Labs will be driving research projects to examine complex problems and solutions. From food and energy security to water usage and environmental preservation, these are all pressing challenges of our time and I believe that our outstanding researchers will be making breakthroughs in finding solutions.”
The five newly inaugurated JC STEM Labs are:
JC STEM Lab of Advanced 3D Integrated Circuit Technology is led by Professor Lain-Jong Li from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, which aims to develop key materials and technologies to enable the scalable fabrication of advanced 3D integrated circuits (3DICs).
JC STEM Lab of Molecular Imaging is led by Professor Haibo Jiang from the Department of Chemistry, which focuses on the development of innovative bioimaging technologies to study how molecules are transported in biological systems and how these processes impact human health.
JC STEM Lab of Multimedia and Machine Learning is led by Professor Dong Xu from the Department of Computer Science, which will establish a powerful large-scale computing system to meet the rapidly increasing demand for both training speed and GPU memory in cutting-edge AI research.
JC STEM Lab of Quantitative Remote Sensing is led by Professor Shunlin Liang from the Department of Geography, which will investigate Earth’s atmospheric and land systems interactions, devise advanced methods for estimating environmental variables from satellite data, and utilise this information to address global environmental issues and support sustainable development.
JC STEM Lab of Robotics for Soft Materials is led by Professor Kazuhiro Kosuge from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, which will concentrate on fundamental research to enhance robots’ human-like skills.
The Trust representative Ms Chu said, “Talent & Sector Development is one of the focus areas of the Club’s charity strategy. By investing in the establishment of these JC STEM Labs, the Club’s Charities Trust aims to support the development of STEM talents for Hong Kong and strengthen capacity in applied research and knowledge transfer. Our commitment to this initiative underscores the Club’s purpose of acting continuously for the betterment of society.”
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust established the JC STEM Lab Initiative in 2021 to support the laboratory set-up for the awarded scholars under the Government-initiated Global STEM Professorship Scheme. The initiative aims to nurture STEM talent in Hong Kong and promote the translation of new science and technology to social impact.