City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) won the Research Project of the Year: STEM at Times Higher Education (THE) Awards Asia 2024, the only university in Hong Kong to win this prestigious award this year.

Competing with seven other nominees from other prestigious universities in Asia in this category, the research aims to help solve the twin crises of freshwater and electricity production shortages. The project was led by Professor Steven Wang, Associate Vice-President (Resources Planning) and Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and School of Energy and Environment, and Professor Li Wen Jung, Vice-President (Talent and International Strategy) and Chair Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Systems Engineering. The project showcased a remarkable convergence of expertise -- their collaborative efforts and unwavering dedication have paved the way for innovative solutions that hold great promise for tackling these critical issues head-on.

THE Awards Asia 2024, held on 29 April in Malaysia, gave out 10 awards during the evening. The awards offer an international platform to acknowledge outstanding leadership and institutional performance and celebrate higher-education excellence in Asia.

Professor Freddy Boey, President of CityUHK, expressed his delight at the major win at the ceremony and congratulated the team on their success. “I am extremely proud of Professor Wang and Professor Li for their academic and research achievements to be recognised on the global stage. This worldwide recognition is the result of our dedication to fostering a culture of innovation and excellence in research,” he said.

“CityUHK is committed to promoting sustainability through research in various disciplines and this requires collaboration across disciplines and sectors locally, regionally and internationally. We will continue to support our faculty members in pursuing excellence and to play an important role in addressing global issues. I am confident that their research results will have a positive impact on society and the world,” he added.

The winning project, titled “Zero-emission Droplet-based Nanogenerator to Harvest Water, Electricity and Nutrients from the Air”, focuses on developing an integrated system combining a nature-inspired fog-based water harvester and a nutrient producer to harvest three life-essential resources from the air in response to the global crises of freshwater and nutrient/energy production shortages.

To tackle the freshwater shortage and provide green power and nutrients, the technology can produce a high fog-to-energy/nutrient conversion rate, providing a sustainable, stable, low-cost, portable and eco-friendly nutrient supply solution and helping tackle the freshwater crisis.

“It’s a great honour to receive the award, especially to be able to compete with other outstanding projects from prestigious Asian universities,” said Professor Wang.

“We hope to contribute more to solving the freshwater and nutrient supply shortages not only in Hong Kong, but also internationally,” he added. “We are now collaborating with Hong Kong government departments to apply the system widely for local usage. Our next goal is to tackle the problems and provide green power and nutrients to improve the habitation of remote areas in Mainland China and Southeast Asia.”

Competing with 600 other entries from other Asian universities in 10 categories, CityUHK was shortlisted for the final eight in four different categories: Outstanding Support for Students, Research Project of the Year: STEM, Student Recruitment Campaign of the Year, and Teaching and Learning Strategy of the Year.