Frank Zierenberg, Project Director of the iF Design Award.
Prof Albert Ko, Director of the Lingnan Entrepreneurship Initiative.
Lingnan University and the iF Design Award team co-host a sharing seminar at Lingnan@WestKowloon.
To encourage the development of innovative and creative design in Hong Kong, Lingnan University partnered with the renowned German iF Design Award ⸻ often referred to as the Oscar of Design ⸻ to co-host the Meet iF in Hong Kong seminar today (24 September) at Lingnan@WestKowloon in the M+ Building in the West Kowloon Cultural District. This sharing seminar, its inaugural collaboration with the local higher education sector, is the first event the iF has held in Hong Kong and was attended by dozens of representatives of leading Hong Kong, Mainland China and overseas companies. Among the attendees were Hong Kong’s 2024 iF Design Award winners, including esteemed local interior designers Ms Virginia Lung and Mr AndrewLam, who spoke about their own distinctive design concepts and styles.
Frank Zierenberg, Project Director of the iF Design Award, delivered the opening address and participated in the discussions, noting that Hong Kong has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to its cultural and creative industries. The venue, Lingnan@WestKowloon, is rich in a cultural and creative ambiance that merges art with education, making it an ideal location, and Zierenberg said "Hong Kong’s unique geographical position and international outlook have long made it a major hub for global design innovation. Despite the fierce global competition, Hong Kong's open market and persistent drive for innovation give the design industry immense growth potential."
He added that Lingnan University is one of only eight higher education institutions worldwide to have won the iF Design Gold Award since it was established in 1953, and the only one in Hong Kong to receive this prestigious honour. “We are thrilled to be able to facilitate this collaboration between iF and Lingnan University, making it possible to host a sharing seminar in Hong Kong for the first time where top designers from Hong Kong and neighbouring regions can exchange ideas, fostering global industry innovation.”
Lingnan University winners of the 2024 iF Design Gold Award and other Hong Kong-based awardees, including Ms Virginia Lung and MrAndrew Lam, described how their innovative design approaches and distinctive vision have won them international recognition.
Prof Albert Ko, Director of the Lingnan Entrepreneurship Initiative, and Mr Adrian Lo, Product Designer Lead of the Office of Service-Learning of Lingnan University, stressed Lingnan’s long-term commitment to integrating innovative thinking with advanced technology to develop impactful humanitarian inventions aimed at improving human life. The design concept behind their Gold Award-winning product, the PureAura portable air purifier, originated from a group of Lingnan students carrying out a service-learning project. After realising how poor the air quality was inside subdivided flats during home visits, the faculty and students of the Lingnan Entrepreneurship Initiative jointly developed the PureAura portable air purifier, and over the past year Lingnan University has collaborated with the government's Community Living Rooms and non-profit organisations to mass-produce the PureAura, distributing nearly 3,000 air purifiers to needy subdivided flat households throughout Hong Kong.
Prof Ko emphasised "At Lingnan University, we encourage students to engage deeply with the community through service-learning, allowing them to identify real societal needs. In the process of product development and design, students not only learn but also transform classroom knowledge into practical solutions for social challenges. This approach to learning through practice and critical thinking in design cultivates innovation, creativity, and a sense of social responsibility in our students, while also achieving the goal of commercialising academic research."
Lingnan University's PureAura portable air purifier has to date won 13 international awards, including the world's most influential 2024 iF Design Award - Gold Award, the 2024 Red Dot Design Award, the IDEA International Design Excellence Awards - Gold Award, and the Gold Medal at the 49th Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions. Prof Ko added that the most encouraging outcome for the team is seeing the product truly empower people to help themselves, while inspiring students to use their knowledge for social good. By integrating innovative design concepts with rigorous humanitarian technology research, the team has developed practical and impactful humanitarian technologies that enhance the quality of human life. Lingnan University will continue to advance humanitarian technology, strengthen knowledge transfer, and contribute to building a more just and sustainable society, while upholding their motto of "Education for Service".
To learn more about Lingnan University's PureAura portable air purifier and its international awards, please visit:
PureAura: Portable Mini Energy-saving Air Purifier for space-constrained living | 嶺大創業行動 (ln.edu.hk)