Innovation

Original coconut-blend fuel performed similarly to jet fuel with reduced hydrocarbon emissions

The event connected Ateneans with one-stop support for research, publishing, creative work, innovation, IP, ethics, and communication.

Prof S. Joe Qin, President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science of Lingnan University, and Lingnan Fellow of the Lingnan University Institute for Advanced Study (LUIAS) and internationally renowned chemical engineering scholar Prof Ignacio E. Grossmann attended the 22nd IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (IEEE CASE 2026) in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. The conference, themed “Smart Industry”, brought together leading scholars and industry experts from around the world in the fields of automation and robotics. During the conference session, President Prof S. Joe Qin introduces Prof Grossmann’s academic background and distinguished achievements. Prof Grossmann delivered a plenary speech today (18 August), entitled “Challenges in the Application of Mathematical Programming Approaches to Industrial Enterprise-wide Optimisation”, sharing the challenges of applying mathematical programming approaches to enterprise-wide optimisation, as well as the applications of related research in industrial production planning, supply chains and enterprise decision-making.

The University is helping shape a national innovation blueprint to turn university research into technologies, products, industries, and community solutions.

Lingnan University’s research teams have achieved exceptional success at the Silicon Valley International Invention Festival 2026, with all 14 of their projects winning eight gold and six silver medals. One of the projects, the “GaitGPT: Evidence-Grounded AI for Bidirectional Clinical Gait Translation”, developed by a team led by Prof S. Joe Qin, President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science at Lingnan University and Prof Yu Lisha, Assistant Professor of Teaching of the Division of Artificial Intelligence of the School of Data Science, also received IFIA Best Invention Award issued by International Federation of Inventors' Associations and "Thailand Award for the Best International Invention and Innovation" issued by the National Research Council of Thailand, winning a total of 16 awards. This is the second consecutive year Lingnan has entered this international innovation event, and it is the Hong Kong SAR higher education institution with the greatest number of awards and gold medals.

An engineered enzyme selectively targets palmitic acid, a common C16 fatty acid, offering a possible route to higher-value food and pharmaceutical lipids.

Smart polymers and natural rubber research point to greener materials through durability, repairability and lifecycle design.

Program combining mindfulness meditation and cognitive therapy substantially reduces gaming disorder symptoms and stress

Human retention of decision-making control can reduce fatigue and maintain task mastery

Success in reducing battery energy consumption by 88.7% compared to existing tech through fusion research of Drone + AI + FPGA

Prof Xie Haoran, Associate Dean of the School of Data Science, Professor and Person-in-Charge of the Division of Artificial Intelligence at Lingnan University, has been elected a new member of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering (HKAE) Young Member Section (YMS) in 2026. He becomes the second young scholar at Lingnan, following Prof Paulina Wong Pui-yun, Head and Associate Professor (Presidential Early Career Scholar) of the Division of Science, to receive this honour, which highlights Lingnan’s strengths in developing young talent with international impact and furthering high-level research.

AIMX Singapore 2026 Unites Three Flagship Platforms in a Landmark Convergence of Innovation, Technology and Industry

Japan-based Elix, Inc. and the University of Vienna, Austria announce the signing of a joint research agreement aimed at advancing drug discovery using AI technologies.

Atomic-scale cooperation between copper and zinc opens a promising route toward cleaner fuel and chemical production

Professor Taeyeon Kim's Team Discovers Mechanism That Controls Charge Transfer in Molecular Aggregates

Ancient plant seeds provide important archaeological evidence for studying the evolution of human civilisation. Lingnan University and Shandong University have jointly developed the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) archaeological system dedicated to identifying ancient Chinese plant seeds. The system emulates the identification process of archaeobotanical experts and achieves a classification accuracy of over 90 per cent. The researchers point out that the identification of plant seeds excavated from archaeological sites has traditionally relied on experts examining each seed individually, a process that is both time-consuming and difficult to scale. The large, standardised database they have created helps improve research efficiency while advancing archaeobotanical research and the digitalisation of cultural heritage. The findings have been published in Heritage Science, an internationally recognised journal of cultural heritage and part of the Nature Portfolio.

With global warming and extreme weather intensifying, can animals raise their thermal tolerance to cope with a continuously warming environment? A joint research project run by the Division of Science at Lingnan University and an international research team carried out practical testing on tropical intertidal snails that live under the scorching sun. The team simulated the real-world conditions of coastal rocks heating up under intense sunlight in the Hong Kong SAR and Singapore, and discovered that the maximum temperature of some rocks has approached the upper physiological thermal limit of these intertidal snails. Since this can cause cardiac arrest and an inability to maintain normal physiological functions, it means that their thermal tolerance may not be able to increase indefinitely as the environment continues to warm, and extreme heat in the future may increase their risk of mortality. The research findings have been published in internationally renowned academic journal The Biological Bulletin.

New imaging technique visualizes and measures plasmonic waves in device structures designed for practical uses

A review maps how modern diagnostics and reversible materials can help museums protect silk, leather, paper and wood with less damage.

The Chinese bahaba (Bahaba taipingensis), a marine fish species endemic to the Chinese coast and known as the “Panda of the Sea”, is a critically endangered species and one of the few marine fish listed as a first-class protected wild animal in China. Collaborative research led by the Division of Science at Lingnan University has now developed a cost-effective environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring qPCR approach specifically designed for the Chinese bahaba. Using the new technology, the research has detected traces of the species in western Hong Kong SAR waters, marking the first scientific discovery of the fish in the city in over a decade. The researcher highlights that the technology enables experts to monitor the species non-invasively and to evaluate conservation outcomes without capturing or disturbing rare marine animals, thus providing important scientific evidence to assist in marine conservation planning in China.

A plant enzyme recovered collagen from lambskin trimmings at higher yield than acid or pepsin extraction while preserving its structure.

Photothermal therapy is a cancer treatment option lacking the negative side effects associated with chemotherapy. Near-infrared laser light selectively heats and destroys cancer cells. However, two issues have stopped this less invasive treatment from becoming mainstream. Scientists have long sought to find a way to prevent nanoparticle clearance - where the immune system clears the nanoparticles carrying therapeutic agents before they can reach tumors - and better laser efficacy so it can reach deeper tumors. Now, a research team has overcome these challenges.

AI learns from captains instead of calculations in Japan’s trickiest sea

Logically, you would think a sleek surface has optimal aerodynamics – but recent research at Tohoku University turns this fundamental principle completely on its head. Applying an irregular microscale surface texture reduced the aerodynamic drag of a test model. The innovation has potential applications for designing fuel-efficient vehicles.

A conventional robotic hand is equipped with multiple motors or peripheral devices for grasping a wide variety of objects. This study presents a robotic hand equipped with multiple grippers that are driven by a single motor with the transmission of motor power switched via a mechanism using gravity (Magnetic and Gravity-based Driving mechanism). Thus, it provides design guidelines for a new robotic hand capable of accommodating diverse grasping actions while maintaining a relatively simple structure.

The game's traditional Filipino remedies are based on real research from the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC).

Early rice gets the flower, Exercising against cancer, Efficient artificial photosynthesis, New “living pink rocks”, Unlocking megathrust earthquakes, Longevity protein demystified and Death gene paradox. Read all in the latest Editor's Choice.

Not every allergy antibody poses the same risk. A Hiroshima University-led research team has developed a more sensitive version of an allergy blood test designed to better detect functional allergen-specific IgE antibodies—the antibodies capable of triggering the immune processes behind allergic reactions.

A recyclable enzyme catalyst could support cleaner production of flavour esters for food, drink and cosmetics.

A new review charts the future of diacylglycerols for cleaner oil processing, functional foods and medical nutrition.