HKUST Division of Integrative Systems & Design

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HKUST Division of Integrative Systems & Design Academic division at HKUST pushing PBL in design education, and nurture tomorrow innovators' and res

Our faculty member, 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳. 𝗦𝗮𝗶-𝗞𝗶𝘁 𝗬𝗲𝘂𝗻𝗴, was invited to speak at the “AI for Nature: How AI and Smart City Initiatives C...
21/09/2026

Our faculty member, 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳. 𝗦𝗮𝗶-𝗞𝗶𝘁 𝗬𝗲𝘂𝗻𝗴, was invited to speak at the “AI for Nature: How AI and Smart City Initiatives Can Unlock Green and Blue Transformation in the GBA and Across Asia” conference, which brought together experts from academia, industry, NGOs, and the public sector to explore the role of AI in advancing sustainability.

During the event, Prof. Yeung shared insights from 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘀 𝗣𝗶𝗲𝗿 an HKUST Living Lab project led by his team. Traditional marine monitoring methods often provide only limited snapshots of underwater ecosystems, making it challenging to track biodiversity and environmental changes over time.

To address this challenge, Prof. Yeung showcased how the project integrates AI-powered underwater cameras and sensing technologies at the HKUST Pier to support continuous marine environmental monitoring. Going beyond conventional video recording, the system uses intelligent analytics to identify marine species, monitor biodiversity, and assess coral health, demonstrating how AI and digital innovation can support marine conservation and sustainable coastal management.

The initiative also highlights the HKUST Pier's potential to evolve into a hub for marine conservation technology research, education, and public engagement, creating new opportunities to connect cutting-edge innovation with real-world environmental impact.

🔗 Find out more about this project: https://ssc.hkust.edu.hk/projects/empowering-our-community-for-positive-change/sustainable-smart-campus-pier

04/09/2026

🐧🤖 Bringing Robotics to Wildlife Care!

A student team led by 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳. 𝗔𝗷𝗮𝘆 𝗝𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗝𝗔 recently tested 𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗨𝗔𝗡, a robotic penguin developed to explore how robotic remote presence can support animal care, monitoring, and potentially enrichment at Ocean Park.

Rather than requiring staff to enter an enclosure for every observation, PANGUAN aims to provide another way to observe and interact with animals remotely. Its penguin-like form also opens possibilities for providing a form of social presence and enrichment for penguins that are temporarily isolated from their group.

PANGUAN was also designed with animal safety in mind, using distance-based obstacle detection and automatic stopping, fall detection, a stable low-center-of-gravity design, and soft exterior materials to help reduce the risk and potential impact of contact with penguins.

During the site evaluation, PANGUAN demonstrated remote operation with real-time video streaming and web-based control. The robot can now be operated in the Backup area for enrichment purposes, while Ocean Park staff continue to explore its potential applications.

The field test also highlighted important areas for improvement. Current camera positioning limits penguin-level visibility and the amount of useful monitoring data that can be collected, while the robot’s mobility remains challenging on rougher surfaces. These findings will guide future improvements to its camera positioning, mobility, and potential AI-assisted monitoring capabilities.

Following the evaluation, PANGUAN will remain on-site at Ocean Park for staff to operate and for potential further development and collaboration.

This collaboration highlights how robotics and animal-care expertise can come together to explore new ways of supporting animal welfare.

Special thanks to the Ocean Park team for partnering with our student team and supporting the continued development of PANGUAN! 🌊✨

🎉 Congratulations to our ISD MPhil student, WONG Yuk Kwan David, on being selected as a laureate of the Anita Conti Sust...
24/08/2026

🎉 Congratulations to our ISD MPhil student, WONG Yuk Kwan David, on being selected as a laureate of the Anita Conti Sustainable Innovation Fellowship 2026!

Jointly established by HKUST and the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong and Macau, the fellowship supports outstanding researchers working in sustainability and environmental innovation. As one of the only two fellowship recipients this year, David will spend three months in France conducting sustainability-related research and fostering international academic collaboration through this prestigious program.

We are delighted to see his hard work and research potential recognized through this award and look forward to his continued contributions to sustainability research, particularly in marine AI and coral conservation.

🌊🪸 Excited to support the next generation of ocean conservation leaders!Prof. Sai-Kit Yeung and two student researchers ...
14/08/2026

🌊🪸 Excited to support the next generation of ocean conservation leaders!

Prof. Sai-Kit Yeung and two student researchers from his team were delighted to serve as advisors for WWF Hong Kong’s Bravo Ocean Youth Action programme, supporting students as they explored the intersection of coral conservation, AI, and marine robotics.

As part of the Team Coral activities, participating students learned about coral ecology and conservation, operated underwater robotic systems, and collected real-time data for coral monitoring and analysis. They also joined field-based ecological surveys in the coral communities of Hoi Ha Wan, gaining first-hand experience in marine biodiversity assessment and conservation practices.

This collaboration highlights the growing role of AI, robotics, and data-driven technologies in protecting our oceans. We are delighted to support initiatives that inspire young people to combine technology, science, and sustainability for positive impact.

A big thank you to , the participating schools, and all partners involved in making this meaningful programme possible.

Congratulations to our ISD undergraduate student team, CHAN Kei Ching, Evan, Shalini Kandasamy, Saanvi Ravi Katyayan, an...
13/08/2026

Congratulations to our ISD undergraduate student team, CHAN Kei Ching, Evan, Shalini Kandasamy, Saanvi Ravi Katyayan, and Seojin Park, Chloe, on being named the First Runner-Up in the VTech Innovation and Sustainability Award! 👏

The team was recognized for their Final Year Design Project, FireEye: Computer Vision and VLM-based Fire Safety Detection for Construction Sites, which leverages computer vision and vision-language models (VLMs) to enhance fire safety monitoring in construction environments and support proactive risk detection. 💡

Representing the team, Evan presented the award-winning project, which was developed under the supervision of Dr. Jac Leung and Prof. Tristan Braud.

We would also like to thank VTech for partnering with HKUST to support student innovation and promote sustainability through real-world applications.

We are proud to share that Percepta, founded by our ISD PhD student Jacky Shin under the supervision of Prof. SONG Sheng...
10/08/2026

We are proud to share that Percepta, founded by our ISD PhD student Jacky Shin under the supervision of Prof. SONG Shenghui, has successfully closed a US$1 million seed funding round led by Verity Ventures.

Developing AI-powered wearable technology for people with visual impairments, Percepta aims to enhance accessibility and independence through innovative assistive solutions.

As Jacky continues his PhD studies at HKUST while growing the startup, his journey demonstrates how research, innovation, entrepreneurship, and the support of HKUST's innovation ecosystem can come together to address real-world challenges and create meaningful social impact.

Congratulations to Jacky and the Percepta team on this achievement.

🎉 Congratulations to Prof. LIU Yuan on receiving the 2026 Asiagraphics Young Researcher Award!Awarded to outstanding ear...
31/07/2026

🎉 Congratulations to Prof. LIU Yuan on receiving the 2026 Asiagraphics Young Researcher Award!

Awarded to outstanding early-career researchers in computer graphics and interactive techniques, this honour recognizes Prof. LIU's pioneering contributions spanning 3D reconstruction, neural rendering, generative AI, and world-centric 3D modelling.

Leading the Intelligent Graphics Lab at HKUST ISD, Prof. LIU is pushing the boundaries of how AI can reconstruct, generate, and understand digital worlds from images and videos. His work has been featured at premier venues including SIGGRAPH, CVPR, NeurIPS, ICLR, and ECCV.

👏 Please join us in congratulating Prof. LIU on this well-deserved international recognition!

Learn more: https://www.asiagraphics.org/awards/young2026

The Croucher Foundation has highlighted research led by Prof. Richard Gu Hongri, originally published in Nature Material...
27/07/2026

The Croucher Foundation has highlighted research led by Prof. Richard Gu Hongri, originally published in Nature Materials, which uncovered a new form of contact-free magnetic friction.

By challenging a 300-year-old assumption that friction always increases as surfaces are pressed together more firmly, the study opens up new ways of thinking about one of physics' most familiar phenomena. The feature highlights the growing visibility and impact of this HKUST-led research within the international scientific community.

Congratulations to Prof. Richard Gu and his collaborators on having their work highlighted by the Croucher Foundation.

Read more: https://croucher.org.hk/en/news/researchers-challenge-a-300-year-old-law-of-friction

🌟 We are proud to congratulate Kelly (IDT, Class of 2024) on her admission to the PhD programme in Electrical Engineerin...
17/07/2026

🌟 We are proud to congratulate Kelly (IDT, Class of 2024) on her admission to the PhD programme in Electrical Engineering at Harvard University, following the completion of her MSE at the University of Pennsylvania.

Through interdisciplinary research in neuromorphic chips, brain-computer interfaces, and medical technologies, Kelly exemplifies the curiosity, resilience, and innovation that ISD seeks to cultivate.

Thank you, Kelly, for sharing your story with the ISD community and inspiring the next generation of learners.

We wish Kelly every success as she embarks on this exciting new chapter at Harvard and beyond.

As part of A Day at AIS on 4 July, which welcomed nearly 130 secondary school students to HKUST, Dr. Jac Leung, Lecturer...
16/07/2026

As part of A Day at AIS on 4 July, which welcomed nearly 130 secondary school students to HKUST, Dr. Jac Leung, Lecturer in the Division of Integrative Systems and Design, led the hands-on workshop “From Ideas to Impact: Innovating with Creativity and Empathy.”

Through interactive activities, students explored how creativity, empathy, and design thinking can be applied to develop innovative solutions for real-world challenges, while gaining a glimpse into the learning experience of the BSc in Innovation, Design and Technology (IDT) programme.

The day continued with a networking lunch with our faculty and current students, followed by a campus tour led by our Student Ambassadors. It was a great opportunity for these bright minds to discover new possibilities and envision their future academic pathways. 🚀

Thank you to all the students for bringing your curiosity, creativity, and enthusiasm to campus. We hope the experience has inspired your next steps ahead! 🌟

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The Hong Kong University Of Science And Technology
Hong Kong

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Tuesday 09:00 - 17:30
Wednesday 09:00 - 17:30
Thursday 09:00 - 17:30
Friday 09:00 - 17:30

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