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High Five for HKPC Innovations at International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva

Applied R&D innovations developed by the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) have all won major awards at the “45th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva” now staging in Switzerland. These included two Gold Medals with Congratulations of Jury (“Total Food Waste Recycling System” and “Surgical Smoke Evacuation Technology for Laparoscopic Surgery”), two Gold Medals (“Automatic Liquid Immersion System for Rapid Food Chilling” and “Plasma Surface Treatment Technology for Silicone Rubber Products”), and one Silver Medal (“Smart Virtual Shoes Fitting System”). This is the third year in a row that HKPC innovations have been recognized at this prestigious event.

Mr Willy Lin, Chairman of HKPC, who attended this international event in Geneva, said, “This is a timely tribute to HKPC’s 50 years of success in applied R&D for the industry. We are especially pleased that the ingenuity of HKPC R&D scientists has once again been recognized at the ‘International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva’ which are testament to the creativity and expertise of our professional team. We will continue to leverage our interdisciplinary technical knowledge to develop smart applied technologies and smart city solutions for local enterprises.” Mr Lin also congratulates other participating R&D institutions, universities and technology companies from Hong Kong for their outstanding achievements in this international event.

Mr Willy Lin, Chairman of HKPC (centre), and the winning team share a memorable moment at the “45th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva” in SwitzerlandMr Willy Lin, Chairman of HKPC (centre), and the winning team share a memorable moment at the “45th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva” in Switzerland

The winning projects are as follows:

Gold Medal with Congratulations of Jury - “Total Food Waste Recycling System”

Gold Medal with Congratulations of Jury – “Total Food Waste Recycling System” - High Market Value Products and No Wastage
Hong Kong produces about 3,600 tonnes of food waste each day, accounting for a third of the city’s municipal solid waste. HKPC has developed the world’s first three-stage “FTR Total Food Waste Recycling System” which can fully convert the organic fraction of food waste into three products with high market value: high purity biogas, protein-rich eco fish feed, and quality waste oil for biodiesel production. Built with a patented automated pre-treatment unit to sort out inert materials and two separate bioreactors for food waste decomposition and biogas generation respectively, the FTR system can effectively decompose oily Asian food waste, and maximize the biogas yield and purity. The whole process has no wastewater discharge. The system is compact in size and requires minimal manual operation.

 

Gold Medal with Congratulations of Jury - “Surgical Smoke Evacuation Technology for Laparoscopic Surgery”

Gold Medal with Congratulations of Jury – “Surgical Smoke Evacuation Technology for Laparoscopic Surgery”
With smaller incisions and shorter recovery time, the applications of laparoscopic surgery – a kind of minimally invasive surgery, are on the rise. Yet the smoke generated by electrosurgical instruments often blocks the view of the surgeon and interrupts the surgical procedures. Developed by HKPC, the surgical smoke evacuation technology for laparoscopic surgery, a first in Hong Kong, provides an engineering solution for surgeons to improve overall safety and coherence of the surgical processes, ultimately benefiting patients.

This technology is distinguished with an aerodynamic design which instantaneously clears surgical smoke particles right in front of the laparoscope, enabling a clear vision for the surgeon. This can eliminate intra-operational laparoscope cleaning time caused by smoke particles adhesion, and shorten the surgery time. The compact and snug design also supports most of the common laparoscopic surgical instruments without changing the current surgical setting and workflow. This user-friendly system is also easy to operate and install.

 

Gold Medal - “Automatic Liquid Immersion System for Rapid Food Chilling”

Gold Medal – “Automatic Liquid Immersion System for Rapid Food Chilling” – Safe, Eco-Friendly and Efficient
To stem the growth of pathogenic bacteria, food that has been cooked, and is intended to be kept under refrigerated storage prior to serving, should be cooled as soon as possible. The Automatic Liquid Immersion System for Rapid Food Chilling immerses packaged food in propylene glycol liquid at low temperature and only takes 30 minutes to reduce the core temperature of the packaged food from 90℃ to 20℃, which is a third of the conventional method. In addition, the System can preserve food freshness and quality, and reduce the risk of bacterial growth. With a fully automatic system design, no more than two system operators are required and overall operational cost can be reduced by over 50%.

 

Gold Medal - “Plasma Surface Treatment Technology for Silicone Rubber Products”

Gold Medal – “Eco and Durable Plasma Surface Treatment Technology for Silicone Rubber Products”
Silicone products are prone to electrostatic adhesion of dust. Conventional method uses spray painting for surface protection, which releases a lot of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and will affect the durability of the products over time. To solve the problem, HKPC has developed a green alternative that applies plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition for surface treatment of silicone products. Waterless, the process does not require hazardous chemicals as raw materials and there is no discharge of harmful chemical wastes. It can significantly reduce the electrostatic charging characteristic of the surface of the treated products, thereby enhancing their anti-dust property and durability. The technology can be applied to medical and healthcare devices, sports products, watch bands, spectacle frames, housewares, etc.

 

Silver Medal - “Smart Virtual Shoes Fitting System”

Silver Medal – “Smart Virtual Shoes Fitting System”
This smart virtual fitting system has automated the conventional process of measuring foot size with the use of smartphone app and 3D modelling. Customers just need to take four photos of each foot using a dedicated smartphone app. The back-office system will then convert the photos into 3D foot models for matching the most suitable shoe last to simulate actual fitting.

The easy-to-use system can simplify footwear production and offer the perfect fit shoes for every customer, minimizing product return. In addition to cutting production time, it can also help the shoemakers to quickly respond to market needs, facilitating the development of the emerging customer-to-manufactory (C2M) business model and enhancing customers’ experience in buying shoes online.

For media enquiries, please contact Justina Shum of HKPC’s Corporate Communication Division at tel. (852) 2788 5895 or email: justina@hkpc.org.

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Mr Jonathan Ho
General Manager
Corporate Communication
Tel: (852) 2788 6390
Fax: (852) 2788 5056
Email: jonathanho@hkpc.org
Website: www.hkpc.org

1 April 2017