Two HKPC I&T Inventions Win TechConnect 2022 Innovation Awards Reducing Product Manufacturing Time By At Least 80% and Slowing Down Children’s Myopia Progression Through Instant Data Analysis

(Hong Kong, 19 May 2022) The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) has garnered two “Innovation Awards” at the TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo 2022 (TechConnect) in Washington DC, USA with its inventions relating to the manufacturing and healthcare industry respectively. It is the second year that HKPC’s research and development (R&D) teams have been awarded the prestigious accolades, recognising their unceasing efforts in developing and commercialising impactful innovations.

For over 20 years, TechConnect has been the most globally-recognised multi-sector R&D signature event uniquely designed to accelerate the commercialisation of innovations out of the lab and into industry, while the TechConnect Innovation Awards recognise the top 15% of submitted technologies based on the potential positive impact in various technological areas and society. This year, awarded innovators from around the world included the institutes, laboratories and renowned universities such as Boston University and National University of Singapore, gathering global scientific R&D elites to exchange their R&D results.

Mr Mohamed Butt, Executive Director of HKPC, said, “We are extremely honoured that HKPC’s innovations have won the TechConnect Innovation Awards for the second year in a row. It is definitely a solid recognition of our R&D team’s efforts, giving us the confidence to keep providing more innovation and technology (I&T) solutions to address the pain points of our clients from all industries, while helping them achieve upgrading and transformation and swiftly respond to the market needs. HKPC pledges to continuously transform innovative ideas into real practice and leverage our applied R&D know-how, expertise and experience to commercialise more impactful innovations for accelerating the development of advanced manufacturing in Hong Kong and beyond.”

HKPC’s two award-winning innovations include:

(1) Electrically-Assisted Free Forming (EAFF) Technology for Customisation of Sheet Metal Parts

By analysing the provided 3D model with virtualisation technology and using two co-operating 6-axis robot arms, EAFF technology can directly perform dieless forming of metal products, without the use of moulds. The advanced simulation of the dieless forming process can imitate the robot movement and perform the finite element analysis of the stress distribution, heat transfer and electrical effect of sheet metal, which is invaluable for process optimisation and product realisation. It is highly automated, occupies little space, and does not require any additional processes before production, such as making mould. The cost of production, maintenance and storage of stamping moulds can be eliminated by utilising EAFF technology, which significantly reduces the initial cost, facilitating and simplifying the production of customised sheet metal parts. Moreover, it is especially suitable for producing parts with complex geometry (including undercut features) such as the parts of architecture, automotive and medical device, etc. The streamlined production process shortens the production time from around 8 to 15 weeks to just under a week. In addition, a wider choice of materials is available which can help expand design thinking.

This patented EAFF Technology is jointly developed by HKPC and Tung Hing Automation Investment Limited with the funding support from the Innovation and Technology Fund of the Innovation and Technology Commission. This innovation has been awarded at various international and prestigious technological R&D events such as the “2021 Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions”, “R&D 100 Awards”, and “IMechE Project Award”.

(2) My-O-Analyzer (My-Optical-Analyzer)

Children are easier to be diagnosed with myopia problems nowadays because they often use electronic products while studying or playing games. In this regard, HKPC has developed a tailor-made smart eyewear for children to collect data of their viewing habits and monitor their myopia risk factors, aiming to provide a long-term, continuous, and personalised myopia monitoring solution for the ophthalmologists and market to help slow down children’s myopia progression. With multiple sensors on the smart eyewear’s temple parts, this innovation enables automated detection of children’s viewing habits such as reading distance, lightness and darkness of the environment, and head angle status, etc. Relevant data are collected and stored in an online cloud database by mobile device via Bluetooth Low Energy. Given its special hinge design, the smart eyewear can also be easily merged with any children’s glasses flexibly and comfortably. With this innovative smart eyewear, parents can understand and analyse the data regarding their children's habits of reading, writing, and using an electronic screen instantly by using a mobile App. It provides a highly efficient solution for parents and ophthalmologists to monitor children’s myopia risk factors without spending a prolonged period of time of observation, allowing them to take immediate actions to address the problems.

HKPC has collaborated with the Department of Ophthalmology Visual Sciences of The Chinese University of Hong Kong to develop this project. The first version of product prototype has been completed and will be commercialised in the near future. This innovation has been awarded at the “2021 Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions”.

For more information, please refer to the official list of TechConnect 2022 Innovation Awardees at https://techconnectworld.com/World2022/participate/innovation/awards.html.

- Ends -

The HKPC-developed Electrically-Assisted Free Forming (EAFF) Technology for Customisation of Sheet Metal Parts employs a virtualisation technology to perform 3D dieless forming.

The HKPC-developed My-O-Analyzer (My-Optical-Analyzer) is a tailor-made smart eyewear for children to collect data of their viewing habits and monitor their myopia risk factors.