HKUST Annual Report 2021-2022

25 HKUST Annual Report 2021-2022 Lab to Market The move is set to advance research and development opportunities and grow technology talent in the Greater Bay Area. The University’s Blue Bay Incubator in Shenzhen has established an effective ecosystem, with four schemes to support HKUST entrepreneurs and start-ups at different stages. In 2021-22, 42 start-ups were being incubated at Blue Bay, with eight projects receiving total investment of nearly RMB200 million. The incubator was also named an Excellent Institution for Innovative Entrepreneurship in the Shenzhen Innovation List, organized by the Shenzhen Media Group. Separately, the Foshan Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization has supported 14 start-ups since its opening in 2020. HKUST Shenzhen-Hong Kong Collaborative Innovation Research Institute, located in the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone (also known as the Lok Ma Chau Loop), gained two significant recognitions in January 2022 when it was approved as a supporting institution by the NSFC, and as a Shenzhen Postdoctoral Innovation Practice Base by Shenzhen Human Resources and Social Security Bureau. HIGH IMPACT RESEARCH RECOGNIZED NATIONALLY In addition, numerous HKUST faculty research projects with significant societal and scientific value were honored at the national level over 2021-22. Dean of HKUST Fok Ying Tung Graduate School, Chair Professor Charles NG Wang-Wai (Civil and Environmental Engineering) and CLP Holdings Professor of Sustainability received a prestigious 2020 Natural Science Award (Second Class) from the State Council in November 2021 for his outstanding contributions to mitigating landslides and natural disasters in unsaturated soils caused by human activities and climate change. The award-winning research project led by Prof. Ng, who is also Vice-President of HKUST(GZ) and recently elected as a Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering, focused on developing a novel “State- d e p e nd e n t Co n s t i t u t i v e Framework for Unsaturated Soils and Its Applications”, providing a profound theoretical basis for safer building of infrastructure, such as landfills and embankments, and helping to overcome challenges brought by climate change. The NSFC also recognized four next-generation scientists at HKUST in the highly competitive Excellent Young Scientist Fund (Hong Kong and Macao) 2021. The diverse explorations of Prof. SUN Fei (Chemical and Biological Engineering), Prof. ZHANG Jingdi (Physics), Prof. JIN Tianling (Mathematics), and Prof. WANG Zhe (Environment and Sustainability) cover smart hydrogels for medical use, quantum materials, elliptic and parabolic equations, and pollution in the Greater Bay Area.