Hypervelocity impacts from space debris pose significant risks to spacecraft and satellites in outer space. To address this challenge, Prof. SU Zhongqing, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Chair Professor of Intelligent Structures and Systems at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), as well as a key member of the Research Centre for Deep Space Explorations, along with his research team, has developed an innovative sensing technology to efficiently evaluate the health of space systems under hypervelocity impact of space junks. In recognition of this translational research and development (R&D) work, he has been awarded the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) (Special Call for Aerospace Technology) by the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC).

Every spring since 1969, Dartmouth researchers produced hand-drawn maps of songbird territories in New Hampshire's Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest by listening for their distinctive calls. Fifty years later, a grad student who found and digitized filing cabinets full of the parchment-thin maps discovered that they also revealed patterns of songbird behavior that could help protect species in the face of population decline. The synthesis of traditional field methods and modern analysis demonstrates how preserving scientific data enables discoveries their original collectors never anticipated.

Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (President Sun Kyu, Park) has developed ‘Generative AI-Based Inspection Technology' to safely construct and maintain urban underground highways.

Spatial economics is a relatively new area of economics, aiming to comprehensively analyze the spatial structures of economic activities that result from interactions between people and companies. Professor HAMAGUCHI Nobuaki, who works on global economy and economic integration at Kobe University’s Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, specializes in spatial economics, and for over a span of 10 years has been visiting areas devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake for his research. We asked him for his thoughts on recovery efforts from the perspective of spatial economics.

When trying to improve, refine, and seek more efficiency in disaster management measures, predicting the extent of disaster damage more accurately and communicating the assessments in a coherent manner become crucial elements for the task. This is why there are high hopes for the role of computational science, in particular simulations, and information technology in this endeavor. Professor OISHI Satoru, who specializes in social infrastructure and hydroengineering research at the Research Center for Urban Safety and Security, aims to help society change and enhance disaster resilience by building digital twins. We asked him what we can anticipate from the use of digital twin technology, and how it can contribute to disaster measures.

A cutting-edge project to test “fusion blanket” technologies is taking shape, with the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) leading the charge to create a critical component of a fusion reactor.

New Sanford Burnham Prebys scientist Ahmed Mahmoud, PhD, planned to complete his doctoral degree and enter the pharmaceutical industry to help teams develop new therapies. Once he got into the laboratory during his PhD studies, however, he became fascinated by regenerative biology.

Mahmoud was especially interested in the heart as damage to tissue and cells from heart attacks and chronic heart disease leaves permanent scars. Broken bones mend and split skin knits itself together, but damage to hearts only compounds and weakens cardiac muscle.

Mahmoud and his team focus on how to repair adult hearts by restoring the regenerative powers they once possessed early in development. He wants to advance the discoveries he has made in regenerating hearts in mice to develop treatments that may one day benefit patients.

Women's health has long been neglected, causing delayed diagnoses and poor care. Now, AI is transforming women's healthcare by improving decision making, accuracy, and treatment outcomes.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is committed to promoting research excellence to address societal challenges and opportunities by providing strategic insights. In response to intensifying competition in the global shipping market, PolyU scholars have conducted a comprehensive study of Hong Kong’s shipping ecosystem and developed policy recommendations aimed at fostering collaborative efforts to enhance the shipping ecosystem within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). This project aligns with the long-term initiatives outlined in the 2024 Chief Executive Policy Address and has been supported under the Strategic Public Policy Research Funding Scheme (SPPRFS) 2024/25 of the Chief Executive’s Policy Unit of the HKSAR Government. This year, only two out of 37 applications received funding.