Hong Kong secured a record-breaking haul at the 11th Silicon Valley International Invention Festival (SVIIF), winning 27 gold medals and eight special awards.
According to a social media post by the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau, one of the highlights was the Grand Award, which was granted to the Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation Centre at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) for the PCR technology that introduced a breakthrough in cancer and infectious disease screening, utilizing an advanced multiplex nucleic acid detection method.
The Bureau noted that the innovation is expected to deliver cost-effective and highly accurate testing solutions, benefiting the general public.
Meanwhile, Lingnan University earned 13 awards, including the IFIA Award, making it the Hong Kong higher education institution with the highest number of total awards and gold medals at this year's festival.
Four start-ups and research projects covering healthcare and skincare inventions from the Hong Kong Baptist University collectively secured four awards, including two gold medals and two silver medals.
That included a healthcare platform designed to provide health management solutions for individuals with reduced mobility or at risk of falls, as well as an innovative microbial therapy that targets colorectal cancer.
Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong congratulated the participating teams, stressing Hong Kong's strengths in research and development (R&D) capabilities and its pool of talented professionals in the field.
He pledged that the government will continue to allocate resources to R&D, aiming to elevate local innovations to the international stage.
