Lingnan University has achieved a historic milestone at the 50th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva, winning a record-breaking number of five awards. A total of six groundbreaking inventions from Lingnan were showcased at the exhibition, earning one Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury―the first time the University has achieved this honour―along with two Silver Medals and two Bronze Medals, making the number of Lingnan University's participating and winning projects a record high.

Prof S. Joe Qin, President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science, conveyed his appreciation for the record-breaking achievements of Lingnan University. He said, 「This year, Lingnan has achieved a historic milestone with the number of innovative inventions showcased and awarded at the exhibition. This exceptional accomplishment reflects the University』s international recognition in the fields of science, innovation and technology transfer, further strengthening its position as a pivotal player in the global innovation arena. Lingnan will continue to focus on nurturing well-rounded liberal arts and sciences talents, advancing 『human-centred』 AI research and development, promoting high-quality research, and enhancing 『industry-academia-research』 collaboration. These initiatives will accelerate the transformation of research outcomes into impactful innovations, fostering the development of new quality productive forces and establishing Lingnan as a leading comprehensive university in arts and sciences in the digital era.」

For the first time, Lingnan presented multiple inventions from various faculties and departments, showcasing its collaborative spirit and ingenuity. The six groundbreaking inventions exhibited in the exhibition covered areas such as intelligent transport, digital security, carbon neutral technology and humanitarian technology, which fully demonstrated Lingnan's strength in innovation and scientific research and its contribution to the community.

「BLOOM - A Low-cost, Energy-efficient Baby Incubator Designed for Remote and Rural Communities in Developing Countries」, which was developed by a team led by Prof Albert Ko, Director of Office of Service-Learning and Lingnan Entrepreneurship Initiative (LEI), has been awarded the Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury.

Silver Award-winning projects include 「A Multi-time-scale Model for Day-ahead Forecasting of Passenger Travel-time and Destinations Distribution」 led by President S. Joe Qin; and 「Direct Air Capture Robot (DACR) System Based on Mobile Automatic Cruise Tracking Coupled with Solar Photovoltaic Power Generation and Waste Heat Recovery System」 led by Prof Li Jia, Associate Professor of School of Interdisciplinary Studies.

Bronze Award-winning projects include 「Decentralised Authentication of Anti-Counterfeiting QR Codes Using Vision Transformer-Based Federated Learning」 led by Prof Prof Sam Kwong Tak-wu, Associate Vice-President (Strategic Research) ), Acting Dean of the School of Data Science, Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and J.K. Lee Chair Professor of Computational Intelligence; and 「EmergentSync: An Intelligent Traffic Light System with Emergency Response」 led by Prof Pan Fei, Assistant Professor of School of Interdisciplinary Studies.

Prof Sam Kwong Tak-wu, led the research project on 「Decentralised Authentication of Anti-Counterfeiting QR Codes Using Vision Transformer-Based Federated Learning」, which won the Bronze Medal, is delighted by this remarkable achievement and said, 「This award is full recognition of our team』s pioneering research and demonstrates Lingnan University』s strong commitment to cultivating young talent and transforming research outcomes into practical applications. We aim to continue addressing the urgent challenges facing the world today through innovative inventions. Moving forward, we will deepen our efforts in the relevant fields and actively expand our networks with the government and industry, and leverage our research capabilities to make greater contributions to society.」

The International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva is one of the world's most important annual events in the field of invention, this year showcasing more than 1,050 inventions from around 35 countries or regions.

List of awarded projects and introduction

Awards：Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury

Project Title：BLOOM - A Low-cost, Energy-efficient Baby Incubator Designed for Remote and Rural Communities in Developing Countries

Awarded Lingnan Faculty and Staff：

• Prof Albert Ko, Director of Office of Service-Learning and Lingnan Entrepreneurship Initiative (LEI)

• Dr Nicole Lee Man-ying, Associate Programme Director of Office of Service-Learning and Lingnan Entrepreneurship Initiative

• Mr Adrian Lo Chun-kwong, Product Design Lead of Office of Service-Learning

• Mr Edward Lam Chi-yin, Senior Design Engineer of Office of Service-Learning

• Mr Martin Cheung Chun-hei, Project Engineer of Office of Service-Learning

Project description：The Bloom Baby Incubator is a foldable, portable and cost-effective baby incubator with AI technology designed for backward countries or remote and poor areas to ensure the care of newborns in different environments.

Features：

• Accurate temperature monitoring

Combined with AI technology, through the multi-point temperature sensor data analysis, to provide accurate temperature monitoring, greatly reducing the error. This technology ensures that the incubator maintains the exact temperature level set by medical professionals, creating a safe and controlled environment for preterm babies.

• Fault Alert

AI algorithms monitor equipment operation and provide timely alerts of module failure risks. Simple light signals and codes are used to indicate maintenance recommendations, which can be operated without relying on the internet.

• Intelligent Energy Management

Through AI model algorithms, power consumption can be adjusted more effectively to prioritise core functions (e.g. heating system), which improves battery life in areas with unstable power supply. The technology also supports unstable voltage inputs and can be integrated with solar charging to adapt to energy conditions in remote areas.

Awards：Silver Medal

Project Title：A Multi-time-scale Model for Day-ahead Forecasting of Passenger Travel-time and Destinations Distribution

Awarded Lingnan Faculty and Staff ：

• Prof S. Joe Qin, President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science

• Dr Liu Yiren, Postdoctoral Fellow of Division of Industrial Data Science of School of Data Science

Project description：Funded by the Science, Technology and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality, the system uses AI algorithms analyse integrated data for predicting passenger destinations and travel time distribution throughout the subway network. The technology significantly enhances the accuracy of station outflow forecasting, optimises resource allocation, and avoid emergency.

Features：

• Accurate Passenger Flow Prediction

Predicts the distribution of passenger travelling time and destination across multiple time scales, providing accurate predictions of passenger outflow at each station.

• Dynamic Real-Time Adjustments

Using AI algorithms to analyses passenger flows at varying time intervals, enabling real-time resource deployment throughout the transit network. This capability minimizes service delays and provides critical predictive insights during emergencies to facilitate effective evacuations.

• AI-Powered Interactive Visualization Platform

Using interactive visualization software to monitor and display prediction results in real time on the map. Enhanced with AI agents that monitor online sources for major events likely to impact passenger volumes.

Awards：Silver Medal

Project Title：Direct Air Capture Robot (DACR) System Based on Mobile Automatic Cruise Tracking Coupled with Solar Photovoltaic Power Generation and Waste Heat Recovery System

Awarded Lingnan Faculty and Staff：Prof Li Jia, Associate Professor of School of Interdisciplinary Studies

Project description：The robot is based on an innovative amine-loaded solid adsorbent and with its autonomous cruise intelligence, it will capture carbon dioxide from the air to permanently sequester or convert it into carbon neutral products. The carbon dioxide captured by the technology can be used in agriculture, in the production of carbonated water, or as a feedstock for other chemicals.

Features：

• AI Autonomous Navigation

DACR uses AI sensors and algorithms to autonomously navigate in urban and industrial environments, dynamically tracking and locating areas of high CO2 concentration to improve capture efficiency.

• Intelligent Control System for Fully Automated Capture

The DACR is equipped with an intelligent control system that automatically monitors and manages the CO2 capture process and optimises operational efficiency.

Awards：Bronze Medal

Project Title：Decentralised Authentication of Anti-Counterfeiting QR Codes Using Vision Transformer-Based Federated Learning

Awarded Lingnan Faculty and Staff：Prof Sam Kwong Tak-wu, Associate Vice-President (Strategic Research), Acting Dean of the School of Data Science, Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and J.K. Lee Chair Professor of Computational Intelligence

Project description：The project utilises AI models and proposes an 「innovative anti-counterfeiting QR code privacy protection authentication method」 to safeguard user privacy and reduce the risk of data leakage during transmission, effectively prevent tampering and improve the security of financial transactions and identity authentication, providing an innovative solution for enhancing 「digital security」.

Features：

• Privacy Protection Verification

Enhance security and reduce the risk of privacy leakage by decentralising data. The technology is suitable for application scenarios that require tamper-proof and high privacy protection, such as financial transactions and identity authentication.

• Enhances authentication accuracy

The use of a pre-trained Vision Transformer significantly improves the accuracy of 2D code verification, ensuring that images can be clearly recognised even when blurred or distorted.

Awards：Bronze Medal

Project Title：EmergentSync: An Intelligent Traffic Light System with Emergency Response

Awarded Lingnan Faculty and Staff：

• Prof Pan Fei, Assistant Professor of School of Interdisciplinary Studies

• Mr Wang Fangyu, student of Master of Science in Cross-disciplinary Technologies+ (MScCT+)

Project description：The system adopts AI and V2I communication technology to analyse and respond to emergencies based on real-time road conditions, avoiding traffic congestion by adjusting traffic light timings, while improving road safety and efficiency.

Features：

• Enhance Traffic Management Efficiency

Through AI image recognition and processing technology, emergency vehicles can pass through intersections quickly, enhancing traffic management efficiency.

• AI analysis to help build a smart city

Using AI to assess the congestion level of different road sections and adjust the duration of different traffic signals in time, optimising the waiting time for vehicles and pedestrians and avoiding traffic congestion.