CityUHK scholars lead the future in materials, energy, and biomedicine; Four innovative projects receive funding from RAISe+ Scheme
Four distinguished scholars and their research teams from City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) have been awarded grants under the HKSAR Government’s Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme (RAISe+) Scheme.
This recognition highlights CityUHK’s commitment to advancing knowledge transfer and industry applications, contributing to society through impactful and innovative research. The projects span groundbreaking advancements in new materials, new energy, electrical and electronic engineering, and health and medical sciences.
Professor Freddy Boey, President and University Distinguished Professor of CityUHK, extended his congratulations to all the awarded scholars and their teams. “CityUHK is dedicated to fostering an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, transforming research outcomes into practical applications and collaborating closely with both government and industry. I am confident that the breakthrough technologies developed by CityUHK scholars will not only lead to industry-wide innovation in fields such as energy, materials science and biomedicine, but also contribute significantly to Hong Kong’s development as an international innovation and technology hub, benefiting our community.”
The Innovation and Technology Commission recently announced the second batch of projects to receive funding support under the RAISe+ Scheme. CityUHK’s four approved projects cover cutting-edge areas:
Professor Feng Shien-ping, from the Department of Systems Engineering, leads a project titled “Chemical Additive-Enabled Advancements in Electroplated Copper for Advanced Electronic Packaging and 3DIC Applications”.
This project focuses on overcoming the complex metallisation challenges in the packaging of three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC) semiconductor chips. In 2022, Professor Feng and his team established the company Doctech. Their goal is to develop smaller, more powerful chips with more stable connections. They will develop a series of patented chemical additives for the copper electroplating process, providing customised micro-structured copper for different layers in 3D ICs to ensure reliable performance in high-density, three-dimensional heterogeneous stacked packages. Currently, Doctech has successfully established collaborations with industry-leading companies and plans to build an automated intelligent manufacturing line in 2026. In the future, they will develop other key specialty chemicals for advanced packaging, aiming to become a leading supplier of semiconductor materials in the industry.
Professor Liu Qi, from the Department of Physics, leads a project titled “Breakthrough Cathode Materials for Next-generation Lithium-ion Batteries”, which has achieved significant breakthroughs in enhancing the performance of core lithium battery materials. Professor Liu and his team have successfully addressed the voltage-decay problem in lithium-rich layered oxides (LLOs) for the first time.
This groundbreaking achievement, realised in 2023, has attracted over HK$15 million in funding, demonstrating its strong commercialisation potential. To build on this innovative technology, Professor Liu and the technical team founded a start-up, named SuFang New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., dedicated to the production of high-performance LLOs. The company has already established a production line with an annual capacity of 100 tons, and is planning to set up a 1,000-ton production line in Southeast Asia or South Korea, specifically for the production of high-performance LLOs.
Professor Zhang Qichun, from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, leads a project titled “Development and application of large-scale energy storage and UPS systems based on intrinsically safe aqueous batteries”. His team is dedicated to developing a revolutionary aqueous zinc-ion battery.
To address the potential safety hazards of current lithium batteries and the large size and low power capability of lead-acid batteries, Professor Zhang’s team developed aqueous zinc-based batteries that offer significant advantages, including high safety, high power, low cost, and environmental friendliness. This makes them an ideal choice for next-generation UPS systems for Data Centres, providing an ultimate solution for the safe operation of Artificial Intelligence facilities.
Professor Zheng Zongli, from the Department of Biomedical Sciences, leads a project titled “In Vivo Somatic Human Genome Editing for Genetic Diseases: Translating Novel Genome Editing and Engineered Delivery Vectors into Clinical Trials”. This project is dedicated to developing a revolutionary genome editing medicine, taking a “DNA surgery” approach to fundamentally fix defective genes.
Precision genome editing, or “DNA surgery”, is a promising strategy to eliminate the root causes of diseases. Unlike traditional treatments that require long-term or even lifelong medication – often with diminishing effects over the later stage of every treatment cycle and risks recurrence, their approach aims to provide one-and-done solutions. Professor Zheng’s team is developing DNA surgery technology for programmable and curative therapies. The team’s mission is to provide safe, effective, and affordable medicines for diseases with unmet medical needs.
Launched in October 2023, the RAISe+ Scheme aims to fund, on a matching basis, at least 100 research teams from the eight universities funded by the University Grants Committee, targeting those with strong potential to become successful start-ups. Funding support from HK$10 million to HK$100 million will be provided for each approved project.