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The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has launched the ‘Engineering Medical Innovation Global Competition’ (EMedic Global 2016), the world’s first medical innovation challenge which invites university students from around the world to design and develop clinically-driven and patient-centered technology innovations for the future of medicine and healthcare.  This inaugural EMedic Global 2016 has attracted 40 student teams from five continents and the projects submitted are of very high quality.  The aim is to promote the research and development of medical engineering and draw more talents to the field.  The award presentation ceremony and the opening of an Engineering Medical Innovation Summit was held today (20 August) at the Hong Kong Science Park.  The Gold Award goes to a team formed by students from CUHK Mechanical and Automated Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, and Department of Surgery at the Faculty of Medicine for their project on ‘Surgical Robotic System for Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection’, who also won the Technical Challenge Award and the Best Hong Kong Team. 

Officiating at the ceremony were Prof. Joseph SUNG, Vice-Chancellor and President, CUHK; Mr. Nicholas YANG, Secretary of Innovation and Technology, HKSAR; Ms. Therese CHOW, Solicitor, Notary Public and China Appointed Attesting Officer; Prof. Francis CHAN, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, CUHK; Mr. Andrew YOUNG, Chief Commercial Officer, HKSTP; Prof. K.F. WONG, Associate Dean (External Affairs), Faculty of Engineering, CUHK; Prof. Philip CHIU, Professor, Department of Surgery, and Director, Chow Yuk Ho Technology Centre for Innovative Medicine, CUHK; and Prof. Arthur MAK, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering & Department of Electronic Engineering, CUHK. 

Prof. Joseph SUNG, Vice-Chancellor and President, CUHK, said, ‘The application of innovation technology in medical services has become a global trend.  CUHK is dedicated to encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration, which we believe is the key to developing promising and innovative healthcare technologies and devices that raise clinical care standards and efficiency to benefit patients.  CUHK has leading strengths in the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Medicine.  They have strong track records in biomedical engineering innovations and clinical applications.  This year, we are taking that further.  We are launching the EMedic Global Competition, which gathers young talents from around the world and inspires in them innovative ideas on medical technologies for the sake of patients.’ 

EMedic Global Competition has been organized by CUHK Chow Yuk Ho Technology Centre for Innovative Medicine, and co-organized by CUHK Biomedical Engineering Programme & Graduate Division and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation.  The competition is designed to advance biomedical engineering and promote international exchange.  Submissions are invited from university students around the world. 

Participants must compete as part of a team and interdisciplinary teams with members from various engineering, science and other disciplines are encouraged.  The scope of competition includes health screening and diagnostic devices, medical monitoring devices, non-implantable therapeutic devices and implantable therapeutic devices.  Submissions are screened by an international judging panel consisting of faculty members, clinical practitioners and industry representatives, and chaired by Prof. James GOH, President of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE).  There are six evaluation criteria: clinical need, novelty, technical merit, demonstration of technical feasibility, clinical feasibility & translational readiness, and IP potential & business model. 

Out of the 40 submissions, 27 finalist teams from Canada, the UK, the US, Switzerland, mainland China, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong were shortlisted and gathered at CUHK for the final contest from 18 to 19 August.  The winners will be offered a short term stay at the Soft Landing Centre at the Hong Kong Science Park free of charge where they will be granted support services for technology transfer.  

The competition results are as follows: 

 *Please refer to the appendix for brief introduction of the finalist teams’ projects 

CUHK has been actively promoting cross-disciplinary collaboration in Medicine and Engineering.  As early as 2009, the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Medicine launched the undergraduate programme on Biomedical Engineering to nurture talents.  Last year, CUHK established the Chow Yuk Ho Technology Centre for Innovative Medicine which serves as a platform for engineers and clinicians to work together in enhancing knowledge transfer of innovative technologies into clinical practice for the benefit of our patients.  Throughout the years, CUHK has had remarkable achievements and breakthroughs in medical engineering technologies that improve therapy effectiveness, lower surgical risks, as well as help maintain Hong Kong’s leadership role in international healthcare services. 

This year, Chow Yuk Ho Technology Centre for Innovative Medicine at CUHK and HKSTP have jointly organized the first international summit – Engineering Medical Innovation Summit (EMedI Summit 2016), to be held from 20-21 August at the Hong Kong Science Park.  The Summit serves as an excellent platform for medical specialists, engineering professionals, healthcare organizations, research institutions and industry to share knowledge, innovative ideas and wisdom and to work together in enhancing knowledge transfer of innovative technologies into clinical practice.  More than 50 world-renowned faculties and speakers will share their latest innovative advancement in biomedical engineering, and talk about their success stories on translation in medical engineering. 

For more details, please refer to: 

Engineering Medical Innovation Global Competition (EMedic Global 2016)

http://www.emedicglobal.org/ 

Engineering Medical Innovation Summit (EMedI Summit 2016)

http://emedisummit.org/ 

Attachment: Brief introduction of finalists’ projects of EMedic Global 2016