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Professor Raymond Tong, Professor and Chairman of The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s (CUHK) Department of Biomedical Engineering, has been elected to the 2022 Class of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows, in recognition of his distinguished contributions to inventing the Hand of Hope exoskeleton for stroke rehabilitation and establishing the first university Biomedical Engineering Department in Hong Kong. This year, 153 members were elected to the Fellow Class of 2022 for their contributions to teaching, research, and innovation. Among them, Professor Tong is the only scholar from Hong Kong.

“I am honoured to be recognised by the AIMBE for the research impact that we can have in the community with our inventions. I will continue to explore, innovate and address societal needs by enhancing the technological growth and advancement in the fields of biomedical engineering,” said Professor Tong.

Over the years, Professor Tong has notched up numerous achievements in research and education. In 2012, he led a research team that developed the groundbreaking mechanical robotic hand rehabilitation system “Hand of Hope”, enabling stroke patients to rehabilitate their hand functions through motor relearning. With concerted efforts, the new version of the soft robotic hand, incorporating the latest 3D silicone printing technology, was later developed to further improve stroke patients’ rehabilitation process. On the education front, Professor Tong is the founding Chairman of the first university Department of BME established in Hong Kong. With his persistence and dedication, Professor Tong has led the Department to educate hundreds of biomedical engineers to contribute solutions to human health problems since its inception in 2017.

Professor Tong is a world-renowned biomedical engineer. In 2020, he was among the top two percent of the world’s scientists whose papers were highly cited during their careers, demonstrating significant and broad influences in their field of study. His research interests include rehabilitation robotics, brain-computer control interfaces (BCI), neural engineering, functional electrical stimulation (FES) and cognitive assessment software. He has received numerous awards for his research contributions, including the “Global Ageing Influencers 2021” award at the 9th Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards Ceremony held by Ageing Asia in Singapore, and was a recipient of the 2013 Ten Outstanding Young Persons (Hong Kong).

List for 2022 class of the AIMBE College of Fellows