The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has received latest donation of HK$39.8 million from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust (the Trust) to establish four Jockey Club (JC) STEM Labs. An inauguration ceremony for four new JC STEM Labs was held on 13 November 2025, with Professor Isabella Poon Wai-yin, CUHK’s Provost, and Ms Elsie Tsang, Executive Manager of Charities (Children & Youth in Families) for the Trust being the officiating guests.

Among the four new JC STEM Labs, three of them are led by professors from the Faculty of Engineering. JC STEM Lab of Advanced Wireless Networks for Mission-Critical Automation and Intelligence, led by Professor Lin Xiaojun from the Department of Information Engineering, is dedicated to advancing next-generation wireless technologies. The Lab focuses on developing low-latency and high-reliability wireless networks to meet the stringent demands of industrial automation and collaborative AI, enabling seamless and efficient connectivity for critical tasks.

JC STEM Lab of AI for Science and Engineering, led by Professor Ouyang Wanli from the Department of Information Engineering, is dedicated to driving AI breakthroughs in scientific research, enhancing research efficiency and helping to break new ground in scientific research. It will also focus on AI applications in the industrial sector and promote implementation of AI technologies.

JC STEM Lab of Integration of Machine Learning and Symbolic Reasoning, led by Professor Pan Jialin from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, is dedicated to advancing a new AI paradigm through the deep integration of data-driven machine learning models and knowledge-driven symbolic reasoning techniques.

In 2021, The Hong Kong Jockey Club approved a total donation of HK$500 million through its Charities Trust for the JC STEM Lab Initiative to support the establishment of laboratories for scholars under the Government-initiated Global STEM Professorship Scheme. The scheme aims to nurture STEM talent in Hong Kong, translate of new scientific research and technologies into social impact and expand Hong Kong’s innovation and technology talent pool over the long run.

Under this initiative, CUHK established five Trust-funded JC STEM Labs in 2023, of which two are led by professors from Faculty of Engineering. The four new labs take the total number of JC STEM Labs established by CUHK with Trust funding to nine. Among which, the total number of JC STEM Labs led by Faculty of Engineering’s professors has reached five.  

Six Engineering professors have been recognised on the Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list, reflecting their outstanding achievements in respective research areas.

Released this year on 12 November by Clarivate Analytics, this annual list recognises researchers who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their fields of research. Each researcher selected has authored multiple papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for their fields and publication year in the Web of Science over the past decade.

Engineering scholars (alphabetical order of family name) listed in the “Highly Cited Researchers 2025” are as follows:

The full list of "Highly Cited Researchers 2025" can be found at: https://clarivate.com/highly-cited-researchers/.

A team supervised by Professor Ben M. Chen and Professor Chen Xi from CUHK’s Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, with collaborators from Wuhan University and Tongji University, has won both the Indoor Competition Champion and the Outdoor Competition Champion titles at the 16th International Micro Air Vehicle Competition (IMAV 2025), held in San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, Mexico, from November 3–7, 2025.

The Team CWT United* comprised members of the CUHK Unmanned Systems Research Group (many supported by HKCLR), with collaborators from Wuhan University and Tongji University who joined forces for this competition. They delivered impressive performances throughout the event.

This year’s IMAV competitions are divided into indoor and outdoor categories, presenting challenges that seek to push the boundaries of the technology of micro air vehicles. Competitors will showcase innovative hardware and software designs, including aerodynamic designs, a novel set of sensors, and exemplar capabilities such as flight endurance, agile flight, autonomous flight, intelligent behavior, and swarming coordination. In addition, two new special challenges are featured this year, one for each category: the Noise-Free Challenge for indoor competition and the Surveillance Challenge for outdoor competition. Teams that excel in addressing these challenges will be recognized with a special award.  

About IMAV

The IMAV is an annual international event bringing together scientists, technologists, and enthusiasts on the research and technological development of Micro-Air Vehicles (MAVs). This is one of the major micro air vehicle competitions held annually worldwide. More information can be found at www.imavs.org.

*Team members include:

CUHK Members

Wang Jialiang (team leader), Wu Zongzhou, Zhao Yanqi, Qigeng Duan, Xu Jiwen, Huang Yijun, Lin Zhipeng, Hong Haochen, Jerry Tang (HKCLR), Joanna Chen (HKCLR)

Supervisors: Professor Ben M. Chen, Professor Chen Xi

Wuhan University Members

Guo Xinyu, Yang Wenbin, Guan Bin, Chen Haotian, Zhou Zhiyu

Supervisor: Professor Gao Zhi

Tongji University Members

Fan Jiaxin, Qu Ze

Supervisors: Professor He Bin, Professor Ding Yulong