Hong Kong, 28 May 2019 – Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) today announced that it has taken a further step in accelerating the development of the sensor industry in Hong Kong by setting up a new Sensor Lab at Hong Kong Science Park. The new laboratory offers dedicated cleanroom facilities, equipment and tools that will assist partner companies in carrying out design and piloting production trials and testing for sensor prototypes. Meridian Innovation became the first partner company of the Sensor Lab to gain success from their experiments for the next generation of their signature product, SenXorTM.
Currently, there is a strong growth momentum in the use of small and sophisticated sensors into different technology areas such as AI, robotics and IoT, driving many emerging applications in various industries, from advanced manufacturing to healthcare. In the development cycles of these sensors, the pilot run of design, prototyping and testing are critical, before moving on to the final production.
To support the pilot run of the entire sensor development cycle, the Sensor Lab provides a shared class 100 and class 1000 cleanroom, equipped with a range of hardware and software tools to allow basic processing steps in micro/ nano sensor development, such as deposition, lithography, etching, packaging and characterisation. In addition, HKSTP is partnering with Meridian Innovation, Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) and Genvida, to provide R&D technical support that will drive co-development of advanced sensor technologies.
Albert Wong, CEO of HKSTP, said, “Hong Kong is going through a new era of re-industrialisation, with a strong focus on advanced manufacturing. This in turn is fostering the rapid growth of the micro/nano sensor industry. While Science Park has been playing the role of a living laboratory to test sensor technologies in real-world environments with our Sensor Hub initiative, we are now stepping up to provide a fuller range of infrastructure, tools and support services via the Sensor Lab. This facility is dedicated to accelerating the R&D and pilot production capabilities of our start-ups and SMEs for new sensor products in Hong Kong. We believe that this will not only continue to nurture our growing sensor community at the Park, but also empowering their collaborations and co-creations to achieve even more success.”
Meridian Innovation, an incubatee in Science Park, is the first partner company of the Sensor Lab to have gained remarkable R&D progress, as a result of utilising the facility. They have set up their Hong Kong office in Science Park specifically for the availability of cleanroom facilities, as well as business advice from mentors and incubation funding support.
Hasan Gadjali, Co-founder of Meridian Innovation Limited, said, “The well-equipped cleanroom in the Sensor Lab was a strong pulling factor driving us to set foot in Science Park, allowing us to focus our time and resources on our R&D. So far, we have achieved many successful experiments in Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) and Wafer Level Vacuum Packaging processes. We are very lucky to be in the right place at the right time to meet the right people from HKSTP, especially the high caliber I&T talents who graduated from local universities here.”
At the Sensor Lab sharing session today, HKSTP also shared insights and latest industry trends from their technology review paper, “Micro/Nano Sensors for Healthcare and Smart City”, developed after the first International Symposium on Micro/Nano Sensors for Healthcare and Smart City held in December 2018.
