22 IN FOCUS Students A prototype for quantifying microplastics on the surface of seawater in real-time has become an award-winner for a cross-disciplinary nal-year undergraduate engineering team. The Smart Fish cra , devised for the graduates’ Final Year Project, provides immediate and cost-e ective monitoring and detection of the tiny plastic fragments (i.e. a diameter of less than mm) that are now ubiquitous in the environment due to increasing quantities of plastic litter. Conventional approaches are costly, time-consuming, and labor-intensive, limiting knowledge-gathering in the eld. The cra takes its shape from a devil sh, with the streamlined design helping to reduce water resistance. The four-person team also developed a practical staining methodology to di erentiate microplastics from other waste in a seawater sample as well as an image-capturing system that transfers real-time data to users via an interactive mobile app. Students CHEUNG King-Pok, HO Man-Yat, WONG Pui-Him, Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE), School of Engineering (SENG), and CHOW Chun-Sing, Ocean Science (OCES), School of Science, later saw their enterprising device recognized in the wider community when they won the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) Environmental Division Prize for Best Final Year Environmental Project . They were supervised by Prof. Frank LAM, CBE, and Prof. Cindy LAM, OCES. This was the third year in a row that a project team involving SENG students received the championship. The HKUST Wu Zhi Qiao Team, which seeks to improve the lives of villagers in remote areas of Mainland China by initiating and constructing footbridges, is preparing to make a welcome return to action a er a pause in due to the COVID- pandemic. The undergraduate team forms part of the Wu Zhi Qiao (Bridge to China) Charitable Foundation initiative. Its project will be located in Gansu, where villagers are already looking forward to a bridge to ease their commute across the river. Students are currently carrying out preparatory work, with implementation subject to the COVID- situation. The team comprises cross-School student leadership, other undergraduate volunteers, and is advised by Prof. ZHANG Limin and Prof. Ben CHAN, both Civil and Environmental Engineering. Members’ commitment and dedication were recognized when the HKUST team received a Gold Award for Volunteer Service (Group) from the Hong Kong government’s Social Welfare Department in for over , hours of community service. That year the team participated in a project in Zhongting Village in Guangxi, in partnership with Chongqing Jiaotong University and Zhejiang University. Students built a pedestrian truss footbridge across the nearby river, an incinerator to assist with much-needed waste disposal, and undertook other repairs. Monitoringmarine microplastics Making a di erence by helping others Student volunteers help to position their newly constructed footbridge in Zhongting Village in Guangxi. Smart Fish at work, analyzing microplastics on the sea surface.
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