HKRITA’s Harvest of Awards for its Innovation Endeavour

Award competitions provide a platform for innovators to showcase and refine their ideas and exchange views with their counterparts. It is the reason The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) takes part in a diverse range of competitions to further validate the quality and potential of our technologies.

Garnering 9 awards in the International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva

HKRITA won a Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury, along with three Gold Medals, four Silver Medals and a Bronze Medal in the 48th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva. Among the nine medals, the “Compact Electro-adhesion Gripper for Fabric Handling”, winner of the Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury, makes use of robotics and autonomous systems to drive the textile and clothing industry towards industry 4.0. Other award-winning projects cover the area of smart recycling, waste treatment, green manufacturing, green materials and healthcare products.

This year, the International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva attracted over 800 exhibitors from 40 countries and regions. Prof Sun Dong, the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, also attended and showed his support to the Hong Kong delegation. HKRITA has participated in this event since 2010 and has received a total of 70 awards, including 31 Gold Medals. A press briefing was held to introduce these awarded projects to the public through the media friends on 29 May.

Please click here for the awarded projects.

Ms Katherine Chan, Director (Business Development) of HKRITA, introduces the operation of the garment sorting system to Prof Sun Dong (second right), the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry

Dr Gloria Yao, Director (Project Development) of HKRITA, gives an account of the performance of microplastic degradation by microbial to the judges of the invention exhibition

Mr Edwin Keh, CEO of HKRITA, remarks that HKRITA remains committed to developing solutions to address the longstanding challenges the textile and apparel industry faces in the press briefing

Dr Alex Chan (second right), Senior Research Manager of HKRITA, shares the making of yarns using recycled materials with media representatives

Ms Teresa Yang JP (fifth left), HKRITA’s Chairman and representatives join the congratulation reception organised by the Innovation and Technology Commission, Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks, Beijing - Hong Kong Academic Exchange Centre

Mr Raymond Chiu, Senior Research Manager of HKRITA, explains the electro-adhesion mechanism of the gripper in the congratulation reception

 

Receiving World Changing Ideas Awards 2023

HKRITA’s two acclaimed projects, Green Machine and Absorboost swept two World Changing Ideas Awards in May 2023. The Green Machine is a ground-breaking technology that separates cotton and polyester fibres from the blended textiles at scale through hydrothermal treatment, enabling the recovered materials to become useful again. The cellulose powders decomposed from the cotton can be transformed into Absorboost, a cellulosic superabsorbent polymer. It is a water-retention agent that keeps soil moisture and increases cotton yields. The Green Machine was listed among Finalists in the experimental category and Absorboost received an Honourable Mention in the agriculture category, recognising their use of innovative and sustainable approaches to solve the problem of textile wastes.

The World Changing Ideas Awards is organised by the Fast Company, one of the world’s leading business media brands. It celebrates worldwide innovative concepts and solutions that can solve the world’s most complicated issues. Other award winners this year include Dell Technologies and NASA.

The Green Machine and Absorboost are named Finalist and Honourable Mention respectively in the World Changing Ideas Awards 2023

HKRITA is featured in the Just Style Excellence Award Report

Winning Just Style Excellence Awards 2023

HKRITA has just received the Just Style Excellence Awards 2023 in the Innovation and Environmental categories for its achievements in offering practical solutions for the textiles and apparel industry. This award, organised by the apparel and textile news platform Just-style.com, recognises companies and institutes from all around the world with outstanding achievements and innovations in the industry. Past winners include adidas, PVH Corp, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

This is the first time HKRITA receives this award. This recognition is a testament to our commitment to enhancing the textile industry’s competitiveness and advancing a better world through our innovative and sustainable solutions.

Our achievement in these competitions “is evidence of our success in facilitating the entire R&D lifecycle from ideation and concept development to technology transfer and commercialisation,” said Mr Edwin Keh, CEO of HKRITA.