The Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions, founded in 1973, is one of the longest-running and largest invention exhibitions in the world. The 48th Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions opened on April 26th at the Palexpo Exhibition Center in Geneva, Switzerland. This is the first time the exhibition has resumed physical activities since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This year’s exhibition attracted over 800 exhibitors from 40 countries, showcasing more than 1,000 invention projects.
A team from the University of Macau’s (UM) State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI (SKL-AMSV), Institute of Microelectronics (IME), and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) of the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST), including Associate Professor Chi-Seng Lam, Professor Pui-In Mak (Director of SKL-AMSV), and Chair Professor Rui Martins (Vice Rector of Global Affairs), along with two postdoctoral fellows, Wai-Kit Sou and Cheng Gong, and two PhD students, Io-Wa Iam and Pak-Ian Chan, exhibited their inventions entitled “Low-Cost Advanced Controlled Hybrid Active Power Filtering Devices” and “An Efficient and Easy-Adaptation Wireless Charging Solution” at the 48th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva. The two inventions were awarded a gold medal and a bronze medal, respectively, for their outstanding performance at the exhibition. These awarded inventions are funded by the Science and Technology Development Fund, Macau SAR (FDCT) (File No.: 0027/2021/A1; 0028/2020/A1; 0014/2021/ITP; 025/2017/A1; SKL-AMSV(UM)-2020-2022; SKL-AMSV(UM)-2023-2025) and the UM (File No.: MYRG2017-00090-AMSV).
The invention “Low-Cost Advanced Controlled Hybrid Active Power Filtering Devices” has developed a variety of new advanced controller design schemes that significantly improve the device’s performance without increasing any hardware costs. This advanced controlled device can achieve lower steady-state error, faster response speed, higher anti-interference capability, and higher stability, further improving the cost-effectiveness of the device. It effectively eliminates harmonic and reactive power problems in the distribution power network, improves its efficiency, and achieves more effective energy-saving and carbon emission reduction. Additionally, for customers with high electricity consumption, the device can reduce the customer’s huge reactive power cost and also eliminate the impacts on the electrical equipment such as overheating, vibration, noise, and reduced lifecycle caused by the harmonic currents, achieving a win-win situation for both the power company and its customers.
Another awarded invention, “An Efficient and Easy-Adaptation Wireless Charging Solution” has developed a high-efficiency, adaptable, and fast wireless charging solution that can easily adapt to battery charging specifications of different vehicles and allow users to charge their vehicles without stopping. This invention can improve the vehicle’s battery life, promoting low-carbon travel. The wireless charging technology developed by this project can also be applied in the fields of property management and industrial automation, such as powering inspection and service robots for smart property management as well as automatic guided vehicles in smart warehouses. It can supply electricity 24 hours a day to support wireless power supply and Internet of Things applications and can greatly improve work efficiency.
Based on their accumulated technology from the inventions, the team has spin-off a company in Macau. The company has been selected as an incubation team in the UM’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and for the second edition of the funding scheme of UM Development Foundation. The team hopes to industrialize more scientific research results in the future.
