Dr. Angela Lee, Project Manager at the Water Centre, was invited as a panellist for the session titled “Business and Community Actions” at a symposium co-organised by the Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning and the City University of Hong Kong. During the session, she shared an innovative approach to conducting Water Literacy Education aimed at engaging secondary school students to promote water sustainability. Drawing from her experience in running a knowledge exchange program co-hosted by the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, HKU and the Water Centre in 2023, Dr. Lee explained how the application of smart technologies and the implementation of an action plan could be combined to reduce water consumption in real-life settings.
2024
Technical Visit to Macao Water
Dr. Frederick Lee, Executive Director of the Water Centre, and three colleagues visited Macao at the invitation of Macao Water Supply Company Limited. The visit aimed to enhance collaborations between Greater Bay Area cities on sustainable water management initiatives. We exchanged experiences and ideas on smart water technology’s application for water conservation with Mr. Oscar Chu and Mr. Jacky Lei, Deputy General Manager of Macao Water, and their team.
Discussions focused on technological and policy challenges related to smart water technology in urban areas. The team also visited Smart Metering Pilot Programme sites in Macao.
2023
Interdisciplinary Workshop on “Water & Its History: Interdisciplinary Explorations in Hong Kong and Beyond”
Dr. Frederick Lee, Executive Director of the Water Centre, delivered a talk entitled “One Narrator; Two Narratives: Evidence of Hong Kong’s Water Policy Conundrum” at an interdisciplinary workshop organised by the History Department, School of Humanities, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Research Hub, at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The talk scrutinised the government’s two conflicting narratives regarding Hong Kong’s water supply situation.
Seminar on “Business Sustainability Conference 2023 – Management Information System for Sustainability”
Dr. Angela Lee, Project Manager at the Water Centre, presented a talk entitled “Leveraging IoT Solutions for Water Sustainability in Non-domestic Settings” at a conference organised by the Centre for Business Sustainability, CUHK Business School. Her presentation highlighted the case of an expanded application of IoT solutions to analysing water usage data and fostering water-conscious practices in the commercial sector.
Presentation at the “18th World Water Congress”
Dr Angela Lee, the Water Centre’s Project Manager, delivered a talk entitled “Application of edge computing and deep learning to analyze domestic water use data and to sustain water-conscious behavior: A case study of Hong Kong”. This event was hosted by the International Water Resources Association and the Ministry of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China. During her presentation, Dr. Lee detailed how edge computing and deep learning technologies were utilized to map domestic water usage in each household participating in a territory-wide study, shedding light on Hong Kong’s overall water consumption habits.
Final Presentation and Award Ceremony of “Smart Water Detectives: A STEM Student Ambassador Programme”
The programme came to a successful conclusion with a Final Presentation and Award Ceremony. All participating schools have successfully reduced their water consumption by executing their own water-saving plans. Project investigators congratulated all the winning teams and extended a thank you note to all the student ambassadors and teachers for their incredible efforts in this programme!
Inno Wing TechTalk on “IoT and Machine Learning for Smart Water Auditing”
Dr. Edith Ngai, Associate Professor of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, delivered a talk in the InnoWing TechTalk series, organised by the Faculty of Engineering. Our presentation detailed our design workflow, IoT infrastructure, machine learning algorithms, and experiments focusing on water end-use breakdown in Hong Kong.
Seminar on “Salient Water-related Nexus Issues in Transitioning Hong Kong into a Sustainable City”
Dr. Frederick Lee, the Water Centre’s Executive Director, delivered a seminar on “the water-related challenges facing Hong Kong in its transition towards sustainability”, at the invitation of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers. The talk focused on the nexus issues pertaining to water use and management in the city.
Second Workshop of “Smart Water Detectives: A STEM Student Ambassador Programme”
The student ambassadors get to showcase their creativity in the second workshop by designing visually appealing, 3D-printed signages with water conservation messages. They have also utilised school-specific water consumption data to formulate innovative and effective conservation plans.
First Workshop of “Smart Water Detectives: A STEM Student Ambassador Programme”
“The Smart Water Detectives: A STEM Student Ambassador Programme” involved 37 student ambassadors drawn from five secondary schools. The students participated in the first workshop held at HKU’s InnoWing. The workshop was aimed at enhanciing the students’ understanding of water literacy and their understanding of internet of things (IoT) technology.
Exhibition of “Smart Water Auditing” in Innovation Wing II
Showcasing a live demonstration of our smart water meter in action!
2022
Final Report of the “ECF Student Ambassador Scheme”
The “ECF Student Ambassador Scheme” was successfully completed in November 2022. This action oriented and awareness-raising activity used the Water Centre’s expertise in water auditing and an innovative approach to engage students. Students learned about how they use water at home and were encouraged to make behavior changes to contribute more to water conservation.
Inter-disciplinary Forum on “Smart Water Cities”
The Inter-disciplinary forum, co-organized by the Water Centre and the Water Supplies Department, was designed to promote an exchange of innovative ideas among policy-makers, practitioners and researchers. Two overseas speakers were invited to share their insights on how, and to what extent, the application of smart technologies—such as Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning—could help address, and resolve, current and future challenges in managing our urban water systems to achieve long-term sustainability goals.
Webinar on “The 1963 Drought: Is it time to forget about it?”
Dr Frederick Lee, Executive Director of the Water Centre, delivered a talk at a webinar organised by the Nanyang Technological University’s History Department and Hong Kong Research Hub. Dr. Lee argued that the official narrative of Hong Kong’s water story has been anchored in the 1963 drought, but circumstances have changed. Continuing to fear the spectre of drought-induced water-use restrictions runs the risk of our becoming prisoners of this entrenched narrative—blinded by outdated premises and overlooking the most pressing issues in water planning in the 21st century. It is time for us to contemplate alternative narratives that will help us address real challenges.
2021
Interdisciplinary Webinar on “Water Reuse in the United States and Australia: Obstacles and Solutions”
2020
Interdisciplinary Webinar on “Reducing Leakage in a City’s Water Supply System: Lessons from American and British Cities for Hong Kong”
2019
2018
