Ning Hanhao: Multiple R&D awards under his leadership, gradually expanding into the industry and private engineering.

The Secretary for Development, Ning Han-hao, announced a new “Commissioner’s Essay,” saying that the office and its affiliated departments are actively researching, developing, and applying innovative technologies. Recently, they participated in the 51st Geneva International Inventions Exhibition and won a total of 36 awards, with the number of awards reaching a record high in recent years. Among them, departments of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government were awarded for the first time one of the highest honors—the “Saudi Ministry of Education—Saudi Innovation Excellence Award.”

Ning Han-hao said that the projects that received the awards have already been applied in government departments and public works engineering, and will be progressively rolled out to the trade and private engineering sectors. In step with the new era of speeding ahead with technology transformation, the Development Bureau will continue to actively promote the broader application of innovative technologies within the industry, injecting strong momentum into industry change and upgrading.

The Development Bureau and its affiliated departments win 36 awards at the Geneva Inventions Exhibition

The Deputy Secretary-General of the bureau (Public Works), Ho Ying-kit, said that the Development Bureau team and the Public Works department, including the Drainage Services Department, Civil Engineering and Development Department, Buildings Department, Water Supplies Department, Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, and Highways Department, exhibited 36 projects at this year’s exhibition, receiving 36 awards, including 1 “Saudi Ministry of Education—Saudi Innovation Excellence Award,” 7 Jury Commendation Gold Awards, 13 Gold Awards, 11 Silver Awards, and 4 Bronze Awards. Many of the awarded projects cover artificial intelligence, robots, drones, and other advanced technologies.

Among them, “Bain-Bian Tan Go,” an all-terrain channel inspection robot jointly developed by the Drainage Services Department and a professional team from the Mainland, won the “Saudi Innovation Excellence Award” for the first time. It is also the first time a department of the HKSAR government has received this award.

“Bain-Bian Tan Go” is a remotely controlled tracked all-terrain channel inspection robot. It can flexibly adapt to complex and ever-changing underground terrains and operate stably. It is equipped with high-definition variable-zoom lenses, laser detection and ranging devices, and a powerful illumination system, enabling comprehensive collection of visual and spatial data and monitoring the air quality in enclosed spaces. All inspection data can be automatically uploaded to an AI-driven assessment platform for real-time analysis and rapid generation of inspection reports, precisely identifying potential problems. For engineers, they only need to stay in safe positions on the ground to operate the robot remotely, ensuring that inspection work is safer and more efficient.

The welding robot “Zhi Guan Han” for soldering and welding pipes, jointly developed by the Water Supplies Department and Ming Hing Water Works Engineering Company Limited, won a Jury Commendation Gold Award. The innovative project has three major strengths. First, “Zhi Guan Han” can use a connected computer to precisely set welding positions, with accuracy reaching 1 millimeter, and its welding speed is also faster than traditional manual welding.

Second, “Zhi Guan Han” has strong mobility and endurance. It is equipped with a tracked moving system, making it suitable for work inside Hong Kong’s “Jiu Qu Shi San Wan” pipelines, and it can also operate for 5 kilometers to meet the needs of long-distance, long-duration work. Third, the use of “Zhi Guan Han” can reduce the operational risks for workers entering high-temperature and narrow enclosed spaces. Workers or operators only need to monitor and control it from a distance to complete the welding process.