City University of Hong Kong and the University of Cambridge have opened a joint research centre that will use 3D printing to design cooling hardware for data centres and lighter parts for electric vehicles.
The centre is based at Hong Kong Science Park, inside the government’s InnoHK programme. The last wave of this work focused on connected machines and data from the factory floor. Here, 3D printing is the shared method, and the group wants to design a material or a part for a known job, weighing performance, cost, and energy use at the same time.
It is called the Centre for Advanced and Smart Manufacturing, co-led by Lu Jian, chair professor of mechanical engineering at City University of Hong Kong, and Colm Durkan of Cambridge. The work splits four ways: new refrigeration methods, cooling for data centres, manufacturing for electric vehicles, and materials for consumer electronics.
Data centres are the clearest near-term target. The universities say the spread of AI is driving demand for more computing halls, and that much of a hall’s energy use goes to pulling heat out of the machines. Researchers there are developing heat-exchange structures and metallic materials meant to do that cooling with less electricity.
On vehicles, the group is looking at recycled aluminium, which takes substantially less energy to produce than aluminium made from ore. The plan is to pair AI-assisted design with 3D printing so parts can come out lighter without giving up performance or safety.
“Hong Kong was once one of Asia’s leading manufacturing centres,” said Lu. “Looking ahead, our aim is to leverage advanced manufacturing to enable Hong Kong to once again play a key role in the global industrial value chain.”
“AI is a key enabler, but environmental protection and social responsibility are equally important,” said Lu. “These are the defining principles of Industry 5.0.”
The centre also plans to recruit PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and undergraduates for research projects, internships, and collaborations between Hong Kong and Cambridge.
Source: cityu.edu.hk
