Scaling Green Tech: 6 HKUST Startups Transforming University R&D into Global Action

Dr. Weicong Cheng is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Ocean Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), working under the supervision of Prof. Jianping Gan, his research focuses on physical oceanography, with emphasis on estuarine and shelf-sea circulation, flow-topography interactions, as well as coastal biogeochemical dynamics across the Pearl River Estuary and China Shelf Seas. Leveraging high-resolution numerical ocean models, his work advances the fundamental understanding of multi-scale ocean processes and their environmental impacts, with peer-reviewed publications in premier journals including Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Journal of Physical Oceanography, and Water Research. As a core developer of WavyOcean (淘海), an AI-empowered digital twin system for regional earth environments, Dr. Cheng actively bridges cutting-edge ocean science with interactive visualization, making complex oceanographic data accessible and actionable for researcher and public communities.

Ryan Ng is a civil engineer turned entrepreneur with over five years of corporate management experience specialising in pipeline condition assessment. He founded and has been running Hyele for three years, building deep domain expertise in diagnosing and maintaining ageing building pipe networks. Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and is currently pursuing an MBA at HKUST. Drawing on years of frontline industry experience at Hyele, Ryan recognised that the market was ready for a fundamental shift from reactive, invasive inspections to intelligent, predictive asset management. He is passionate about turning hard-won field knowledge into scalable technology solutions for the built environment.

My Sustainability Goals for 2026:

• Who we are: Introducing Ecofeatures — now building a next-generation diagnostic platform that transitions high-rise building services from reactive repair to active asset preservation.
• What we do: A plug-and-go dual-mode sensing hardware paired with a cloud SaaS platform that pinpoints micro-leaks (≤ 0.01 l/s) down to exact floor, flat, and unit location — without blueprints, pipe cutting, or wall opening.
• How it works: Physics-guided deep learning trained on synthetic hydraulic models and fine-tuned on-site via transfer learning, enabling rapid deployment in any building regardless of drawing availability or pipe material.
• Where we are going: Our go-to-market roadmap from Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area to Southeast Asia and the GCC region, targeting property managers, housing authorities, and utility partners.
• Who we are looking for: Ecofeatures is actively seeking strategic partners — including property management firms, building services consultants, and system integrators — for pilot deployments and market expansion. We are also open to conversations with investors who share our vision of transforming building infrastructure maintenance through AI-driven, non-destructive diagnostics.

Jeffrey Xu is a Ph.D. candidate at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). He holds a Master’s degree in Systems and Earth Systems from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to his doctoral studies, he worked at Arup Hong Kong as a Digital Twin Architect and AI Algorithm Engineer.

Prof. Zhe Yang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and an Honorary Senior Fellow at The University of Queensland. His research focuses on membrane-based water treatment and resource recovery. As an inventor and technology developer, Dr. Yang has secured four patents in advanced membrane materials and separation processes, with one water filtration technology successfully licensed to Hong Kong industry for commercialization. He has led or contributed to more than ten R&D and technology translation projects funded by Hong Kong, Australia, and Chinese Mainland. His membrane-based lithium recycling technologies have been showcased at regional and international innovation exhibitions. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers with over 10,000 citations and received numerous international awards for innovation and research excellence, including the Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions Gold Medal and the James J. Morgan Early Career Award.

Jackson Yip, Founder of EC Innovation Limited, is leading the company to create impact for urban greenery with new-era innovations to deliver high quality and low-cost services, from the perspectives of AI monitoring and analytics, plumbing and irrigation, enhancing visitor experiences, and sustainability.

Jimmy Zhiyi Zhu is Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Leyden Power, an energy storage company scaling rapidly across Asia, Europe, and the United States. Since the company’s founding in 2024, Jimmy has led a multidisciplinary engineering team to develop, certify, and industrialize Leyden Power’s battery energy storage systems for the global market, with a focus on resilient designs and extended asset lifetime. His leadership ensures that Leyden Power’s products are manufactured at scale without compromising performance or quality.

Prior to founding Leyden Power, Jimmy held project management and leadership roles at CLP Power, China Mobile, and Huawei. He holds an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.