Media

New breakthroughs by HKU research team on Wireless Power Transfer

27 Apr 2012

 

A century ago, renowned scientist Nicola Tesla successfully demonstrated that electric power could be transfer wirelessly between a pair of coils called coil-resonators. This breakthrough in wireless power has now found many applications for "short-range" applications such as wireless charging pad for mobile phones.

One hundred years later, an HKU research team, led by Professor Ron Hui, Philip K H Wong Wilson K L Wong Professorship in Electrical Engineering, and Dr. Chi Kwan Lee of the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, has developed a new wireless power domino-resonator system concept for "mid-range" applications.

The new wireless power domino-resonator systems provide new means of power transfer without using continuous cables over a few metres. This is an emerging technology that enables power to be transmitted in a highly flexible manner. On a small scale, it has the potential to be used in medical surgery, where energy will be guided through a narrow tube to heat up and kill tumor cells in microsurgery. On a larger scale, it can be used to transmit power through non-metallic materials with great electrical isolation, e.g. electrical appliances without wire connections.

Further research is being conducted by the HKU team to further improve the transmission distance and efficiency under the support of an Innovation & Technology Fund (ITF). Their new discovery, new theory and practical verification have been peer-reviewed and published in the prestigious IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics in April 2012.

Professor Hui and team members will demonstrate to the media this new technology in a press conference with details as follows:

Date:  3 May 2012(Thursday)
Time:  11 am
Venue:  Rm 701, Knowles Building, HKU

For media enquiries, please contact Ms Trinni Choy (Assistant Director (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2606, email: pychoy@hku.hk; or Ms Melanie Wan (Manager (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2600, email: melwkwan@hku.hk.