Recent News

Prof. Alicia AN to present at the Prestigious WaterEnergyNEXUS 2025 Conference

News / Events in 2025

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Prof. Alicia AN to present at the Prestigious WaterEnergyNEXUS 2025 Conference

The WaterEnergyNEXUS 2025 conference, scheduled for February 17-19, 2025, will be held at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Organized by the Center for Membranes and Advanced Water Technology (CMAT), this event aims to foster collaboration and sustainable development among research communities across the GCC, Euro-Mediterranean, Asian, and African regions. With a focus on the critical interconnections between water, energy, and carbon neutrality, the conference will feature Prof. Alicia AN as an invited speaker. She will present her groundbreaking work in a talk titled "A Paradigm-Shifting, Fully-Integrated, Compact WasteWater-to-Resource Facility (WWRF)."

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Strengthening Research Ties: Prof. Yong Sik OK Visits Prof. Alicia AN's Laboratory

Prof. Yong Sik OK recently visited Prof. Alicia AN's laboratory at the City University of Hong Kong, where we introduced ongoing collaborative projects that we are working on with various universities, including Nanobubble technology, Photothermal Water-H2, Electrospinning, and Electrolysis Lithium Recovery with Prof. Jason Lam. The visit underscored the importance of interdisciplinary cooperation in advancing innovative research. We expressed their gratitude for Prof. OK's visit and the opportunity to strengthen academic partnerships.

News / Events in 2024

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Prof. Alicia AN Showcases Innovative Research at CHEER2024

Prof. Alicia AN presented her research on ammonia removal and capture in wastewater using Membrane Distillation at the CHEER2024 conference, held at The Education University of Hong Kong. The event attracted a diverse audience of medical professionals, environmental scientists, and policymakers eager to discuss critical environmental health issues.

Her presentation sparked active discussions, with attendees expressing enthusiasm for the potential of Membrane Distillation technology to enhance wastewater treatment. The engagement highlighted CHEER2024 as a vital platform for advancing research and collaboration in the field

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Celebrating Innovation: Prof. Alicia AN at HKUST TRS Public Symposium 2024

Prof. Alicia AN attended the HKUST Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) Public Symposium 2024, celebrating the transformative impact of collaborative research on Hong Kong's future. She participated in the presentation of the groundbreaking project, "A Paradigm-shifting, Fully-integrated, Compact Wastewater-to-resource Facility (WWRF)," which aims to revolutionize resource management in the wastewater treatment system using innovative membrane technology.

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Celebrating 15 Years of Impact: Prof. Alicia AN at CityU SEE Gala

The School of Energy and Environment (SEE) at City University of Hong Kong marked its 15th anniversary with a lively gala dinner, featuring esteemed guest Prof. Alicia AN. She highlighted the school’s impressive achievements and underscored the importance of collaboration in tackling global challenges.

The evening was filled with joy and optimism as alumni, faculty, and industry leaders celebrated SEE's milestones. Prof. AN expressed hope for the future, encouraging continued hard work and innovation, ensuring that SEE will play a vital role in shaping a sustainable world.

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Dr. An has hosted the XPrize Water Scarcity Info Talk

We are excited to welcome Mr. David Locke, the Executive Prize Director at XPRIZE Water Scarcity, along with Dr. Alicia An, for an informative talk on XPRIZE Water Scarcity. This $119 million, five-year global competition aims to enhance access to clean water by developing reliable, sustainable, and affordable seawater desalination systems. During the session, Dr. An discussed the state of water resources in Hong Kong and globally, highlighting various innovative technologies. Mr. Locke provided insights into the goals and specifics of the competition.

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Prof. An has participated the JWPE 3-Minute Thesis Pitch Event as a judge!

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Congratulations for Prof. Alicia AN from shortlisting as a Top 2% scientist!

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Congratulations on being named an inaugural Highly Ranked Scholar by ScholarGPS

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Alicia presented orally and chaired the session for Integrated membrane processes in the EUROMEMBRANE 2024!

Euromembrane 2024, held during Sep 8-12, 2024, is organised by Czech Membrane Platform at Prague Congress Centre, Czech Republic, providing a platform for membrane researchers to provide valuable perspectives on the latest advancements and challenges in water management. Prof. Alicia AN presented oral and also chaired the session for Integrated membrane processes. The oral lecture is titled as "Integrating Membrane Distillation with Photocatalytic Steam Splitting for Solar-enhanced Hydrogen and Water Co-generation".

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Breaking news!! Another quality paper in Prof. An's group being accepted for publication in Nature Communication

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Congratulations to Prof. Alicia AN: Another quality paper being accepted for publication in Nature Communication

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14th Conference of Aseanian Membrane Society (AMS14)

The 14th Conference of Aseanian Membrane Society (AMS14) is jointly organised by Nanjing Tech University and Tsinghua University, providing a platform for membrane researchers to explore comprehensively on the latest advancements in designed synthesis and characterization, applications, commercialization, and emerging trends in membrane science and technology. Our PhD student, Mingyi and Jiawei shared our studies on advanced nanobubbles application on water treatment and presented related poster to the audience respectively.

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Happy graduation to our 2 PhD: Dr. Jiawei Sun and Dr. Xinning Zhang.

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Dr. An Joins the Xprize Advisory Board!

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VTech Innovation & Sustainability Award (2023/24)

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Outstanding Final Year Project Award (2023/24)

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Congratulations to Prof. Alicia AN on receiving the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF)

Congratulations to Prof. Alicia AN on receiving the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF), the funded project title is "Green Hydrogen-Powered Off-Grid Energy-Water Station (Micro-Grid)". Prof. An will collaborate with five other Principal Investigators (PIs) from the School of Energy and Environment, namely Prof. Yun Hau Ng, Prof. Jason Lam, Prof. Shauhrat Chopra, Prof. Patrick Sit, and Prof. Chunhua Liu and endeavors to create an innovative solution that will contribute to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future.

News / Events in 2023

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Congratulation to Prof. Alicia AN (PI), along with Prof. Edwin TSO (Co-I) and Dr. Muhammad Usman FARID (Co-I) Awarded for the Green Tech Fund (GTF).

Congratulation to Prof. Alicia AN (PI), along with Prof. Edwin TSO (Co-I) and Dr. Muhammad Usman FARID (Co-I) Awarded for the Green Tech Fund (GTF) by Environment and Ecology Bureau. The funded project is “Thermally-integrated water desalination — electrolysis system for clean hydrogen generation", which aims to develop a highly efficient, thermally integrated membrane distillation (MD) — anion exchange electrolysis (AEMEL) system. Their goal is to reduce the cost of green hydrogen generation through electrolysis by significantly cutting down the capital and operational expenses of the thermally integrated MD-AEMEL technology.

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Dr. Alicia K.J. AN are listed among the top 2% of the world's most highly cited scientists

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Congratulations to Prof. Alicia An in receiving CityU Outstanding Research Award for 2023 in the Junior Faculty Category.

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VTech Innovation & Sustainability Award (2022/23)

Congratulation to Prof. Alicia An and her FYP student Au Wing Chi from achieving an exquisite performance in the VTech Innovation & Sustainability Award. Out of the 5 selected students, Gigi achieved the 1st runner-up after being reviewed by the judging panel formed by Dr. Allan WONG (Chairman & Group CEO of VTech), Mr. Kent CHEUNG (Managing Director of VTech Contract Manufacturing Services), Mr. Andrew HUI (Vice President of Product Development of VTech Electronic Learning Products), Dr. Patrick SIT (Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies) of SEE, CityU), and Mr. Andrew TO (Associate Director of Development Office, CityU) at the VTech Headquarter. The awarded project title is "Performance Evaluation of Hybrid Forward and Reverse Osmosis (HFRO) System: Prevention of Membrane Fouling Through Unrejected Ammonia"

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SEE Outstanding Final Year Project Awards 2022/2023

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Congratulation to Dr. Bowen P.W. WONG

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Dr. Alicia K.J. AN research group won Silver Award at the 8th China International College Students 'Internet+' Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition

Dr Jiaxin Guo, Mr Jiawei Sun and Dr Pak Wai Wong from Dr Alicia An’s research team won the Silver Award. Their award-winning project was titled “A novel reusable antivirus non-toxic visible-light driven photocatalytic ZIF-8 loaded fabric” and aimed to manufacture advanced photocatalytic fibres that can inhibit the growth of pathogens in the presence of visible light, thus protecting human health.

News / Events in 2022

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Dr. Alicia K.J. AN research group will participate CESE 2022 in Dubai

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Dr. Alicia An and her team received funding from HKSTP Incubation Programme in support of research and business development

After the CityU HK Tech 300 Seed Fund (2021) success, Dr. Alicia An’s team, including Dr. Jiaxin Guo (Postdoc), Dr. Pak Wai Wong (Postdoc) and Mr. Jiawei Sun (PhD) shone in the HKSTP Incubation Programme (2023) by successfully obtaining a three-year funding support of up to HK$1.29 million to cover technology and business development expenses. HKSTP’s Incubation programme helps technology startups develop their first solutions from early-stage technical builds, market exploration and business development. This three-year programme offers comprehensive services including funding and R&D support, mentorship, investor matching and more. The company as known as SSA Coating Limited set up by Dr. Alicia’s team will develop a membrane filter for air and water purification.

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Dr. Alicia K.J. AN is conferred “RGC Research Fellows” under RFS by RGC in 2022/23

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Dr. Alicia An’s paper is accepted to Nature Communications and featured as the Editors’ Highlights

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Dr. Alicia K.J. AN Awarded for the General Research Fund (GRF) of 2022/23

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VTech Innovation & Sustainability Award (2021/22)

Congratulation to Prof. Alicia An and her FYP student LEE Yik Yu from achieving an exquisite performance in the VTech Innovation & Sustainability Award. Out of the 5 selected students, Yik Yu achieved the champion after reviewed by the judging panel formed by Dr. Allan WONG (Chairman & Group CEO of VTech), Dr. King PANG (Group President of VTech), Mr. Hillson CHEUNG (Operation Director of VTech), Dr. Patrick SIT (Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies) of SEE, CityU), and Mr. Andrew TO (Associate Director of Development Office, CityU) at the VTech Headquarter. The winning project title is "Green Nanobubble and Membrane Technologies for Removal of Microplastics from Wastewater"

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SEE Outstanding Final Year Project Awards 2021/2022

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Dr. Alicia K.J. AN are listed among the top 2% of the world's most highly cited scientists

News / Events in 2021

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Congratulations to our PhD student, Miss Xinning Zhang for receiving the Best Poster Presentation Award at The 4th International Forum on Asian Water Environment Technology (IFAWET)

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Dr. Alicia An Chairs the 4th International Forum on Asian Water Environment Technology (IFAWET) 2021, 10-11 December 2021 via ONLINE

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Congratulations to our PhD student, Mr. Bowen Pak Wai Wong for receiving the 1st Student Best Poster Presentation Award by Desalination Editors at the Membrane Desalination 2021 (MEMDES2021)

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Big congratulations to our postdoctoral fellow on winning the HK Tech 300 seed fund!

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Dr. Alicia An succeeded in recent General Research Fund (GRF).

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Dr. Alicia An succeeded in recent Marine Conservation Enhancement Fund (MCEF) Practice.

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Dr. Alicia An received the Teaching Development and Related Grants (TDGs).

News / Events in 2020

Congratulation to Dr. Alicia An whose paper being listed as one of the most cited articles in Journal of Membrane Science

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News / Events in 2019

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Visit by Dr. Yoonseob Kim

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New nanobubble project with Prof. Sophie St-Hillaire’s team

More about the project

In this project, Dr. An will work with a veterinary epidemiologist to determine whether different concentrations of air, oxygen, and ozone nanobubbles with and without a forward osmosis (FO) membrane process can significantly reduce the level of oxytetracycline hydrochloride, one of the most commonly used drugs in the aquaculture industry, in both fresh water and saltwater under laboratory conditions.

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Visit by Professor Nghiem

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9th International Water Association (IWA) Membrane Technology Conference & Exhibition for Water and Wastewater Treatment and Reuse

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12th International Water Association (IWA) International Conference on Water Reclamation and Reuse

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Seminar: Electrochemistry at the Membrane/Water Interface: Electrically Conducting Membranes for Targeted Energy Delivery During Membrane-Based Separations

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Congratulations to Jehad Kharraz for receiving the Certificate of Merit

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Dr. Alicia An succeeded in recent Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF) Practice.

News / Events in 2018

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Two-Day Intensive Workshop for ‘Membrane-based Sustainable Water Treatment

This two-day intensive workshop successfully held to provide a platform for thoroughly addressing recent advances and challenges in membrane-based water treatment technology, from theory to practice, with a special focus on sustainable water treatment in Hong Kong and South Korea. It is further dedicated to creating a stage for exchanging the latest research results and sharing the advanced technologies necessary for securing sustainable water resources. Topics to be discussed include, but are not limited to: Reverse osmosis, Forward osmosis, Membrane distillation, Micropollutants, and Seawater pretreatment.

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Our group’s First Two PhD: Dr. Jiaxin Guo and Dr. David von Eiff

News / Events in 2017

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Dr. Alicia An's project won over HK$ 2M under Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF)

Dr. Alicia An’s research group in the School of Energy and Environment (SEE) at City University of Hong Kong has proposed a novel membrane distillation (MD) system for the efficient treatment and sustainable treatment of textile wastewater. The project entitled “Design and Development of a Novel Membrane Distillation Process for Textile Wastewater Treatment and Reuse for Zero Liquid Discharge” has won over HK$ 2M under Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) - Collaborative Research Project from Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) and L Industries Limited.

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A Novel Membrane Distillation-Crystallizer (MDCr) for Zero Liquid Discharge and Valuable Resource Recovery-Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) ITS/262/17FX (9440195)

Dr. Alicia AN’s research group in the School of Energy and Environment (SEE) at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) proposed a new paradigm shifts in the water treatment industry to move from water treatment to zero liquid discharge (ZLD) by developing ‘A Novel Membrane Distillation-crystallizer (MDCr) for ZLD and Valuable Resource Recovery’. This project has won more than 3M (including Postdoc Hub and Researcher program) under Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) - Collaborative Research Project from Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) and Prime World Limited.

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Congratulations to our PhD student, Mr. GUO Jiaxin Eric for receiving the Student Poster Award at the 11th International Congress on Membranes and Membrane Processes (ICOM 2017)

Congratulations to Mr. GUO Jiaxin Eric, PhD student under the supervision of Dr. Alicia AN in the School of Energy and Environment (SEE), for receiving the Student Poster Award with a cash prize in the 11th International Congress on Membranes and Membrane Processes (ICOM 2017) held in Hilton San Francisco Union Square, San Francisco, CA USA, in the period, 29 July – 4 August 2017. ICOM 2017 is the preeminent global event for the membrane science and engineering community, focusing on "Enabling Membrane Technology" to overcome the challenges to replacing conventional technology in separations, energy production, and other applications. Congratulations, Eric!

Alicia AN's Advanced Membranes for Water and Energy Laboratory ​水處理與能源先進膜技術研究實驗室