ASTRI showcases AI and advanced materials innovations at LEAP East after NAMI merger

Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) has begun to realise tangible results from its merger with the Nano and Advanced Materials Institute (NAMI), completed in April 2026, with new combinations of AI and advanced materials appearing among the technologies on display at LEAP East.

Dr Ying Huang, Chief Technology Officer of ASTRI, said the integration of the two organisations had enabled researchers to identify areas where ICT capabilities and materials expertise can reinforce each other more effectively.

Complementary capabilities drive innovation

“The merger has substantially strengthened ASTRI's cross-disciplinary research capabilities, with powerful synergies emerging between technology and materials expertise,” he said.

“We have a very strong AI+ community in the industry. For materials research – particularly in discovering molecular or structural properties – leveraging advanced AI can significantly accelerate the work."

He said the teams had identified specific areas of collaboration that improve the efficiency of discovery work previously conducted using conventional machine learning methods.

Sensing technologies for robotics was cited as one example. Materials researchers had developed piezoresistive materials to detect pressure, while the ICT team had worked on optical sensing supported by AI to capture finer surface details.

Combining these approaches has produced stronger results for systems that require both pressure detection and detailed texture analysis.

“We have developed something akin to artificial skin. The materials side already possesses technology that can sense pressure electronically, while on the ICT side we use optics and AI analysis for more refined sensing. Combining the two produces a stronger solution,” said Dr Huang.

Industry partnership model ensures commercial relevance

The institute continues to require industry partners to contribute a portion of project funding, a practice that helps ensure research addresses genuine commercial requirements. "To ensure research has commercial value, we must find industry sponsors in the field who will contribute real money to the project," he said. Once a technology reaches a workable stage, the team seeks additional partners to scale its application.

An AI-enhanced firewall, first developed in an IoT device trial with a government department, was subsequently adapted and scaled for commercial use. The cybersecurity solution was packaged into a router format and is now offered by a telecom company to its SME clients.

Tapping Middle East market through LEAP East

Technologies on display at ASTRI booth during LEAP East included a two-phase immersion cooling system already in trial operation at a government department facility. The system has delivered energy savings of more than 20 per cent and achieved a power usage effectiveness rating of less than 1.1. It also received recognition at an international invention exhibition last year.

Other exhibits featured long-life batteries designed for demanding conditions, including versions capable of operating at temperatures up to 85°C for up to ten years without replacement, and batteries that meet European standards for emergency communication following vehicle incidents.

A photovoltaic-storage hybrid inverter and a drone system for high-rise building maintenance, developed in collaboration with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, were also shown.

Dr Huang said discussions at the event with partners from Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern markets had provided useful feedback on how certain technologies, including privacy-preserving detection systems, could be applied in commercial setting such as retail analytics.

Physical AI: the next frontier

Ir Dr Ted Suen, Chief Executive Officer of ASTRI, said the emergence of cross-regional innovation hubs in Asia and the Middle East presents a global opportunity and that ASTRI’s participation at LEAP East reflects Hong Kong’s role as a connector in building technological bonds with the Middle East.

During the panel "Autonomous Everything: The Dawn of Physical AI", which examined the real-world integration of physical AI from robotaxis to autonomous urban systems, Dr Suen spoke of the shift from digital AI to physical AI. He noted that labour shortages and ageing populations are increasing demand for automation in the physical world, with advances in areas such as sim-to-real transfer, 3D spatial understanding and agentic AI contributing to this development.

The broad range of applications, from medical robotics that support remote surgery to autonomous systems in factories, he said. While challenges remain in hardware, real-time accuracy and infrastructure integration, continued technological progress suggests that physical AI is moving closer to wider deployment. He called for organisations to prepare now by creating testing environments and incorporating AI across operations. “Think big and start small,” he concluded.

Enhanced research capacity and strategic alignment

ASTRI now operates with around 600 research staff, over 80% of whom hold PhD or Master’s degrees, combining expertise across ICT, AI, advanced electronics, materials science and more.

The merged institute maintains ongoing collaboration with partners across the Greater Bay Area and Southeast Asia, in addition to its engagement at LEAP East. The focus remains on identifying real-world applications and supporting the scaling of solutions that have moved beyond initial development stages.