Lingnan University wins five awards at European Product Design Award Foldable baby incubator Incuvia secures 14 international accolades, including Red Dot Design Award and Good Design Award
UNU Hub at Lingnan University wins five awards at the European Product Design Award. The Incuvia - Modular Foldable Baby Incubator received three, and PureAura - Portable Mini Energy-saving Air Purifier received two. From left: Prof Albert Ko, Director of Service-Learning and Founding Director of the UNU Hub at Lingnan University; Mr Adrian Lo Chun-kwong, Product Design Lead of the Office of Service-Learning at Lingnan University.
UNU Hub at Lingnan University wins five awards at the European Product Design Award. The Incuvia - Modular Foldable Baby Incubator received three, and PureAura - Portable Mini Energy-saving Air Purifier received two.
Incuvia wins the Red Dot Design Award and is exhibited at the Red Dot Design Museum Singapore, making it the only award-winning medical device from Hong Kong SAR's eight public universities invited for physical display.
Incuvia wins the Red Dot Design Award and is exhibited at the Red Dot Design Museum Singapore, making it the only award-winning medical device from Hong Kong SAR's eight public universities invited for physical display.
With support from the Government and non-profit organisations, Lingnan University has so far distributed more than 10,000 PureAura free of charge to grassroots families.
Humanitarian innovation and invention projects developed by the United Nations University Hub on Humanitarian Innovation and Technology at Lingnan University (UNU Hub at Lingnan University) have won five awards at the 2026 edition of the European Product Design Award (EPDA). “Incuvia - Modular Foldable Baby Incubator” received three, including the “Design for Humanity” Special Award, which selects only 10 winners a year, and the “Top Design” Special Award in the Industrial / Healthcare: Medical Products Category, the highest honour in the category. “PureAura - Portable Mini Energy-saving Air Purifier” also received two awards. Lingnan University is the only one of the Hong Kong SAR’s eight UGC-funded universities selected as one of the 10 main winners of the year, bringing honour to the Hong Kong SAR.
The five winning entries are:
Incuvia - Modular Foldable Baby Incubator
Special Awards: Winner of “Design for Humanity”, one of the 10 main winners of the year
Industrial / Healthcare: Medical Products Category: Winner of “Top Design”, the highest honour in the category
Industrial / Social Category: Winner of “Designs for Social Impact”
PureAura - Portable Mini Energy-saving Air Purifier
Industrial / Social Category: Winner of “Designs for Social Impact”
Eco Design / Sustainable Category: Winner of “Consumer Electronics Products”
Prof Albert Ko, Director of Service-Learning and Founding Director of the UNU Hub at Lingnan University, said the two humanitarian projects had received successive recognition on the international design stage, demonstrating Lingnan’s strengths in integrating innovative design, technology, and humanitarian care in research, and showcasing its achievements internationally. “Lingnan is the first higher education institution in Asia to co-establish a UNU Hub. We have been using innovative and breakthrough technologies to address the practical needs of developing countries and regions in the Global South, and improve the living conditions of grassroots communities. Incuvia has so far secured 14 international awards, including the globally influential Red Dot Design Award and Good Design Award. On its debut in the EPDA, the University ranked 44th globally, alongside other leading universities and multinationals, demonstrating strong recognition of Lingnan’s innovative strengths in humanitarian research and design. We aim to bring more research outcomes to regions in need, ensuring that technological innovation is no longer the exclusive privilege of wealthy nations.”
The design concept for the Incuvia - Modular Foldable Baby Incubator was developed in response to the practical needs of newborn babies in remote areas of the Philippines. It addresses the challenges of limited medical facilities and unreliable transportation on remote islands and in mountainous areas, some of which can only be reached by motorcycle. Incuvia is designed to provide emergency protection for newborns, offering basic thermal support until medical personnel arrive or the infant can be transferred to a hospital in an urban area.
In 2025, Incuvia received several international awards, including the Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury at the International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva, a Silver Medal at the Silicon Valley International Inventions Festival, and a Silver Medal at the 5th Asia Exhibition of Innovations and Inventions. Together with the Red Dot Design Award and Good Design Award, two of the world’s four most influential design awards, the MUSE Design Awards, as well as the three awards received at the EPDA, Incuvia has so far secured 14 international accolades.
The PureAura - Portable Mini Energy-saving Air Purifier is designed specifically for grassroots households in Hong Kong and other high-density urban environments with limited living space. Made from recyclable materials, the low-cost, high-performance mini air purifier effectively improves air quality and helps improve the hygiene and health of grassroots families. Field tests have demonstrated that it can reduce indoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations by 80 per cent to below five micrograms per cubic metre. With support from the Hong Kong SAR Government and non-profit organisations, Lingnan has so far distributed more than 10,000 air purifiers of different versions free of charge to grassroots families.
To date, PureAura has received 16 international design awards. (TBC) In 2024, it received the iF Design Award (Gold Award), the Good Design Award Best 100, the Red Dot Design Award and the IDEA Design Award (Social Impact Gold Award). It has now achieved a Grand Slam of the world’s four most influential design awards.
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