Closing and Award Ceremony – 28th HCMC Technical Innovation Contest (2025)

At the 28th Ho Chi Minh City Technical Innovation Contest 2025, VNUHCM-University of Science reaffirmed a pioneering position in scientific research and innovation, earning recognition for four outstanding projects, alongside a distinguished honour presented to one of the University’s leading scientists.

As a highly regarded annual initiative, the contest recognises exemplary applied research and technical solutions developed across the city. This year, VNUHCM-University of Science (HCMUS) achieved notable success with four projects receiving awards: three Third Prizes and one Consolation Prize in core areas such as Healthcare and Information technology – Electronics – Telecommunications.

In the Healthcare category, a research team from the Faculty of Biology – Biotechnology, comprising Prof. Trần Văn Hiếu, MSc. Lê Khánh Thiên, MSc. Trần Nguyễn Thu Minh, and BSc. Nguyễn Thị Lệ Giang, was awarded a Third Prize for the project “Biocompatible polymer-based nanospheres and hydrogel films incorporating fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) for third-degree burn treatment.” The solution represents an advanced application of biotechnology aimed at improving treatment for severe burns, offering promising potential for clinical use.

In the Information Technology – Electronics – Telecommunications category, two projects received Third Prizes, reflecting the University’s technological strength. The project “Combining local and global features with contrastive learning and deep supervision for tumour segmentation” provides an innovative approach to enhance accuracy in medical image analysis. The project was developed by BSc. Nguyễn Mậu Trọng Hiếu and BSc. Phù Thị Kim Trang from the Faculty of Information Technology, under the supervision of MSc. Nguyễn Hải Đăng.

The second project, “DermAI – A chatbot assistant for skin lesion diagnosis using vision-language models,” applies state-of-the-art artificial intelligence in healthcare. The project was undertaken at the Software Engineering Laboratory by MSc. Huỳnh Viết Thám and MSc. Nguyễn Trọng Thuận.

Additionally, the project “Smart idea design system” by BSc. Võ Đình Khôi and BSc. Nguyễn Hoàng Phúc, supervised by Dr. Lê Trung Nghĩa from the Faculty of Information Technology, received a Consolation Prize. The project highlights an effort to develop digital tools that encourage creativity and support ideation processes in technological environments.

At the award ceremony, Prof. Trần Linh Thước – former President of HCMUS, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Biology – Biotechnology, and a member of the University Council – was honoured with the Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Scientist in Science and Technology 2024. This recognition celebrates extensive contributions to research, academic leadership, and the advancement of science and technology in Ho Chi Minh City.

Achievements at this year’s contest further affirm the University’s leadership within higher education and scientific research in Ho Chi Minh City and across Viet Nam. Each recognised project contributes not only academic value but also practical solutions addressing urgent challenges in the digital era and modern biomedical landscape.

 

Photo source: Compilation