The “Flexible Integration of Recognition and Semantic” project, led by Dr Arvin Tang, has won Gold Award in the Asia International Innovative Invention Award 2019. The Handwritten OCR technology can recognise handwritten traditional and simplified Chinese, Hong Kong colloquial language and special characters, English block letters and numeric digits. This application is highly accurate in Chinese character recognition, and is especially useful for Chinese address correction, saving time and improving reliability for organisations that have to process large number of handwritten forms.
In its 9th year, the Asia International Innovative Invention Award recognises the achievements of local companies, research teams and individuals for their patented inventions, as well as promotes the spirit of creativity and innovation.

25 February 2026 – The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) welcomes today’s 2026-27 Budget announced by the Financial Secretary and fully …
[Hong Kong, 23 September 2021] The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) has today announced the appointment of Dr. Denis Shing Fai …
ASTRI recently received a letter of thanks from Taiwan’s National Communications Commission (NCC) for helping solve the problem of 5G communications interference. The 3.5 GHz …
The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) is showcasing its latest technologies at the China Hi-Tech Fair (CHTF) 2019 in Shenzhen. ASTRI’s cutting-edge …
ASTRI has unveiled at VR EXPO 2019, the largest industry expo in South Korea, a reference design for production-ready 4Kx2K augmented reality (AR) Head Mounted …
Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) is founded in 2000 by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. As Hong Kong’s largest government-funded research and development centre, ASTRI is a key force and super connector driving innovation and technology advancement in Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area, and the global innovation ecosystem. This role is strengthened through its merger with Nano and Advanced Materials Institute (NAMI).
Committed to bringing high impact research from lab to market, ASTRI advances interdisciplinary, market driven R&D that delivers practical innovations for industry and meaningful benefits for society.
Its technological strengths and capabilities enable AI powered, cross disciplinary ICT and advanced materials solutions across Smart City, Financial Technologies, Digital Health and Life Sciences, New Industrialisation and Intelligent Manufacturing, Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) and Advanced Electronics, New Energy and Energy Storage, and Green and ESG Technologies.
Over the years, ASTRI has cultivated a strong pool of I&T talent and earned numerous international awards for its pioneering innovations and contributions to industry and the community. Following the merger with NAMI, ASTRI’s cumulative global patent portfolio has grown to over 1,500, with more than 2,200 technologies successfully transferred to industry.
With enhanced scale and capabilities, ASTRI is uniquely positioned to elevate Hong Kong’s innovation capacity, accelerate technology commercialisation, and drive societal and economic progress through world class applied research.