The ongoing COVID-19 challenge facing China and the globe at this current time are affecting every member of the SUSTech community. Despite the outpouring of grief from around the world as researchers and scholars band together to do battle against COVID-19, the health and safety of each community remain paramount, and at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), every department and unit is doing their bit to support the fight against this insidious virus.

Lv Min, director of the School of Microelectronics (SME), worked with many SME faculty members to develop a fund that went to the SUSTech Education Foundation. It will support faculty members, educators, and students in Hubei Province. These funds will support them in this time of great need and encourage them to keep fighting.

SUSTech scientists have long played a significant role as communicators of science, with Associate Professor Wang Fei being the first Shenzhen professor to appear on a video series to help fight against COVID-19. The video series sought to explain COVID-19 and what people can do to keep safe. SME Associate Professor Wang Fei has previously won the Shenzhen Science and Technology Award for Young Scientist.

There is a level of normality returning to Shenzhen, and with that, prevention control work enters a critical stage. SME Professor Yu Hao has been using the Internet of Things (IoT) technology to develop comprehensive prevention and control solutions for individual communities. The “high-precision positioner” and the “medical-level health monitoring helmet” have both been donated to communities in Pingshan District, receiving positive feedback from community members as to the efficiency of the technology.

SME Dean Professor Yu Hongyu has been working with the research group of Assistant Professor Li Yi and Shenzhen Children’s Hospital to develop rapid detection equipment and kits. His expertise in working with industry has seen the joint development of a new coronavirus antibody detection kit based on an electrochemical immune-assay detection technology platform. The new kit will significantly reduce infection risks for medical staff while shortening COVID-19 detection times.