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At HKDI's Centre of Innovative Material and Technology, students and designers are constantly exploring how to achieve more possibilities for sustainability and upcycling through conscious material choices and innovative techniques.

HKDI's Centre of Innovative Material and Technology (CIMT) is a powerhouse for material and technology research and innovations. Housing an extensive collection of material archive sourced worldwide, the centre emphasises on addressing the current pressing issues in design: sustainability.

CIMT's material library curates globally sourced materials. A particular section of the library is dedicated to materials that can educate and inspire students and designers from different disciplines to apply sustainable solutions in their projects.

With a mission to educate both students and the public on material sustainability and innovation, the centre serves as a platform for innovation experimentation, cross-industry research and collaborations between industry partners, students and alumni designers.

The centre constantly organises sustainability projects engaging students through hands-on practice in order to nurture their skills and knowledge in sustainable product development. Collaborations with Mainetti, the largest hanger company in the world, gave rise to a few recent projects aligning with the overarching sustainability theme. Students participating in the filtration development process for reusable multi-purpose face masks gained first-hand experience through every step of the way including material sourcing, material analysis, material testing protocol, human performance testing and data analysis. In the natural dye project, students experimented with turmeric dye, a natural colouring agent, also an ancient anti-inflammatory herb in the application of traditional Chinese medicine, as a coating on textile. It was found in a SGS antibaterial function analysis that the antimicrobial effectiveness in the turmeric is as high as 70% - 90%. In other collaborative projects, the centre also invited students from Higher Diploma in Dispensing Studies in Department of Health and Life Sciences, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Chai Wan) to apply other Chinese medicine such as wormwood on materials to examine their effects.

Cultural heritage is another focus in CIMT. The centre aims to cultivate students' appreciations of art and craft through culture studies, exhibitions and participatory workshops. Currently on view at the China National Silk Museum is a recent project collaborated with China National Silk Museum. Titled "Motif in Force", it is a diverse exhibition including fashion textiles, accessories and home furnishings. Through rearranging and assigning new colour palettes to recreate motifs from ancient Chinese history, students reinterpret heritage patterns through diverse techniques including embroidery, shibori, heat transfer printing, silk screen printing and foil printing.

CIMT also regularly carries out workshops to educate students and the public on sustainability. For example, the centre has engaged alumnus designer Ms. Tina Ho, an expert in sustainable design, to offer various upcycling educational workshops on crochet and weaving.