Recently, a cross-disciplinary team from the School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation at Beihang University was honored with the prestigious 2025 iF DESIGN AWARD for their innovative project, Optical Cell Sorting System—Optoelectronic Tweezers Cell Manipulation Platform.
The team, comprising faculty members Liu Yuanyuan and Yin Hu from the Department of Industrial Design, Feng Lin from the Institute of Bionic and Micro/Nano Systems, alumni Zhang Zipeng, graduate student Han Haocheng, and undergraduate student Li Changgen, has developed a groundbreaking solution poised to transform antibody drug development and cell therapy applications.
The Optical Cell Sorting System is a high-throughput, single-cell sorting device that leverages photonic tweezers for micro-manipulation. Designed to address the limitations of traditional hybridoma techniques such as long cycles, limited sample diversity, and insufficient functional analysis, the team integrated AI nanobiotechnology with a photonic control platform.
This breakthrough enables the rapid, precise, and non-destructive sorting, analysis, cultivation, and export of tens of thousands of individual cells simultaneously. Remarkably, processes that traditionally took months or even years can now be completed in just one day, boosting efficiency by several thousand times.
This project is part of the National Key R&D Program on Disruptive Technological Innovation led by Professor Feng Lin. Under the sub-project Productization Design of Photonic Tweezers Cell Sorting Equipment, Associate Professor Liu Yuanyuan spearheaded the optimization of the equipment’s manufacturing process, human-machine interface design, and the transformation of engineering prototypes into industrial-grade products.
Guided by the core principle of “functionality and user experience-driven design,” the team overcame critical technical challenges, including the integration of high-precision optical systems and the optimization of intelligent operation modules. Their efforts successfully transitioned laboratory prototypes into standardized industrial solutions.
Established in 1953 by the Hannover Industrial Design Forum, the iF DESIGN AWARD is globally recognized as one of the most prestigious design accolades, alongside the Red Dot Award and the IDEA Award. This year’s competition evaluated submissions based on five key criteria: design philosophy, form, practicality, differentiation, and durability. With over 10,000 entries from more than 70 countries, the award emphasizes products already on the market or slated for mass production within two years, ensuring practical application value and industrial feasibility.
The Department of Industrial Design at Beihang University has actively engaged in international cooperation, forging strong partnerships with leading universities, research institutions, and enterprises. These efforts have not only elevated the quality of talent cultivation but also garnered numerous accolades for its graduates in the global design arena. The team’s latest achievement underscores Beihang’s commitment to driving innovation and contributing to national and industrial development.
Editors: Han Xu, Lyu Xingyun
