SHENZHEN, June 11, 2025—A team of undergraduate students from the School of Future Design, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen (HITSZ), has won a top prize at the iF DESIGN AWARD 2025 in Berlin, Germany, for their innovative assistive robot “Ecure,” designed for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

The iF Design Award, established in 1953, is one of the world’s most prestigious design honors—alongside the Red Dot and IDEA awards—recognizing excellence in innovation, functionality, aesthetics, and social impact. This year’s competition attracted nearly 11,000 entries from 66 countries.

“Ecure” was awarded in the Professional Concept: Product Design category. It offers personalized social skill training through emotion recognition, augmented reality (AR) projection, and multi-sensor interaction, creating a safe and adaptive environment for children with ASD. The project has also been featured in the “iF Design Trend Report 2025” as a best-practice example in “Human Digitality.”

The team, consisting of Lu Junrui, Du Baicheng, Shi Boyuan, Li Shiyu, Sun Yiran, Qin Hansong, Du Kunxu, Liang Zhaoyuan, and Yuan Zekai, was advised by Hou Shumeng and Ye Zaiqiao. The project was supported by HITSZ’s Academic Affairs Department.

“This award reflects HITSZ’s strength in integrating technology, design, and human-centered innovation,” said the team. “We will continue to develop AI and engineering solutions to support children with autism.”