Finalist teams unveiled as organizers empower the next generation with AI‑ready skills and future‑of‑work exploration
HONG KONG, Jan. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Manulife Hong Kong and Macau ("Manulife") and education technology company Preface today announced the finalists of the AI Creativity Competition: Prompt Your Future Career, which has received strong interest since its launch in November 2025. Close to 500 students from Hong Kong, Macau, and other cities in the Greater Bay Area enrolled in the competition. The competition aims to inspire young people to explore future career possibilities using AI tools, bringing together creativity and technology to spark new ideas for their professional journeys.
Public voting is now open through February 4, 2026. Members of the public are invited to visit the official platform and vote for the most inspiring AI-powered career vision.
The shortlisted entries cover a diverse range of forward-looking themes — including sustainability, mental health, and aerospace innovation — showcasing students' creative perspectives on the rapidly evolving world of work. All finalist submissions are available on the campaign website for public viewing and voting.
"Innovation is at the heart of how we serve our customers and our communities," said Celia Ling, Chief Marketing Officer of Manulife Hong Kong and Macau. "By integrating AI tools into this competition, we hope to encourage young people to think boldly about the future of work. The creativity demonstrated by the submissions reflects the tremendous potential of the next generation, and we are excited to help nurture their growth for a better tomorrow."
Professional & AI-Assisted Evaluation: A Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration
The judging panel brought together experts from insurance, education technology, consulting, and cloud technology. Entries were evaluated based on creativity, technical application, and clarity of expression. Celia Ling, Chief Marketing Officer, and Andy Bruce, Chief Information Officer of Manulife Hong Kong and Macau, served as lead judges representing Manulife. They were joined by Tommie Lo, Founder & CEO of Preface; Clement Wong, Business Director – Public Sector, Google Cloud Hong Kong; as well as other professionals offering multi-disciplinary perspectives.
The competition also introduced the "AI Judge Powered by Manulife" — a proprietary tool developed by Manulife to provide AI-driven feedback for shortlisted entries. The AI output complements the professional panel's assessments and helps promote a more innovative and multi‑dimensional evaluation process.[1] Final results will be determined solely by the professional judging panel.
Public Voting Details
Voting Period: Now until February 4, 2026
Voting Link: https://www.preface.ai/manulife-competition/en/
Voting Format: One vote per person per category
Award Ceremony
Three major awards will be presented at the Award Ceremony on February 8, 2026:
- Future Career Visionary Award
- AI Creativity Excellence Award
- Community Favourite Award
The event will feature on-site finalist presentations and a showcase of the winning submissions.
For full details, please visit the official competition website: https://www.preface.ai/manulife-competition/en/
About Manulife Hong Kong and Macau
Manulife Hong Kong has been a trusted name for more than 125 years, while we have served the Macau market for nearly three decades. Since our operations began in Asia in 1897, we have grown into one of the top-tier providers of financial services, offering a diverse range of protection and wealth products and services to over 2.6 million customers in Hong Kong and Macau. We are committed to helping make decisions easier and lives better for our customers.
Manulife Hong Kong and Macau, through Manulife International Holdings Limited, owns Manulife (International) Limited, Manulife Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited, and Manulife Provident Funds Trust Company Limited. These entities are all subsidiaries of Manulife Financial Corporation.
About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping our customers make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we operate as Manulife across Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, providing financial advice and insurance for individuals, groups and businesses. Through Manulife Wealth & Asset Management, we offer global investment, financial advice, and retirement plan services to individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. At the end of 2024, we had more than 37,000 employees, over 109,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 36 million customers. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges, and under '945' in Hong Kong.
Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulife.com.
About Preface
Preface is a global tech-enabling company providing fast, validated technology content and learning solutions. Our mission is to empower corporates and individuals to navigate rapidly evolving technology for success in a fast-changing world. With offices in Hong Kong, London, Singapore and Tokyo, Preface creates market-driven learning experiences through decentralised content development and delivery.
Learn more: https://www.preface.ai/
| [1] AI-generated feedback is for reference only and does not determine final results. |
[1] AI-generated feedback is for reference only and does not determine final results.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Manulife and Preface Open Public Voting for "AI Creativity Competition: Prompt Your Future Career"
Manulife and Preface Open Public Voting for "AI Creativity Competition: Prompt Your Future Career"
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SHANGHAI, Jan. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Trane®— by Trane Technologies (NYSE: TT), a global climate innovator – has announced the launch of its new DCDA series, the first locally developed Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU) solution specifically designed for data centers in Asia Pacific region. Tailored to the unique requirements of liquid cooling in this market, the DCDA series addresses heat dissipation challenges in the era of high-density computing. With exceptional system flexibility, superior energy efficiency, and outstanding integration capabilities, it delivers data centers with an efficient, reliable and sustainable holistic liquid cooling solution.
With the explosive growth in AI computing demands and the development of high-power-density equipment, traditional air cooling solutions are struggling to keep pace with soaring server cabinet heat loads. Liquid cooling technologies are emerging as the prefered choice for data center heat dissipation. UBS reports predict a compound annual growth rate of 51% for the global direct liquid cooling market for data centers from 2024 to 2030. As the market rapidly expands, coping with high-density heat dissipation demands and overcoming the integration challenges of complex systems have become critical issues for the industry to address.
"The launch of our new CDU marks a technological breakthrough and a significant step in advancing high-density data centers in Asia Pacific," said Bruce Zhongping Gu, vice president, Engineering and Technology, Trane Technologies Asia Pacific. "Building on more than a century of climate expertise and deep regional insights, our CDU series delivers outstanding efficiency, flexibility and customization to meet the evolving needs of the market, further reinforcing our position as a leading innovator and trusted partner in the region."
Compact & Flexible Solution for Diverse Scenarios
To address the demanding space requirements of high-density servers in data centers, the DCDA series features a space-efficient design that aligns with standard server racks and supports both in-row and in-room deployment. A standout feature is its full-front-access maintenance architecture, which allows installation against walls or back-to-back, eliminating the need for rear maintenance aisles and saving up to 20% of room floor space. Equipped with rail-mounted water pumps and angled filters that support online maintenance, it facilitates convenient service operations while effectively minimizing environmental disruption, ensuring continuous and stable data center operation.
To meet diverse customer needs, the DCDA series is built on a highly modular platform design, supporting multiple pipe connection directions. It can be optionally equipped with sensors for temperature, pressure, turbidity, pH levels, conductivity, and more, enabling precise monitoring and intelligent adjustment of coolant status. The unit can also be equipped with a fully integrated ATS, UPS and APF for different power supply and harmonic control requirement. Users can flexibly deploy functional combinations based on actual application scenarios, achieving a better balance between performance and cost.
Exceptional Performance & Intelligent Control for 24/7 Efficient Operation
Building on Trane's century of refrigeration expertise, the DCDA series comes in three model options rated at 400kW, 800kW, and 1350kW of cooling capacity for liquid cooling systems in data centers, with customizable configurations supporting expansion up to 1700kW. This flexibility meets the cooling needs of current and future hyperscale data centers and AI computing centers. Its high-efficiency variable -frequency water pumps and intelligent control algorithms enable real-time, demand-based cooling by dynamically adjusting output in response to equipment load fluctuations. This significantly reduces energy consumption under partial load conditions.
With its robust cooling capacity and advanced energy-efficient design, the DCDA series enables liquid cooling systems to achieve an industry-leading PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of as low as 1.1. This effectively reduces overall energy consumption within data centers, and providing customers with substantial operational cost savings and a solid foundation for sustainability.
Smart Cluster Control & Precision Configuration for High Reliability
For large-scale, high-density deployment scenarios, the DCDA series has strong cluster control and system integration capabilities, allowing for stable coordinated operation of up to 16 units. Moreover, the product offers extensive building automation system communication interfaces that are compatible with mainstream protocols such as Modbus, BACnet, SNMP, and Ethernet TCP/IP, ensuring continuous and stable cooling for large-scale clusters.
To ensure high product reliability, Trane provides exclusive selection tools based on professional selection platform TSAP. Unlike the common industry practice providing only "individual component" parameters, TSAP can generate accurate performance reports for the whole unit, and visually simulates compatibility with existing systems. This emplowers customers to make more scientific and reliable decisions in planning and choosing their solutios.
The DCDA series has obtained CE and RoHS certifications and has undergone rigorous validation under extreme operating conditions at Trane Technologes Asia-Pacific Engineering and Technology Center. With its leading performance and reliable quality, the product has gained wide market attention since its launch. The first batch of orders from China is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring the market's recognition of Trane's liquid cooling technologies.
About Trane Technologies
Trane Technologies is a global climate innovator. Through our strategic brands Trane® and Thermo King®, and our portfolio of environmentally responsible products and services, we bring efficient and sustainable climate solutions to buildings, homes and transportation. For more on Trane Technologies, visit tranetechnologies.com.
About Trane
Trane – by Trane Technologies (NYSE: TT), a global climate innovator – creates comfortable, energy efficient indoor environments for commercial and residential applications. For more information, please visit www.trane.com or www.tranetechnologies.com.
SHANGHAI, Jan. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Trane®— by Trane Technologies (NYSE: TT), a global climate innovator – has announced the launch of its new DCDA series, the first locally developed Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU) solution specifically designed for data centers in Asia Pacific region. Tailored to the unique requirements of liquid cooling in this market, the DCDA series addresses heat dissipation challenges in the era of high-density computing. With exceptional system flexibility, superior energy efficiency, and outstanding integration capabilities, it delivers data centers with an efficient, reliable and sustainable holistic liquid cooling solution.
With the explosive growth in AI computing demands and the development of high-power-density equipment, traditional air cooling solutions are struggling to keep pace with soaring server cabinet heat loads. Liquid cooling technologies are emerging as the prefered choice for data center heat dissipation. UBS reports predict a compound annual growth rate of 51% for the global direct liquid cooling market for data centers from 2024 to 2030. As the market rapidly expands, coping with high-density heat dissipation demands and overcoming the integration challenges of complex systems have become critical issues for the industry to address.
"The launch of our new CDU marks a technological breakthrough and a significant step in advancing high-density data centers in Asia Pacific," said Bruce Zhongping Gu, vice president, Engineering and Technology, Trane Technologies Asia Pacific. "Building on more than a century of climate expertise and deep regional insights, our CDU series delivers outstanding efficiency, flexibility and customization to meet the evolving needs of the market, further reinforcing our position as a leading innovator and trusted partner in the region."
Compact & Flexible Solution for Diverse Scenarios
To address the demanding space requirements of high-density servers in data centers, the DCDA series features a space-efficient design that aligns with standard server racks and supports both in-row and in-room deployment. A standout feature is its full-front-access maintenance architecture, which allows installation against walls or back-to-back, eliminating the need for rear maintenance aisles and saving up to 20% of room floor space. Equipped with rail-mounted water pumps and angled filters that support online maintenance, it facilitates convenient service operations while effectively minimizing environmental disruption, ensuring continuous and stable data center operation.
To meet diverse customer needs, the DCDA series is built on a highly modular platform design, supporting multiple pipe connection directions. It can be optionally equipped with sensors for temperature, pressure, turbidity, pH levels, conductivity, and more, enabling precise monitoring and intelligent adjustment of coolant status. The unit can also be equipped with a fully integrated ATS, UPS and APF for different power supply and harmonic control requirement. Users can flexibly deploy functional combinations based on actual application scenarios, achieving a better balance between performance and cost.
Exceptional Performance & Intelligent Control for 24/7 Efficient Operation
Building on Trane's century of refrigeration expertise, the DCDA series comes in three model options rated at 400kW, 800kW, and 1350kW of cooling capacity for liquid cooling systems in data centers, with customizable configurations supporting expansion up to 1700kW. This flexibility meets the cooling needs of current and future hyperscale data centers and AI computing centers. Its high-efficiency variable -frequency water pumps and intelligent control algorithms enable real-time, demand-based cooling by dynamically adjusting output in response to equipment load fluctuations. This significantly reduces energy consumption under partial load conditions.
With its robust cooling capacity and advanced energy-efficient design, the DCDA series enables liquid cooling systems to achieve an industry-leading PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of as low as 1.1. This effectively reduces overall energy consumption within data centers, and providing customers with substantial operational cost savings and a solid foundation for sustainability.
Smart Cluster Control & Precision Configuration for High Reliability
For large-scale, high-density deployment scenarios, the DCDA series has strong cluster control and system integration capabilities, allowing for stable coordinated operation of up to 16 units. Moreover, the product offers extensive building automation system communication interfaces that are compatible with mainstream protocols such as Modbus, BACnet, SNMP, and Ethernet TCP/IP, ensuring continuous and stable cooling for large-scale clusters.
To ensure high product reliability, Trane provides exclusive selection tools based on professional selection platform TSAP. Unlike the common industry practice providing only "individual component" parameters, TSAP can generate accurate performance reports for the whole unit, and visually simulates compatibility with existing systems. This emplowers customers to make more scientific and reliable decisions in planning and choosing their solutios.
The DCDA series has obtained CE and RoHS certifications and has undergone rigorous validation under extreme operating conditions at Trane Technologes Asia-Pacific Engineering and Technology Center. With its leading performance and reliable quality, the product has gained wide market attention since its launch. The first batch of orders from China is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring the market's recognition of Trane's liquid cooling technologies.
About Trane Technologies
Trane Technologies is a global climate innovator. Through our strategic brands Trane® and Thermo King®, and our portfolio of environmentally responsible products and services, we bring efficient and sustainable climate solutions to buildings, homes and transportation. For more on Trane Technologies, visit tranetechnologies.com.
About Trane
Trane – by Trane Technologies (NYSE: TT), a global climate innovator – creates comfortable, energy efficient indoor environments for commercial and residential applications. For more information, please visit www.trane.com or www.tranetechnologies.com.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Trane Launches Advanced CDU to Enhance Liquid Cooling Efficiency in Asia-Pacific Data Centers
