INAUGURATION SPEECHES

1. Speech by the Governor delivered at the Inauguration Ceremony of the Council of the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology on 11 April 1988

SirSze-Yuen; Dr. Woo; Members of the Council of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Ladies

and Gentlemen. .

This Inauguration Ceremony of the Council of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is an occasion of great historical significance. It marks the formal beginning of our new University.

In the two years since planning began for this important project, the Planning Committee, under the able leadership of Sir Sze-Yuen, has done an immense amount of work. The University has acquired a marvellous site for its campus; its own enabling legislation; an outstanding scholar and admin-istrator as its first vice-chancellor; a magnificent design for its buildings - and a very appropriate name: the University of Science and Technology. Our new University is now set to admit its first batch of students in October 1991, three years ahead of the original schedule. These are considerable achievements by any standard. The Planning Committee can take justifiable pride in them. I congratulate you, Sir Sze-Yuen, and your colleagues on a job well done.

The University will consist of a grouping of professional schools emphasising science, technology, engineering, management and business studies. This is a deliberate decision. A dynamic economy is vital to Hong Kong's continued success and prosperity. To maintain a buoyant economy we have to be highly competitive in the goods we produce and in the services we provide. Put simply, we must keep up with, and where possible keep ahead of, our com -petitors. We must always be conscious of advances in technology and in management techniques, particularly in the industrial, commercial and fmancial fields.

The people of Hong Kong are one of our few natural resources. The Government places a high priority on ensuring that sufficient numbers of people are educated and trained to meet the demands of our economy. The establish-ment of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technol-ogy is evidence of our intent. When its first students

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graduate in six years time, our industrial, commercial and financial sectors can look forward to a larger and constant flow of graduates and post-graduates with the skills and research capability that they need.

As the supreme governing body of the University, the Council will have very heavy and demanding responsibilities.

I am confident that with Sir Sze-Yuen in the chair, the Council will be able to meet the challenges ahead with vigour and imagination. I wish the Council every success in its future endeavours.

2. Speech by Dr the Hon Sir S Y CHUNG, Chairman of the Council, the Hong Kong University of Science &

Technology at the Inaugural Plenary Session of the Council on Monday, 11 April 1988

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is my privilege and a great pleasure to welcome you, Sir, here today to the inaugural meeting of the Council of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in your dual capacity as Chancellor of the University and Governor of Hong Kong. We are also very pleased to have the gracious presence of Lady Wilson on this occasion.

As you have said, Sir, this is an historic event for, with the bringing into force yesterday of the Hong Kong Univer-sity of Science and Technology Ordinance and today's inau-gural meeting of the Council, the new University acquires its own identity and celebrates its own birth. The University Council today takes over from its predecessor, the Plarming Committee, the arduous task of developing the University.

I should like, on behalf of all the members of the Planning Committee, to thank you most sincerely for your kind words concerning its work. The support and encour-agement given to the Committee, frrst by the late Governor Sir Edward Y oude, then by the then Acting Governor Sir David Akers-Jones, and fmally by you, Sir, has in no small measure helped the Plarming Committee to make such good progress in the past 18 months since September 1986.

As Chairman of the Planning Committee and now of the Council, I am particularly pleased that Your Excellency has

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

appointed to the Council many of the in~ividuals who served on the Planning Committee. Their enthusiasm and dedica-tion has been of the greatest value in enabling the Commit-tee to complete its work at such a short time and they will, I am sure, bring the same enthusiasm and dedication to the work of the Council.

Sir, the Planning Committee benefitted greatly from having amongst its members a number of distinguished academics from overseas. They brought to the work of the Committee not only a great depth of experience but also a very broad dimension, and I feel sure Your Excellency will agree with me that we are fortunate that they have consented to join the Council. I am also grateful to those local members of the Planning Committee who have agreed to continue to work with the University.

The terms of our Ordinance are such that it has not been possible to include all the members of the Planning Commit-tee in the Council membership. To those who are stepping down I wish to express my warmest thanks for their valuable work; it is my fervent hope that they will continue not only to take an interest in the University, but that they will in fact agree to serve on Committees of the Council to assist it in various aspects of its work. We do also have some new members appointed by Your Excellency, who have not so far been involved in the planning work. In particular, Professor David Gardner, President of the University of California and a most distinguished academic, will take the place of Professor Chia-wei Woo who joins the Council as its first Vice-Chancellor. In addition, three very senior public offi-cers have been appointed to the Council under section 9 of the Ordinance. I welcome them all most warmly.

In your opening address, Sir, you have referred to the progress made by the Planning Committee in various as-pects of its work. The incorporation of the University will enable further progress to be made. One of the top priorities in the work of the University during the next two years is the recruitment of top class senior staff which is crucial to the success ofthe University. It is our hope that the opportunity and challenge of starting a new modern technological uni-versity in a place as dynamic and exciting as Hong Kong will appeal to academics of experience and distinction. Another top priority is the construction of the campus at Clear Water Bay in time for the first intake of students in 1991. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club to this project. Not only will the major part ofthe capital cost of the University be met from the Jockey Club donation of $1.5 billion, but also the Club is providing the project management. We have been much encouraged by this support. We are pleased in that during the life of the Planning Committee a close relationship has been maintained between its Secretariat and that of the UPGe. With the appointment of the special

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Sub-Committee of the UPGC under the Chairmanship of Sir Edward Parkes, I have no doubt that the relationship between the UPGC and the Council will further be en-hanced. We are also pleased to have the support of a very efficient and hardworking secretariat headed by Mr. Ian Macpherson.

As you, Sir, said earlier, we are fortunate to have acquired the service of an outstanding scholar and adminis-trator as the founding Vice-Chancellor and we are confident that, under Professor Chia-wei Woo's leadership as the Chief Executive and Academic Officer, the University will not only fulftll the needs and aspirations of the community but also become a pride of Hong Kong.

I should like to conclude, Sir, by thanking you again for gracing the inaugural meeting with your presence, for your opening address, and for your support for the Planning Committee and now the Council.

3. Speech by Dr the Honourable Sir S Y CHUNG, Chair-man of the Council of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology at the Inaugural Dinner on 12 April 1988

Your Excellency, Lady Wilson, Ladies and Gentlemen:

On behalf of the Council it gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this inaugural dinner to mark the incor-poration of the University of Science and Technology. We are gratified that so many distinguished guests are able to be here this evening, and it is our particular privilege to wel-come Your Excellency in your dual capacity of the Chancel-lor of the new University and the Governor of Hong Kong, and your charming wife Lady Wilson.

The decision by the Hong Kong Government to estab-lish a third university which would emphasise science, engi-neering and technology, and business and management studies, was announced in May 1986. The Planning Com-mittee, charged with the task to bring the university into being, was appointed and started work in September of that year. The major consideration which led to the decision to establish a third university was the urgent need to meet the rising demand for high-level technical and managerial manpower by local commerce and industry as the economy moves up market to face the increasingly competitive chal-lenges of the future.

The terms of reference of the Committee indicated that the University should be planned for 7,000 full-time equiva-lent students by the end of the century with room for expansion to 10,000. First student intake should be no later than 1994/95. It was with these considerations in mind that

the Planning Committee started work 18 months ago.

During the course of its early deliberations it became apparent that first student intakes could be achieved erable earlier than the 1994/95 deadline. After due consid-eration and with the support of Government, a new target date of 1991 was set for the opening of the University. We now aim to com plete the first phase of the university cam pus in time for some 600 students to be admitted in October 1991, and to build up the student numbers over the next 5 years to meet the target of 7,000 in 1996. In other words, the whole programme has been brought forward by three years.

I am confident that with the co-operation and support of all concerned, these ambitious targets can and will be met.

The Planning Committee focused its attention on a number of priority issues in the first year of its work. In particular, a bilingual name for the University was chosen following a public competition; an Ordinance to provide for the establishment of the University was enacted by you, Sir, in July 1987 following the advice and consent of the Legisla-tive Council; a beautiful site of some 60 hectares was earmarked at Clear Water Bay following an examination of four locations; a master plan for the campus was adopted following an architectural competition; and the first Vice-Chancellor was identilied following an international search.

The Committee considers itself most fortunate that Profes-sor and Mrs Chia-Wei WOO have been persuaded to return to this part of the world to take up the challenge of develop-ing this new University. Professor Woo is the first and so far the only American Chinese occupying the presidency of a major American University. He is currently President of the San Francisco State University having a student population of about 26,000, of which more than one-fifth are Asian.

The Planning Committee was further greatly encour-aged by a massive donation of $1.5 billion from The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club towards the capital cost of the University campus. In addition, the Jockey Club is to be our Project Manager, and this strengthens our confidence that the campus will be completed on time and within budget.

In developing its plans the Committee has taken the view that although the main thrust of the work of the University must be towards producing fust-degree gradu-ates in those areas of technology and management where they are most needed in the community, it should also seek to devote a substantial part of its resources to post-graduate work for Hong Kong's advanced development in the 21st century. It is also the Planning Committee's view that the new University should seek to develop close links with commerce and industry and that the professorial staff would be encouraged to do work outside the confines of their normal teaching duties. We have, therefore, included in the campus master plan a Research Centre and a Technology

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Transfer Centre, which will be operated by the University as a non-profit-making but business corporation.

University education is expensive and more so is re-search. It is our hope that, in addition to the resources allocated by the Government and to the truly generous capital donation from the Jockey Club, it will be possible to attract additional funds byway of donations towards equip-ment, towards research and towards endowments. I do not think that I am too greedy in this appeal for there is nothing more important and worthwhile than investment in people.

As I believe you all know, this is not the fust time I have been involved with the setting-up of a new tertiary institution and I seem to make a habit of it. But just as I am grateful to Sir Edward Youde for appointing me as Chairman of the Planning Committee, so now I am grateful to you, Sir, for having the confidence in me to be the fust Chairman of the University Council. It is the Council which now takes over the challenge of developing this new University not only to fullill the needs and aspirations of the community but to become a pride for Hong Kong. This is a great new project which demonstrates the long term confidence of the Gov-ernment in the future of this territory and its dynamic economy and community.

4. Speech by Professor Chia-Wei Woo, Vice-Chancellor (Designate) of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology at the Inauguration Dinner on 12 April 1988

Your Excellency, Lady Wilson, Sir S Y, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen:

Please permit me to devote the fust half of my allotted time to telling you a story, a story about Mr LO Wing Keung, a graduate of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Class of 1996.

It is a morning in May, in the year 2001. A shuttle bus has just left the MTR Terminal in Junk Bay, and is winding its way over the ridge to the University, carrying its usual load of commuting students and professionals.

LO Wing Keung, who graduated from the University five years ago, fmds himself on the bus, again commuting to the University daily. It is a strange feeling for him to remain so closely tied to the University. After all, no one expected him to be able to get into HKUST - that technological university newly established in 1991.

He did go to a pretty good middle school, but his marks were hardly near the top. His score in the University Entrance Examination was quite high, which helped, but

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

there must have been something more than the score. The new University had sought students who were independent, versatile, and adaptable. Its willingness to gamble on talents which did not always show up in high marks must have played a role in the decision to admit him. It was a gamble that turned out well for all concerned.

Wing Keung had worked hard for his double degree course in Computer Science and Chemistry. His excellent undergraduate dissertation helped to land him a good posi-tion with Logitron Corporaposi-tion. For three years, he contrib-uted more than his fair share to Logitron, as one member of a software team. Unlike most of his colleagues, however, from time to time he longed to do something different, something that had not been tried before, something a notch -even only a small notch - ahead of the crowd.

Then an opportunity presented itself. Logitron signed a contract with the University to advance a recent discovery of Professor Cheung toward product development. Having supported the research in laboratory environment for more than two years and seen a healthy stream of publications emerge from Professor Cheung'S group of students, Logitron felt that the time had come to invest some real capital and transfer the technology to large scale production.

From this point on, the work would be moved into the University's Technology Transfer Centre, and Logitron would assign someone with a practical bent to help Profes-sor Cheung'S group design software for the chemical proc-ess. Wing Keung's internship at the University's Technology Transfer Centre in his student days and his background in both computer science and chemistry made him the obvious choice.

Professor Cheung'S theoretical insight, Wing Keung's expertise, and hard work on the part of the whole team created a near-miracle. In only ten months' time everything clicked. The process was out of the University and into Logitron's manufacturing plant.

It was during those ten months that Wing Keung fell in love with Carol.

A student enrolled in an MBA course, Carol had come over to the Technology Transfer Centre to conduct a case study on university-industry collaboration, an area in which case studies compiled by HKUST's School of Business and Management had already gained worldwide recognition.

Carol's undergraduate major at an excellent local university had been in the humanities. Given her humanities back-ground, the management science approach adopted for this particular business school was too analytical for her. So, when subjects were technical in addition to being analytical, it was only natural that Wing Keung would take it upon himself to offer assistance.

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Now, you and I would agree that the Technology Trans-fer Centre was hardly a place for romance. It would have been far more poetic had they met, for example, at the foot of the waterfall... Speaking of the waterfall, Ladies and Gentlemen, you must allow me to digress for a minute.

A two hundred foot drop over a creek. A real waterfall.

And what a torrent in June! The path through the Japanese Pavilion behind the Library Garden can be so romantic for a technological university. So romantic for any university.

Wing Keung loves the soft and gentle lines everywhere about

Wing Keung loves the soft and gentle lines everywhere about