Genesis - HKUST Newsletter, October 2011

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OCTOBER 2011

Teaching and Research Raising the Bar

Our Miracle Continues Local Links

Mainland Connections Global Network In the HKUST Family Our Green Campus

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Teaching and Research Raising the Bar Our Miracle Continues Local Links

O C T O B E R 2 0 1 1

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Welcome to the inaugural edition of e-Genesis. In the past, our campus journal has always come to you in printed format. But with the rapid spread of the Internet and the change in people's reading habits and sources of reading, we think it is time we go digital, as we believe that doing so will make our journal more universally accessible as well as more environmentally-friendly. Beginning with this issue, the electronic edition of our campus journal will come to you twice a year, alternating with two printed editions for a total of four issues. This is an experimental arrangement whereby we combine the convenience of universal online access with the satisfaction of having in hand a hard copy in different seasons.

Genesis is a key campus journal, important as a tool in contributing to the cohesiveness of this increasingly multicultural campus. We will make every effort to reflect every facet of campus life and development, bringing to you what is significant in our university and improving our coverage of an evolving community.

Happy reading !

Sincerely,

Editor, Philip Yeung

TEACHING AND RESEARCH

Ending Decade-long Debate & Proving Einstein Right — HKUST Professor Riding High HKUST Research Brilliance On Display Peerless in Wireless Communication Technologies

RAISING THE BAR

From Oil Spills to Design Thrills

Our Own Water Professional On the Crest of Success

Going for Gold in International Physics Olympiad

HKUST Scores Hat Trick In HSBC Overseas Scholarships Contest

Dean Nancy Ip Honored as Women Innovator at APEC's Women & the Economy Summit

OUR MIRACLE CONTINUES

Down Memory Lane SEARCH

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LOCAL LINKS

Learning to Invest Real Dollars in a Real World

Million-Dollar Purse for Entrepreneurship Competition

MAINLAND CONNECTIONS

High Praise from High Officials

Our Red Bird Soars and Lands in Shenzhen

GLOBAL NETWORK

The Power of the Sun, the Silence of the Seas

Elite Global Students Cracking Industry Problems

IN THE HKUST FAMILY

A Fun and Formal Beginning to A New School Year

Trawling for Talent

Inducting the Industrious and Innovative into our Family

Red-Carpet Welcome for Green members

The Growing Tentacles of the Alumni Octopus

HKUST Falls for Beguiling AIDA

Rest in Peace, Bo Wing

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Promoting the Greening of Hong Kong

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C O N T E N T S

Teaching and Research

Ending Decade-long Debate & Proving Einstein Right — HKUST Professor Riding High

HKUST Research Brilliance On Display

Peerless in Wireless Communication Technologies

Raising the Bar Our Miracle Continues Local Links

O C T O B E R 2 0 1 1 _NEXT

Ending Decade-long Debate &

Proving Einstein Right — HKUST

Professor Riding High

For 10 long years, a debate has been raging about the speed of a single photon. Finally, a team led by HKUST assistant professor of physics, Prof Shengwang Du was able to lay the doubts to rest: single photons cannot travel faster than the speed of light in vacuum, reaffirming Einstein’s theory that nothing travels faster than the speed of light.

The findings of this basic research were published in Physical Review Letters recently. Besides Prof Du, the team consists of three postgraduate students Shanchao Zhang, Jiefei Chen and Chang Liu, and chair professors Michael Loy and George K L Wong. This is a highly productive team, this being the fifth time in the last two years that it has published its optics research results in the same journal, one of the most prestigious in physics. What's more, their papers were selected as editors' suggestions for reading. At the same time, it also appeared under a different title "Single Photons Obey the Speed Limits" in American Physical Society’s Physics Synopsis.

Photons are the fundamental quanta of light. This study shows that a single photon obeys the traffic law of the universe just as Einstein has claimed. Our team’s contribution is that it is the first to experimentally show that optical precursors exist at the single-photon level, and that they are the fastest part of the single-photon wave packet.

The significance of these findings is that they add to our understanding of how a single photon moves, according to the team leader Prof Du. They also confirm the upper bound on how fast information travels with light. By showing that single photons cannot travel faster than the speed of light, this study brings closure to the debate on the true speed of information carried by a single photon. Its findings will likely enable scientists to have a better idea on the transmission of quantum information.

This is basic research at its highest, among others ongoing at the university, pushing the frontiers of knowledge, while our other scientists are busy achieving their breakthroughs in applied research.

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C O N T E N T S

O C T O B E R 2 0 1 1 _PREVIOUS _NEXT

HKUST Research Brilliance On

Display

In industrial terms, Information technology is a three-legged creature. It consists of IC, or integrated circuitry, long dominated by the US and Taiwan; software, globally cornered by the US; and Display technology which has Korea working overtime to try and gain a stranglehold.

Of the three industries, Display offers the most wiggle room for China to squeeze in as a big player, and that is exactly what the Central Government has it in its developmental cross-hairs. This is where Harvard-educated Prof Kwok Hoi Sing, Chair Professor in our Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering comes in, as the undisputed guru on display research and technology. Under his leadership, HKUST’s Center for Display Research is widely considered the most productive globally in terms of papers published and inventions patented.

In modesty, Prof Kwok said that he could not recall any eureka moment, as this research project has intensely consumed 10 years of his scientific life. His breakthrough came incrementally the old-fashioned way — by trial and error, pioneering the development of low temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) thin-film

transistors technology for high resolution active-matrix displays that are commonly in use in TV screens, mobile displays and car dashboard displays. He is a recognized world authority and an influential contributor to the field of organic light-emitting diode (OLED).

We are all familiar with LCD, the second-generation display, whereas OLED is the third-generation display. Already appearing in the market, OLED is poised to soon replace LCD, with its clear advantages in having an energy consumption that is five times lower, better image quality and lower production cost. But OLED is not perfect, at least not yet. It does have its Achilles' heel in that it has a shorter life than LCD.

Prof Kwok is hard at work trying to overcome this deficiency. He has a remarkable record of success in his research endeavors. His research covers the thin-film transistor backplane as well as the OLED emitter itself, and his development of anodes and microcavities make OLED more attractive and efficient. His LTPS backplane, at the forefront of this new technology, has been licensed to Sinodisplay Technology Limited, a Mainland company for commercialization. With a huge initial investment for the manufacture of OLED displays, there is no shortage of funds or talents to produce the hottest product. The bets that China will crack and lead this industry are looking better by the day, and HKUST, at the epicenter of this drive, is looking more magnetic by the minute.

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C O N T E N T S

Peerless in Wireless Communication

Technologies

Prof Matthew McKay (third from right) with the Stephen O Rice Prize

When it comes to electronic communications, HKUST is right up there with the best of them. This has been reaffirmed by the latest IEEE awards handed out to two of our professors, Prof Matthew McKay and Prof Bing Zeng, both from the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, the 2011 Stephen O Rice Prize in the Field of Communications Theory and the 2011 Circuits and Systems Society CSVT Transactions Best Paper respectively.

Prof McKay is being honored for his contributions to the innovative research on multiple-antenna wireless communication systems which enable very high rates of information to be sent across the world without additional power or bandwith. As such, it lays the foundation for the next generation of wireless communication technologies. This paper was published in the IEEE Transactions on Communications.

Prof Bing Zeng for his part co-authored the paper named "Directional Discrete Cosine Transforms—A New Framework for Image Coding" published in the IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology. This is a revolutionary idea which maximizes the coding efficiency by using minimum digital image or video data, saving up to 30% cost with the same input under conventional format of data transfer. Both prestigious annual awards are presented to the authors of the best papers published in the publications of IEEE, the world's largest professional association in advancing technological innovation and excellence. They are given to researchers who produced the most significant contributions in a given year. And this year, in time for our 20th anniversary celebrations, we receive double the honors.

Prof Bing Zeng (right) receives the CSVT Transactions Best Paper Award

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C O N T E N T S

From Oil Spills to Design Thrills

Our Own Water Professional On the Crest of Success

Going for Gold in International Physics Olympiad

HKUST Scores Hat Trick In HSBC Overseas Scholarships Contest

Dean Nancy Ip Honored as Women Innovator at APEC's Women & the Economy Summit

From Oil Spills to Design Thrills

Prof. Tim Woo of School of Engineering (second from right in front row) and the "GEAR" team of HKUST. Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles came to prominence in the big

oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the biggest environmental disaster in US history.

This year in June, a team of 13 HKUST students, drawn from different disciplines — mechanical engineering, electronic and computer engineering as well as computer science and engineering — entered the 2011 International Student Remotely Operated Vehicle Competition (ROV) held at NASA. They were given a chance to try their hands at designing an underwater robot capable of capping a wellhead, collecting water samples and rescuing animals. Our interdisciplinary team came home with the Design Elegance Award against 26 teams from 7 countries. Our design was praised by the judges for its "aesthetics, simplicity and functionality". Equipped with a self-developed propeller, it is capable of 360-degree rotations, whereas conventional robotic designs are only able to move 180 degrees. In the face of unexpected change in water depth, which may adversely affect ROV functions, our team was able to respond calmly and creatively.

Prof Tim Woo from our Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering is to be congratulated for his able leadership in guiding our students in innovative robotic technology. Chalk one up for HKUST’s all-rounded education for future global leaders in technology and innovation.

Sophisticated robot designed by HKUST students winning Design Elegance Award at the International ROV Competition.

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C O N T E N T S

Our Own Water

Professional On

the Crest of

Success

Every city must come to terms with wastewater treatment. It is a measure of its status as a modern urban center. For an overcrowded and high-density metropolis like Hong Kong, the challenge can be quite daunting. But in HKUST’s professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Prof Guang-hao Chen, Hong Kong has a water professional of the highest order.

Prof Chen was recently inducted as a fellow of the International Water Association for his contributions to water science. In the field, he is known for his research interests in sustainable sewage treatment systems, sludge minimization in biotreatment, sewer process modeling, low-cost and compact wastewater

treatment technology. This honor confirms HKUST’s research excellence in water science in particular, and environmental engineering in general.

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C O N T E N T S

Going for Gold in International

Physics Olympiad

Prof Tony F Chan congratulating award winners of International Physics Olympiad with their remarkable achievements. From 10 to 18 July, 400 contestants from 85 countries and regions

converged on Bangkok for the annual International Physics Olympiad for secondary students. The Hong Kong team was coached by HKUST Physics professors: Prof Wong Kwok-yee (leader), Prof Du Shengwang (deputy leader), Prof Yang Zhi-yu plus postgraduate student Ma Guang-cong. Prof Wong and Prof Du took the team to Bangkok.

The five-member team was selected from senior forms at DBS, CNEC Christian College, SKH Tsang Shiu Tim Secondary School and Shun Tak Fraternal Association Leung Kau Kui College and St Paul Co-ed. For one year, these students received Bachelor-level training in Physics and different practical techniques under HKUST's Physics Enhancement Program. The training was intensive and the competition was intense. But when the judges delivered their final verdict, the Hong Kong team was the winner of 3 golds and 2 silvers, on the basis of their tested theoretical and practical knowledge. This was Hong Kong's best ever performance in similar international contests.

HKUST's involvement in this International Physics Olympiad is part of our efforts to identify and train students who show early promise and positive mentality towards physics. Just the sort of community engagement that will discover and develop the elite talents Hong Kong needs for its strategic development.

The Hong Kong team at International Physics Olympiad

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C O N T E N T S

HKUST Scores Hat Trick In HSBC

Overseas Scholarships Contest

From left: Kristy Chiu, Sherwin Wong and Pinky Wong

If the contest for the HSBC Overseas Scholarships were a soccer tournament, HKUST would be the only university in Hong Kong to ever score a hat trick. Each university is allowed to nominate three candidates to compete for the nine scholarships on offer. This year all three of our applicants came from Year 1 of our prestigious Global Business Program — Kristy Chiu Ka-Ki, Pinky Wong Nga-Ping and Sherwin Wong Po-Yi. All three came through with flying colors. Each scholarship offering the successful candidates the chance to pursue a one-year study at an Ivy League University is worth about HK$450,000, which pays for their air fare, tuition and living expenses.

Kristy and Pinky have both chosen to go to Harvard, one to study Corporate Social Responsibility, the other to pursue business management, while Sherwin is destined to Columbia University to zero in on Social Enterprises. What is remarkable about our wonder girls is not just that they are winners, but how they aced the selection interviews with thoughtful answers.

When Kristy was asked what she considered the most important thing in life is, her answer from the heart was 'passion and being yourself' — passion is a necessary ingredient for success while being true to oneself is the essence of individuality. To the same question, Pinky had a totally different but equally winning answer. To her love is most important in life. She came to this realization when she was steeped in her preparations for her A Level exams. She was awash in the love of her family whom she had long neglected. Sherwin wanted to pursue Social Enterprises because to her business is not all about money. She felt that one-off donations from charitable organizations can only go so far. She is determined to learn the tricks of the trade to guide the development of social enterprises for the disadvantaged in Hong Kong. These answers are not outstanding because they are clever, but because they ring so true, straight from the heart and filtered by intelligence. Their originality comes deep from within. Three girls from different family backgrounds — all united in their desire to serve the community that has nurtured them.

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C O N T E N T S

Dean Nancy Ip Honored as Women

Innovator at APEC's Women & the

Economy Summit

Prof Nancy Ip (third from right) was honored as a ‘Women Innovator’ at the APEC’s Women and the Economy Summit. Nominated by the Hong Kong SAR Government's Trade and Industry Department, Prof Nancy Ip, Dean of Science, was recently honored as a 'Women Innovator' at the APEC's Women and the Economy Summit. With only two nominees selected from each economy, this prestigious award aims to honor women who have made a significant impact in their industry. This high-powered international event was hosted by the US State Department from September 13 to 16 in San Francisco. The importance of the occasion was highlighted by the attendance of the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who delivered the keynote address. It also attracted the participation of other high-profile international leaders such as the former UK First Lady Cherie Blair.

Prof Ip was recognized for her outstanding achievements in molecular neuroscience research, specifically on how nerve cells communicate in the brain and the identification of novel neurotrophic factors, which are proteins that promote the survival, development, and maintenance of brain cells. Her work has made significant contributions in the global effort towards understanding and treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

An exemplar figure for women in science, Prof Ip is an inspiration to all women who are drawn to a career in science, a pursuit, which in her words, offers "great intellectual excitement". A passionate educator and researcher, she has one word of advice to her academic sisters who wish to follow in her footsteps: "Perseverance".

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C O N T E N T S

Our Miracle Continues

Down Memory Lane

Local Links

Down Memory

Lane

To celebrate HKUST's 20th birthday, nearly every academic department and unit has staged its own tribute to mark this milestone. The library, the centerpiece of our learning enterprise, has put on a multimedia presentation that is both dazzling and nostalgia-inducing.

For those of us who were not present at the creation of the university, this visual presentation at the Library Gallery is a real treat. True to its preference for the interactive mode, visitors to its opening ceremony, including the Founding President Prof Chia Wei Woo, were encouraged to leave congratulatory messages that were stored and projected onto a message board via an interactive computer program.

This trip down memory lane includes 33 panels and 7

slideshows, highlighting the university's major milestones and achievements, and even a video "Genesis" produced in 1992 that records the planning, design and construction of the campus. The story from a rocky barracks site to a world-class university is best told through pictures, artifacts and the familiar faces of the people who made it all happen.

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C O N T E N T S

Learning to Invest Real Dollars in a Real World

Million-Dollar Purse for Entrepreneurship Competition

Learning to Invest Real Dollars in a

Real World

Officiating guests at the opening ceremony of Value Partners Center for Investing of HKUST: (from right) Mr Jimmy Chan, Chief Executive Officer of Value Partners Group Limited; Mr Cheah Cheng Hye, Chairman and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Value Partners Group Limited; Dr Eddy C Fong, Chairman of Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission; Prof Tony F Chan, President of HKUST; and Prof Leonard Cheng, Dean of Business and Management of HKUST

They say that if you scratch any Hong Konger, you are bound to find a keen investor. That is even true of our students, and especially true of our business students. But students have neither the deep pockets nor the market know-how to indulge their passion. So imagine the joy when a rare opportunity presents itself. Hong Kong's leading value investor and Asia's leading business school teamed together in June to form a unique partnership to train students how to scratch their investment itch.

For the first time in Hong Kong's history, there will be a student-operated, faculty-guided academic center for investing, courtesy of a generous donation from Value Partners Group Ltd of close to $10 million to our Business School. Named appropriately the Value Partners Center, it kicks into gear in September 2011.

The historic significance of this event attracted some very important people to witness the signing ceremony, among them the Chairman of Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, and of course the Chairman, as well as the CEO of Value Partners Group Ltd., plus HKUST's own senior leaders.

This novel industry-academia cooperation offers seminars, conferences and publications and support for scientific and policy research on investment not only in Hong Kong but also in Mainland China. Nothing like a leading home-grown fund management firm joining hands with a leading home-grown innovative university in training well-rounded and venture-driven graduates.

HKUST Vice-President Dr Eden Woon (left) presenting a souvenir to Mr Cheah Cheng Hye

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C O N T E N T S

Learning to Invest Real Dollars in a Real World

Million-Dollar Purse for Entrepreneurship Competition

Million-Dollar Purse for

Entrepreneurship Competition

HKUST is not just about science and technology but also its commercial and social applications. This university has gone one step further, organizing a multi-department effort to nurture a taste for business ventures among students, and creating an entrepreneurship eco-system within the university. Our Entrepreneurship Center, for example, provides a one-stop support for aspiring ventures, and has a proud record of nurturing 46 start-up companies over the years.

This year, the Entrepreneurship Center, the Business School and the Engineering School came together to organize the inaugural Million-Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition, open to any student, teacher, staff and alumnus of HKUST. It drew an overwhelming response, with 124 entries/teams. These were whittled down to 11 in the final round, some of them having already formed or allied themselves to a running business. Each team made a 15-minute project presentation followed by a 12-minute Q & A session with the judges. On the basis of their performance, the four top teams were picked.

The top prize went to Wah Kin Holdings Ltd for its hair-testing technology for schools, government institutions and clinics etc, providing its clients with health status reports on those tested in terms of the presence of heavy metals, drugs or melamine in the body.

The first runner-up is LEDos which provides a breakthrough, low-cost display technology for a wide variety of display applications, from digital signage to traffic signs.

The second runner-up is Allegro IQ which aims to technologically make music education more effective and comprehensive with a more rewarding music learning experience.

The third runner-up is iFlight Technology, a leading developer and manufacturer of helicopter autopilot systems for commercial and industrial use.

From the variety of these winning entries, it shows the breadth of talents and the strength of entrepreneurial drive at HKUST.

The competition attracted a robust interest from industry and our supporters. We are grateful for the support of Morningside Group, IDG Venture Capital, Northern Light Venture Capital, as well as Mr Hui Hok

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Chi, a loyal HKUST honorary fellow, plus six start-ups nurtured by HKUST. This is a competition that shows to the community the diversity of techno-entrepreneurial talents of the university.

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C O N T E N T S

Mainland Connections

High Praise from High Officials

Our Red Bird Soars and Lands in Shenzhen

Global Network In the HKUST Family Our Green Campus

High Praise from High Officials

Madam Chen Xiaoya (fifth from right), Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology , and HKUST senior leaders. On 19 August, a delegation led by Madam Chen Xiaoya, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of

Science and Technology, paid HKUST a visit. In over 90 minutes of presentation at the Council Chamber, HKUST senior leaders beginning with the President Prof Tony F Chan gave the visiting delegation a bird's eye view of the university's history, mission, strategic compass, as well as its latest developments and achievements. Prof Nancy Ip, Director of the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, walked our guests through her latest seminal research initiative.

Vice Minister Chen Xiaoya, who listened intently throughout, was generous in her praise of the university. She was particularly impressed by how HKUST has been able to pursue a path that leads from basic to applied research, and from commercialization to entrepreneurship. In both teaching and research we have rightfully emphasized the interdisciplinary and the innovative.

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C O N T E N T S

Mainland Connections

High Praise from High Officials

Our Red Bird Soars and Lands in Shenzhen

Global Network In the HKUST Family Our Green Campus

Our Red Bird Soars and Lands in

Shenzhen

After years of planning and preparation, and months of anticipation, the HKUST Shenzhen Industry, Education and Research (IER) Building finally opened its doors on 22 September, complete with a mini replica of our iconic Red Bird at its entrance.

The significance of this opening goes beyond having an impressive edifice with state-of-the-art laboratories, lecture theatres, multi-purpose rooms, lounges and other facilities. Located in the Shenzhen Virtual University, National University Park for Science and Technology, this 15000 sq-meter, seven-storeyed center represents the embodiment of a growing partnership with Mainland authorities and institutions, most notably the Shenzhen Municipal Government.

Even before opening day, many research institutes and corporations have moved into the building and are already in operation. These include the HKUST Shenzhen Mechanical Engineering Laboratory which conducts research on construction energy and environment, LED packaging and module technology as well as material testing. Its other tenants include our State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience with its important research on the understanding and treatment of neurological disorders, Googol Technology Ltd., the first high-tech company in the Asia-Pacific region specializing in R & D, production, marketing and support of motion controllers; Perception Digital, an HKUST-nurtured company of consumer electronics, product development and productions solutions, and Dajiang Innovation Technology Co. Ltd which specializes in UAV robotic control. In all, from the faculty, students and alumni of HKUST, no fewer than 10 technology enterprises/laboratories have been launched in the IER Building.

HKUST has been in collaboration with Shenzhen in education, training and research over the years. In 1999, the Shenzhen IER Base was jointly established by HKUST, Peking University and the Shenzhen Municipal Government. In 2001, the Shenzhen PKU-HKUST Medical Center was founded by the three partners.

The formal opening of the Shenzhen IER Building signals our commitment to the strengthening of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation Circle. As President Tony F Chan, who co-officiated the opening ceremony, said "Shenzhen has the foresight of playing a pioneering role in the Mainland's innovative and strategic development. HKUST, which celebrates its 20th

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anniversary this year under the slogan "Our Miracle Continues" is determined to help drive this development." This IER Building is an emphatic statement of our commitment.

Officiating at the ceremony were Mr Yuan Bao-cheng, Vice Mayor of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government, Mr Pun Yong-hua, Director-General of the Department of Educational, Scientific and Technological Affairs, Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, Mr Lu Jian, Deputy Director-General, Science, Industry, Trade and Information Technology Commission of Shenzhen Municipality, Dr the Hon Marvin K.T.Cheung, GBS, JP, HKUST Council Chairman , Mr Song Qiang, Deputy Head of Nanshan District Shenzhen, HKUST President Prof Tony F Chan, Prof LIU Yingli, Senior Advisor to HKUST President, Mr WONG Tat-Sum Samuel,Council Member, Dr Alice CHIU, BBS, JP Court Member, and Ms Katherine HUNG Siu-Lin, Court Member.

More than just a ceremonial occasion, opening day also saw HKUST hosting the HKUST Electronic and Computer Engineering Industrial Day in the afternoon, with a series of seminars, group meetings, tours to the industries and exhibitions to showcase the technological prowess of our Electronic and Computer Engineering Department. It is a red-letter day for HKUST’s mainland development strategy and three cheers for cross-border collaborations.

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click for video

C O N T E N T S

Mainland Connections Global Network

The Power of the Sun, the Silence of the Seas

Elite Global Students Cracking Industry Problems

In the HKUST Family Our Green Campus

The Power of the

Sun, the Silence

of the Seas

On 18 August, HKUST received a very special visitor, the world's largest solar-powered catamaran PlanetSolar, together with its owners and four crew members.

On its way around the world, Hong Kong was PlanetSolar's only stop in China. How fitting that it should call at HKUST, the only university with a seaside campus in Asia, and the university busy churning out major green initiatives in education and research. This is more than just a courtesy call, as the boat brought with it a message of protecting the environment and of clean living.

There was a buzz of excitement as the vessel sailed into view at Clear Water Bay, with hundreds lining the waterfront to wave their welcome. In the welcoming party were two of our Vice Presidents, Prof YS Wong and Dr Eden Woon, as well as faculty, our students plus over 100 primary and secondary students invited for the occasion. The specially designed boat, measuring 31 meters long and 7.5 meters high has a stunning profile that is evocative of a space-ship. Despite its modest size, it came with 500 square meters of highly energy-efficient solar cells.

After lunch, the captain and his crew shared the sense of adventure of circumnavigating the world on this purpose-built boat. Tellingly, when asked what was special about sailing on this solar-powered vessel, the captain replied "it is the silence on the seas, without a noisy, polluting engine." There is indeed poetry in energy-efficiency.

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C O N T E N T S

Mainland Connections Global Network

The Power of the Sun, the Silence of the Seas

Elite Global Students Cracking Industry Problems

In the HKUST Family Our Green Campus

Elite Global Students Cracking

Industry Problems

A new elite student program landed at HKUST this summer. Called RIPS for Research Industrial Projects, it is pioneered by UCLA's Institute of Pure and Applied Math (IPAM) which this year chose HKUST as its international partner. This program requires selected groups of students to solve knotty problems for industry and business, with skills they never thought they have.

The RIPS story has another interesting angle, in that things have come full circle for our President. Prof Tony Chan was the founding director of IPAM in 2000 when he was a dean at UCLA. How sweet that this year this project has landed in the university he now heads. RIPS was previously in Berlin and Beijing, coming to Hong Kong for the first time this year. Having secured a three-year US funding, this project is guaranteed to have a life of at least the same period at HKUST.

This project is made up of 4 teams, each with a quartet of students drawn equally from Hong Kong and the US. Of the 16 students, 8 are from elite US universities: Harvard, Michigan, UCLA, Harvey Mudd College, Wellesley, Columbia University, University of Maryland and Ohio University. IPAM picked these students from hundreds of applicants across the US. As for local students, all but one are from HKUST. The idea behind RIPS is simple. Give students a real-world problem posed by industry, and have them solve it through mathematical applications in an interdisciplinary team under the guidance of an academic and industrial mentor. Students have to share their proposed solution in an oral presentation. With its international composition, you have a project that comes complete with team work, interdisciplinary and innovative research, plus communication skills—all objectives dear to the new 334 program. These problems are new to the students and new even to the academic mentors who, like their industrial counterparts, are amazed by creative problem-solving skills of the students.

This year RIPS projects for elite students are sponsored by three big elite industrial partners, Huawei, BGI, and MetLife. Huawei is a leading provider of global information and communications technology solutions which reach 140 countries and over a third of the world's population. MetLife is a recognized leader in protection planning, retirement and savings solutions with 90 million clients in over 50 countries. BGI, formerly known as Beijing Genomics Institute, is a widely-published leader in

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genomics. Each team is required to submit a report to its industrial mentor whose company may decide to take follow-up action on the proposed solution.

Prof Shiu-yuen Cheng, who is tag-teamed with Prof Tim Leung, is the project's overall coordinator. As a former UCLA faculty member and serving senior faculty member at HKUST, he can make things happen magically. Prof Cheng points out that summer research projects are the new trend in US higher education, igniting student interest in research and inducing many of them to go into graduate studies. Next year, he hopes to draw a wider spectrum of students from different disciplines and sister institutions.

A scholar known for his lateral thinking, Prof Cheng is already toying with the delicious idea of getting the Hong Kong police department on board as a sponsor, with students working alongside police officers to design a crime-prevention software that will make our safe streets even safer. Now, that's really taking students out of the ivory tower into the streets.

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C O N T E N T S

Mainland Connections Global Network In the HKUST Family

A Fun and Formal Beginning to A New School Year

Trawling for Talent

Inducting the Industrious and Innovative into our Family

Red-Carpet Welcome for Green members

The Growing Tentacles of the Alumni Octopus

HKUST Falls for Beguiling AIDA

Rest in Peace, Bo Wing

Our Green Campus

A Fun and Formal Beginning to A

New School Year

Can a new school year welcome ceremony be both fun and formal at the same time? This year HKUST shows that it can. With students, faculty and staff filling every available seat in the cavernous SH Ho Sports Hall, this year's university welcome, unlike previous years, took a turn for the formal, beginning with a solemn academic procession, in full academic regalia, followed by the singing of the national anthem to the accompaniment of our full orchestra. The ceremony even has a new name: The New Student Convocation 2011.

No ceremony is complete without speeches and this Convocation is no exception. Appropriately, the speeches came from the President, Prof Tony Chan, the Provost, Prof Wei Shyy, and the President of the HKUST Students' Union Mr Tim Tsang. The speechmaking came to a rousing end with closing remarks by the President of the HKUST Alumni Association Ms Laura Cozijnsen. In his message, the president urged students to open their hearts to their peers and new people, especially to those from afar, and their minds to new learning and novel experiences.

The fun part came with a music performance by Prof Oliver Lo and his "Lasagna" group. Everyone was invited to sing along with a song that resonates with the HKUST spirit:"I Believe I can Fly" to rhythmic clapping and much merriment. To the strains of Mozart's Little Night Music, the dignitaries marched out of the hall, concluding the formal part of the ceremony. But a party is not a party without food and drinks, and there were snacks and libations galore in the Atrium, where the animated conversations and the laughter continued late into the evening.

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C O N T E N T S

Trawling for Talent

A university is only as good as the students and faculty it attracts. Recruiting top-quality students is therefore no less important than securing top-quality faculty that teach them. The recruitment of non-local students is a both an art and a science, where knowledge of the catchment areas, including their education systems, come into play. It also takes intelligent planning plus a rational and transparent selection mechanism. At the interview level, there is the subtle art of judging character and discerning potential.

HKUST now boasts the highest percentage of non-local students in its undergraduate intake among sister institutions. This year, we are first among peers at 18%, up from 16% last year. We are fast approaching the 20% ceiling set by the government for the intake of non-local students.

The HKUST recruitment mechanism for the Mainland is one of the most democratic and transparent in local higher education for two reasons: Unlike others, we place the utmost importance on the personal interview. Our admission is largely school-based, with faculty members sitting on the 3-member selection teams we send out. No single person has the final say in who we accept. Each school also has its ideal student profile. The Business School, for example, tends to give greater weight to a student's performance at the selection interview, in which communication and other social skills may be the deciding factors, other things being equal. The School of Science may prefer students with a bent towards research. Little wonder that the university has been able to keep complaints about its selections to a minimum.

Also, unlike some local universities who favor the National Joint Selection system, we have opted for an Independent Selection system. This gives us a greater say in who we invite for interviews.

As HKUST's international rankings climb up the charts, we become a name that attracts applicants on the mainland. This year over 4500 qualified applicants vied for 165 placements. We even managed to snag the top-scorer in science in Beijing. We might have even done better except for the fact that, being a university of science and technology, we have no law school, no medical school, or school of architecture.

Significantly, our non-local intake is spread evenly between Mainland and overseas students, an almost 50-50 split. So, when we say we are an international university, it is no idle boast. This year, our promotional efforts on the mainland take another form. Our President went to give a talk to the elite No.4 High School in Beijing. Prof YS Wong, VPAB, took our message to another leading school in Hangzhou, while Dr Eden Woon VPIA did the same at a well-known high school in Shanghai. For local students, our President has been making appearances in Hong Kong secondary schools, with plans afoot to speak to international schools in our city. HKUST is increasingly becoming a multicultural mosaic, as reflected in diversity of overseas students on our campus. They hail from Northern Europe, South-east Asia as well as Korea, for a total of 151.

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Two of Malaysia's top eight straight-A students, landed at HKUST this year. Chow Jun Kang, whose father is an engineer, is enrolled in our Civil and Environmental

Engineering program. He has a sense of mission to protect the fragile earth. Here to broaden horizons, he likes the sense of freedom at HKUST. Wilson Lye Wei King now in our Mechanical Engineering program, speakes modestly of improving on his

weaknesses, and is hungry for new experiences. With an old head on his young shoulders, he says that to fully appreciate freedom, one needs to have self-discipline. Both are happy with their choices and full of praise for HKUST, saying that this university is everything it is cracked up to be.

With our ability to attract such high-caliber students, HKUST is helping to realize Hong Kong's dream of becoming an education hub.

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C O N T E N T S

Trawling for Talent

Inducting the Industrious and

Innovative into our Family

At the Honorary Fellowship Presentation Ceremony: (from left) HKUST Council Chairman Dr Marvin Cheung, Prof Harry Shum, Ir James Kwan, Pro-Chancellor Dr Sze-Yuen Chung, Prof Roger King, Dr Fong Yun-Wah and President Prof Tony F Chan. June is usually the month of Honorary Fellowships. This is the university's hallowed tradition of recognizing outstanding individuals who are models of excellence and sterling service to the community.

This year, the honor goes to four praiseworthy leaders.

Prof Roger King, Non-Executive Director of Overseas Orient International Limited and Adjunct Professor in our Business School, is known in the business community as a "corporate doctor" who can restore the financial health of ailing businesses. On campus, he is the avuncular teacher who devotes much of his time to HKUST in his pro-bono role as director of our Center for Asian Family Business & Entrepreneurship, and the Center for Business Case Studies. His dream is to see that our university becomes a worthy rival to Harvard in case studies in Asia. Prof Harry Shum, a much-honored Corporate Vice President of Bing Development at Microsoft and another Adjunct Professor but attached to our Department of Computer Science and Engineering. He is the nerve center of Microsoft’s super-search engine, known as a decision engine that can understand user intent. The Internet is big in our lives and will only become bigger in future, and Prof Shum is right at the heart of its growing impact. In the meantime, as our faculty member, he will add greater luster to our already famous computing expertise. Ir James Kwan, is the environmentally proactive Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Towngas that gives Hong Kong and parts of the Mainland an affordable green fuel for our growing needs. A big-hearted corporate leader who helps deliver food to the old and the needy, his desire is to see that we and our future generations leave a lighter carbon footprint. He is instrumental in sealing a partnership between Towngas and our chemical engineering faculty.

Dr Fong Yun-wah, Chairman of the Hip Shing Hong Group, has done many good deeds over many decades, building schools in Hong Kong and China. For this university, he has generously donated a student walkway, given our student scholarships and has been actively canvassing support for the university. Proud of HKUST's achievements, he believes that science and technology is the agent for economic prosperity and transformation. His wish is to see the emergence of a world-leading university in Greater China.

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C O N T E N T S

Trawling for Talent

Red-Carpet Welcome for Green

members

On the ninth day of the eighth moon, like new students showing up for the first school assembly, some 52 new staff members, both academic and non-academic, trooped into the Council Chamber, an august hall normally reserved for Council deliberations, for the start of their Orientation Day. The choice of venue is indicative of how much importance the university attaches to the new staff. It underlines the belief that HKUST is great because its people are great.

The senior administration leaders came out in force, including most of the vice-presidents and deans. From the President on down, senior administrators took turns to familiarize the newcomers with the constituent units that together form a seamless HKUST.

Regardless of which department the new members are tethered to, this get-acquainted meeting is part of the university's effort to forge the "1-HKUST" spirit, turning the university into a close-knit community that exemplifies the noble ideal "Out of Many, One." The Orientation, hosted by Human Resources colleagues, was a tightly organized all-day affair, with break-out sessions to cater to different groups. No orientation is complete without a buffet lunch—they say that the quickest way to a new employee's heart is through the stomach. And what better way to walk off the lunch then a "Discover HKUST" campus tour, up and down the scenic paths !

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C O N T E N T S

Trawling for Talent

The Growing

Tentacles of the

Alumni Octopus

Everybody knows that we are a young university. But nobody expects us to have a global alumni network boasting some 40 relocation centers with 300 relocation hosts scattered around the globe, helping new arrivals to settle down and sink roots quickly in their new environment.

It has been a busy year on the HKUST alumni scene. Within a span of 10 months there have been over a dozen alumni gatherings, some of them dinners, others luncheons and yet others simply receptions— from Boston to Beijing, Singapore to Switzerland, Shenzhen to Shanghai and San Francisco, Los Angeles to London as well as New York, not to mention right here on our stunning Clear Water Bay Campus. The President himself was able to find time to attend no less than seven of these get-togethers. Alumni development is high on the agenda of our new Vice-President for Institutional Advancement Dr Eden Woon. The greatness of a university is partly measured by the achievements of its collective body of former graduates. They are also a vital part of its future development, bringing fresh ideas, new knowledge and needed funds to their alma mater, for the benefit of those who come after them.

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C O N T E N T S

Trawling for Talent

HKUST Falls for Beguiling AIDA

Birds of different feathers do flock together. That's what happened when about 100 HKUST students from different departments and disciplines, plus a sprinkling of culture-loving alumni came together to stage two performances of a Broadway musical, "AIDA" at the Ngau Chi Wan Culture & Recreation Center on 18 & 19 July, in celebration of HKUST's 20th anniversary. Both performances were sold out, and the audiences were completely sold on the performance. The all-student cast acted, danced and sang their hearts out. This famous story of an ancient love triangle was brought back to life passionately and professionally by our students, under the inspired direction of Prof Oliver Lo, HKUST's Adjunct Professor, our guru of music. The dialogue was crisp, the dancing throbbed with energy, giving this ancient tale its modern rhythms, and the singing superb and soul-searing. It was hard to believe that this poignant story does not grow old across the ages with this young cast.

On closing night, except for the out-of-town Provost, the HKUST top administrators came with their spouses, led by the President Prof Tony Chan. Some of us who went were secretly guilty of low expectations. But all were to be publicly and pleasantly surprised, for it was a high-quality production worthy of Broadway's amateur best. And it was better than Broadway in at least one aspect: the appreciative audience was given permission to clap when the singing, dancing or acting so moved them. And so, the musical was frequently interrupted by enthusiastic applause and other forms of spontaneous appreciation.

Few knew that it was put together by the students in just six weeks immediately following their final exams, causing some to hail it as a minor miracle. The President, who believes that culture will make our students whole, was especially pleased and proud that this musical night out has put paid to the notion that

universities of science and technology are cultural deserts. We are more like an oasis where a hundred flowers bloom.

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It is utterly sad when a young life is cut down in its prime, and sadder still when it happens to an only child. On June 25 Miss Lo Bo Wing, an outstanding 2nd year student in our Mechanical Engineering undergraduate program was lost to acute leukemia while at the University of Minnesota as an exchange student. Despite the best efforts of the doctors, she succumbed to the disease in the end.

Funeral service was held on 18 July when teachers, fellow students and senior HKUST leaders gathered to pay their final respects. Rest in peace, Bo Wing.

C O N T E N T S

Trawling for Talent

Rest in Peace, Bo Wing

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C O N T E N T S

Promoting the Greening of Hong Kong

O C T O B E R 2 0 1 1 _PREVIOUS

Promoting the Greening of Hong

Kong

The world is getting more and more environmentally conscious. Sweden, at the forefront of the movement, has eco-villages. In Hong Kong, thanks to HKUST, we now have an eco-park, a 3000 square meters area designed and managed by none other than HKUST, a local leader in environmental protection and education.

HKUST Eco-Park is a project that promotes all the values dear to our hearts and to 334 reformers. It began by engaging the community, the Sai Kung District Council and Mission Health Greens both having thrown in their support. The park offers the promise of supporting government and commercial green initiatives. A significant number of primary and secondary schools are also engaged, not to mention our own students who will enjoy an interactive and out-of-classroom experience to learn all about environmental conservation and carbon management.

In parallel to its educational objectives, this multi-purpose garden also offers a platform for a plethora of research interests, including the study of solar power, wind power, solar-assisted absorption refrigeration system, LED lighting technology, air purification and water recycling—a range of green energy technologies with rich potential for commercial applications. The University is into building a nursery and propagation area, a biodiversity zone, butterfly and bee garden, as well as an education trail shortly.

Go pay the park a visit—it is ours for now, a proud HKUST project that will be flying our environmental colors for Hong Kong to see.

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