Annual Report, 1994 - 1995

CDAIRMAN"S

FORElVORD

The year

1994-95

was another

milestone in the

development of tertiary education

in

Hong Kong

. During the

year

three tertiary institutions

were

renamed

as

universities. The Hong

Kong

Polytechnic became the Hong

Kong

Polytechnic University, the

City

Polytechnic

of

Hong

Kong

is now

called

the

City

University

of

Hong

Kong, and

the Hong

Kong

Baptist

College

is

known as

the Hong

Kong

Baptist University. In 1990 Hong

Kong

had

only

two

universities.

Five

years

later,

there are six universities

providing

over

40,000

undergraduate places

in

a

compre-hensive

range of courses of study

for the

300,000 young people

in the 17-20

years age-group.

It is hoped that

each

university

will continue with

its

own specific mission so

that

together

they

can

meet the

full spectrum of

Hong

Kong's

needs

whilst separately offering sufficient

competi-tion to

spur each other

to

strive

for perfection.

The

year

1994-95

was also a milestone

in the

development of

this new University

as the

first

batch of students

totalling

576 completed

their

studies and

received

bachelor's degrees.

By

opening

three

years earlier than originally planned, this

University is

producing at an

acceler-ated

pace

about 6,000 additional graduates who are able to contribute to the economic and

social

development

of

the territory. As Professor Anthony WA

L

K

ER

noted in his recent

book

Build-ing the Future,

this is

a difficult asset

to

value but extremely valuable nevertheless.

It is

widely

recognized that

campus social

life is part

and

parcel

of

university

education.

For this

reason

, living

on campus is particularly essential

for

science and

technology

students

,

who spend most of

their

daylight

hours

in

lectures, laboratories

and workshops.

The

Govern-ment has

provided

on-campus accommodation

for

only 30 percent of our students, and the

University

Council

has made

many strong

representations to both the University

and

Polytech-nic

Grants Committee (UPGC

,

now

UGC)

and

the

Government during

the past

eight years.

Whilst the UGC is

sympathetic and supportive,

the

Govern-ment unfortunately

is

not.

As most

of our

postgraduate

students

do receive

re-search stipends, they can afford

to

pay a

higher

charge

for

on-campus accommodation

than undergraduates

. Consequently,

the University has

been able to obtain a reasonably

long-term

bank

loan to

finance

the

construction of

1,

080 additional places

for postgraduate accommodation on campus,

to

be completed

in

1996-97. However,

such a solution

is

not

feasible

for

under-graduate student housing unless

the

Government's student

grant and loan scheme can provide sufficient

money for

stu-dents

to pay

a much

higher

daily charge

than HK$22 for

on-campus

hostels

.

The University

will

nonetheless

continue with

its

efforts

to resolve this important problem

.

.

Finally, I

would

like to take this

opportunity

to

e

x

press

my

sincere and

heartfelt thanks to

my colleagues on both

the

Council and the Court as well as all

the Learned

Academic

Members

and Administrative Staff of

the University for

their

ef-forts and co-operation in achieving another successful year

for

this

young

institution

.

o

PRESIDENT~S

OVERVIE'"

Visitors who come

to

see

this new University

cannot

help

but marvel at

the natural beauty

of our setting.

The

view

from the

campus

is

truly

idyllic: blue

water, green

isles, light

yellow

beaches at a distance, and colourful sails

on

sunny weekends

.

Our visitors comment, too, on

the

elegance of

the

architecture.

They have

every

reason to

do so.

The

campus, so attractively and

functionally

designed

by

Simon KWAN, and so efficiently

and cost-effectively

built by the Jockey

Club (allowing

the University to

open 3 years ahead of

schedule

,

at a cost $300

million

below

the budget

unanimously approved

by Legco),

wil

l soon

be

featured

in

Sir

Banister

A

History of Architecture, known as

the

"bi

ble

of

archi-tects

"

.

Yet,

the most important part

of every

university is

clearly

not its

scenery, or

its architecture

,

but

its people -

the faculty

and staff who dedicate

themselves to fulfilling the university's mission

in teaching, r

esearch,

and community service

.

Academically,

the quality

of our

faculty

and

their research

was proclaimed

"securely

in

first place"

among

Hong

Kong

'

s

tertiary institutions

by a group of independent academics who

carried out a comprehensive assessment exercise -

the first

such exercise

in

the

territory. Most

gratifying for a

university

barely

in its fourth

year of operation.

In teaching,

our

practice

of

"continuous

assessment" exerts great pressure on students

from

the

minute they

enter

HKUST. They

are

required to hand in homework

assignments and

take

tests throughout the academic year. Yet

our faculty

does not

flinch from the

additional

workload this teaching

methodology

entails, because

they reco

g

nise

that today

'

s students

in

technology

and

management must be

exceedingly well prepared

to face increasingly

stiff

com-petition from around

the

world.

Th

e

evidence

is that

our graduates are

indeed

well prepared.

According to

a survey

con-ducted by our Careers Centre, within

months

of

their

graduation, over 98% of our

first

graduat-ing

class either started

full-time

employment or enrolled

in

postgraduate study.

In

real

numbers,

only

10

out of

the

576 in

the

cohort took up

temporary

or part

-t

ime

jobs

or were

unemployed

-including

those

who declined

full-time job

offers and others who,

for

personal

reasons

, did not

choose

to join the

workforce

right

away.

Employers like HKUST

students. One wrote

that HKUST

graduates are "outgoing,

inde-pendent, and exceptional

l

y good

in

conceptual thinking, with

personal traits very similar to

those

of graduates who

return to

Hong

Kong after

studying

overseas".

We

believe

that

our

gradu-ates are better educated

than

most who went overseas, but we

are

happy to hear that they possess the qualities

mentioned

above.

In academic research, grants won by our

faculty through

peer-reviewed competition

led the territory in both total

amount

and success rate: $50.1

million

was awarded by the

Research

Grants Council

for 106

projects in 1994-95

,

an

increase

of

150%

over

the

previous year

in

both the number of

projects

sup-ported and

total funding.

De-velopment Council awarded

more than

$40

million to

8

HKUST

projects under a

new program

entitled Additional

Funding for Industrial

Support.

This represented

more

than

one

half

of

the

total amount granted

to Hong

Kong's

tertiary

sector.

The largest

grant, at $14.4 million, went

to

support a center

for liquid

crystal display

re

search.

For quality

assurance, a

faculty

performance review system -

described

by the media

when

it

was

initiated two

years ago as

"breaking the

iron rice

bowl" - came

into full

operation

in

1994-95

,

resulting in

the withholding of salary

increases

and

termination

of contracts affecting

nearly

25% of those

reviewed.

At

the

same time

, our

introduction

of a system of academic titles, merit

increases,

and

internal

promotion

(parts

of which are about

to

be adopted by other institutions) gave us a

rational mechani

s

m to reward

the

truly meritorious.

Several colleagues earned such

rewards

with exemplary performance.

On

the

admini

s

trative

side, periodic reviews of individual administrators' performance

were conducted by panels

made up

of "clients"

- the

people

they

served - as well as peers.

This

system

has resulted in

several middle-to-

high-Ievel personnel

changes.

To ease

re

s

idential

shortages as well as control

hou

s

ing

budgets, we broke

tradition

and

took

out bank

loans

to build 222

flats

for the staff and 270

flats

(with

1,080 places) for

postgradu-ate

s

tudents,

all to be completed in

1995

and

1996

and

to

be

repaid

over

time through rental

income. Thus

we shoulder as

much responsibility

as possible rather

than

burdening

Hong

Kong's

taxpayers: one more manifestation of

the management philosophy

established during

the

Uni-versity's planning

days

when we ended every

year

with a surplus and

returned it to

Government.

With respect to

community service, technological

universities

make

their

contribution

most

directly through

technology

transfer. Our Operational

Windshear Warning

System,

being

devel-oped

for

the new airport with an American

high-tech

partner

under

a $118.7

million Government

contract won through open

tendering, is pioneering technology that

will

be

exportable

upon

completion

.

Another example of

technology transfer

is our

RandD

Corporation

's contribution

to the

territory

's

information

superhighway. A

University-owned

company,

Hong

Kong SuperNet, is

the

largest Internet

service provider

in Hong

Kong.

Recently it

was

rated

"

the

best

Internet

provider

in

Asia

" by

the

prestigious Singapore

National Computer Board.

Technological

advances occurred on

many

other

fronts

as well,

including

advanced

ma-terials

, biotechnology, environmental

protection

, finance,

information technology, infrastructure

development, microelectronics

, and software engineering.

To

go from ground zero

to full

size in

five

years

flat is

a

tall

order.

In

our

first four

years,

we

have focused on our primary

mission

of building a world-class

technological institution

where

faculty and students can pursue

their

professional objectives.

Highly

respected colleagues around

the world

tell us

that we

have

come a

long

way

towards

achieving

that

goal.

In the

coming years

,

with continued support

from Hong

Kong's community and government, we expect

to make

our

campus

more

genteel

,

more

cultural

,

more

Chinese

, and

more international. HKUST will become

not ju

s

t

a world-class institution

, but a world-class

university

in

every sense of

the

word

.

o

Y

EAIt IN RJEVIE'"

Following an impressive startup, the

Hong

Kong

University

of

Sci-ence and

Technology is

successfully meeting

the

challenges of

rapid

growth and

beginning to fulfill the

role envisioned

for it

by

it

s

founder

s

-that of a premier academic

institution

providing

leadership in

science,

technology, and management

for Hong

Kong and

the

surrounding region.

In 1994

,

the University

conferred bachelor's degrees on

its

very

first class of undergraduates,

the

pioneers who had entered

the

Univer-sity when

it

opened

its

doors in 1991.

These

proud and

talented

gradu-ates were

so

ught

after

by

employers and quickly

found

their places as

productive members of

the

community.

On the

HKUST

campus, faculty members not only renewed their

dedication

to teaching

but continued

their

unprecedented success in

lead-ing

the

territory

's

researchers in

both

the

number of

funded

research

projects and

the

amount of

total

funding.

The

year

1994-95

was also

the

first

time

the

intake

of

new

under-graduates matched

the

steady-state value planned

for

the University.

The

total

student population will

reach its target

size

in another

two

years.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR

• HKUST's

first undergraduate

class received bachelor's degrees

at

the

University's Second Congregation on

4 November 1994.

Among the

advanced degrees awarded

that

day was the

Uni-versity's

first

PhD.

•

The

Schools of Science and

Engineering

collaborated

in

offer-ing new interdisciplinary

degree programmes

in Environmental

Science &

Engineering

and Materials Science &

Engineering. In

the School of Bus

iness

and Management, new master's degree

programmes

in

Accounting and

Economics

were approved.

•

In

its Academic

Planning Report, the

University delineated

the

research

areas

it

will

focu

s

on

for

the next four

to

five

years,

including

advanced materials, biotechnology, economic devel

-opment, environment and

infrastructure, information technology,

and manufacturing.

•

In

ongoing research at

HKUST

, research

teams

carried out the

first air quality

measurements

ever

taken

over

Hong

Kong,

suc-cessfully extractea anti-oxidant compounds

from traditional

Chi-nese

herbal

medicines, and set a

new

world

record for the

short-.est wavelength of deep

ultraviolet light

generated

from

a solid

•

•

In

applied research,

new projects in wireless communications, liquid

crystal display

technol-ogy, and advanced manufacturing

systems were established with

industry and

government

support.

Hong

Kong SuperNet,

the HKUST RandO

Corporation's first

business venture,

en-joyed outstanding success and was

named

"best Internet provider

in Asia".

•

The first of a series of self-financed campus development projects was completed

in June

1995

,

add

in

g 66 apartments

to the University

's

senior staff quarters.

When

comp

l

ete,

these

projects wi

ll

enable the University to accommodate on campus over 80% of its eligib

l

e staff

and a

ll

of its full-time postgraduate students.

•

The University's principal officers were

retitled to

accord with prevailing

international usage

.

The Vice-Chancellor became President of the University, and the

Pro-Vice-Chancellors

,

Vice

SECOND CONGREGATION

Excitement and anticipation

filled the Atrium

on 4

November 1994

as

proud

graduates

,

par-ents,

family members,

and

friends gathered for the University

's

Second Congregation.

On

this day the University

awarded

bachelor

's

degrees

to it

s

first

c

lass of undergraduate

s,

those

brave

young visionaries who

had

elected

to

enter a

new

and untried

institution just

three years before.

Also

awarded at

the

Congregation was

th

e

University

's

first PhD degree,

as well as

its

seco

nd

batch

of

ma

s

ter

's

degr

ees

.

The Right Hon

.

Christopher

P

ATTEN,

Chancellor of

the University

and

Governor

of

Hong Kong

,

presided

over

the

ceremony, conferring

degree

s

upon

576

undergraduate

and 213

postgraduate

stu-dents.

Honorary degrees

were presented

to Professor

Yuan-Cheng

FUN

G,

a world-renowned

expert in

bioengineering, and Sir

David F

ORD

,

Commissioner

for Hong

Kong

in London

and

former

Chief

Secre-tary

of

the Hong

Kong

Governm

e

nt.

Two

new medals,

the Michael G

.

Gale Medal for Di

s

tinguished Teaching

and

the Stephen Cheong

Kam-chuen Med

a

l for Distingui

s

hed

Service

to

the Student

Body

,

were pre

se

nted for

the

first tim

e.

Also

awarded were Academic

Achievement Medals to graduate

s

who had

demonstrated

out-standing

academic performance throughout their undergraduate

career.

....

'

\

JF

.

o.(l

.

-oII{~

I

... (j of If tt .A ~

\

2ND UNIVEnSITY CONGREGATION

4th November 1??4

8

-TEACHING

The

University

'

s

fundamental

commitment

to teaching

and learning was demonstrated at

the

University

'

s Second Congregation, on 4

November 1994,

when

new

medals

honouring

outstanding

academic performance were presented

for the first

time.

The Michael G.

Gale

Medal

for

Distinguished Teaching

was awarded

to Dr Joseph LIAN

Yi-zheng

of the

Department

of

Economics

,

a "gifted and

motivated

teacher

"

who

"

inspired

enthusiasm

in his

students and continues

to

give his time and energy unselfishly to ensure

that

his students

have the

best

possible chance

to learn

and

develop"

.

Brilliant teachers

provide guidance and inspiration

,

but equally essential to the

teaching-learn-ing

equation are gifted and motivated students.

Three undergraduates

-

one

from

each of

the three

schools awarding bachelor's degrees

-

were awarded Academic Achievement Medals

for having

at-tained

"

straight A

'

s

"

throughout their

entire course of study.

A

commitment

to

enhancing

the teaching

and

learning

experience at

HKUST

was a

prominent

theme

throughout the year

under review

.

At

the

beginning of

the

academic year

,

the University

'

s

Vice-President for

Academic

Affairs

,

Professor S. D

.

KUN

G,

designated

teaching quality as a special area of

emph

a

sis for

1994-95,

and

throughout

the year personally visited classes

to

gain a firsthand

perspec-tive

on

the faculty

'

s experiences

in this

area

.

In the

spring semester

,

a

new

service enabling

faculty

members

to

videotape

their

classes was

introduced,

and this voluntary tool

for

self-improvement met with a good response

in the

early stages

of its

introduction

.

In

addition

,

a

Faculty Forum

to di

s

cuss i

s

sues related

to teaching

and classroom

management was

held

on

10 May 1995,

spon

s

ored by

the

Academic Affairs office

.

It

was attended by

nearly 50 members of

the

academic staff and colleagues

.

During 1994-95,

the

University

received $2.2 million

in the form

of a

Teaching Development

Grant from the

University

Grants Committee

.

This was supplemented

by

$1

million from

the

re

c

urrent

grant to

fund

projects

in

the Schools of Science,

Engineering,

and

Business

and

Management.

ENROLMENT

I

I

School

TOTAL

FTE Enrolments: Actual and Projected*

Taught

Research

Undergraduate

Postgraduate

Postgraduate

94-95 95-96 96-97 97-98

₁

_{94-95 95-96 96}

-

97 97-98

I

94

-

95 95-96 96-97 97-98

1,044 1,205 1

,

380 1,380

14.3

31

.

0

27.0

27

.

0

171

.

5 186

.

0 196.0 233.0

1,545 2,010 2,170 2,170

80

.

3 117.0 129

.

0 151.0

243.0 214

.

0 298.0 363.0

1,788 1,970 2

,

210 2

,

210

182.3 234.0 285.0 329.0

20.5

48.0

26

.

0

30.0

33.5

38.0

44.0

53.0

39.0

46.0

45

.

0

54.0

4,377 5,185 5,760 5,760

310.4 420

.

0 485.0 560.0

474

.

0 494.0 565.0 680.0

* Enrolments are represented in full-time equivalent (FTE) units so that students enrolled in part-time as well as fUll-time postgraduate study can be accurately counted.

The 1994-95 academic year was the first year in which the target

intake

of new undergraduates was set at the steady-state value of 1

,

920.

With this intake

,

the steady-state undergraduate population of 5,760 will

be reached in

1996-97,

with total target enrolment reaching 7

,

000 the

following year with a modest increase in the number of postgraduate

stu-dents. The 1994-95 figures for research students include more than 70

supported by external grants and contracts

.

SCHOOL OF SCIENCE

The

Department of Physics made major changes to its

undergradu-ate curriculum in response to recent trends

in

the training of physicists

.

These

revisions were developed from discussions at a school-wide forum

conducted during the previous year. With funding from a Teaching

Devel-opment Grant, the

Department

also undertook the development of a course

called Studio Physics which will make use of an integrated environment

combining lecture,

laboratory,

and multimedia methodologies.

At the postgraduate level

,

the School of Science joined with the

School of Engineering in offering a new interdisciplinary programme

lead-ing to the degree of Master of Science in Materials Science and

Engineer-ing. Designed to

train

research and technical personnel for

local

and

re-gional manufacturing industries, the programme will provide students with

insight

into current materials problems from several different, yet coherent

points of view.

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Using funds provided by a

Teaching

Development Grant, the School

of Engineering engaged in guided experimentation using multimedia

tech-nology for the teaching of engineeriog subjects. Course modules

identi-fied for initial development include thermal dynamics, plant control,

reac-tion kinetics

,

fluid mechanics

,

structural behaviour visualisation

,

design

and analysis of algorithms

,

human visual perception

,

computer funda

-mentals

,

semiconductor materials and devices, microprocessors and

ap-plications, and three-dimensional motion dynamics

.

On the postgraduate level

,

the School of

Engineering

co-operated

with the School of Science in developing a new degree programme in

Environmental

Science and

Engineering,

approved for implementation

in

1995-96. Two separate master's degrees,

in

Environmental Science and

Environmental

Engineering,

will be offered

.

The curriculum draws on the

collective expertise of the Departments of Biochemistry, Biology, and

Chemistry in the School of Science and the Departments of Chemical

Engineering,

Civil and Structural

Engineering,

and Mechanical

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

The

School of

Business

and

Management

received

funding from

a

Teaching Development

Grant

for

a

number

of

projects designed to

im-prove the

quality of

teaching in

business courses.

Faculty members in the

Department

of

Economics

were

trained in the use

of

new

software

to

en-hance

the

teaching

of economic

principles

. A

second

area

of

develop-ment

aimed at

providing

case materials

relevant to local

and

regional

businesses, with

initial

efforts concentrated on

developing in-depth

case

studies for the

Departments

of

Finance, Information

and Systems

Man-agement,

Management

of

Organisations,

and

Marketing.

In 1994-95, two new taught master's degree programmes

were

ap-proved. The

programme

leading to the Master

of Science

in Accounting

prepares

professionals

for

entry

into the

dynamic environment of

public

and corporate

accounting. The

programme

leading to the Master

of

Sci-ence in

Economics trains

economic

analysts

, teachers

, researchers

,

and

policy

advisors

for

positions

in

business and

financial institutions,

as well

as

in

research organisations and

government.

:rhe

School of

Business

and Management also established

research-oriented

programmes leading to the Master

of

Philosophy

degree in all

of

its

departments.

In

addition, a new

PhD

programme

in the Department

of

Marketing

was

approved. Doctoral training is now

available

from

all

de-partments

of

the

School of

Business

and

Management.

SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCE

In

co-operation with

the HKUST Arts Endowment

Committee,

the

School of

Humanities

and Social Science

,

and

its Division

of

Humanities,

sponsored

the University's first Artist-in-Residence programme. During

the

spring semester,

the renowned

Chinese writer ZH

Acheng

spent a

month

on campus giving writer's workshops and

public lectures

on

Chi-nese literature.

A new doctoral programme leading to the PhD in

Social Science

was

approved.

This

programme

is

structured around

three main

areas of

concentration: economic development and social change

,

comparative

and

international

studies, and

technology and

society.

LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION

In association

with

the

School of

Business

and

Management, the

University's Language

Centre developed

two

courses

designed to help

students improve

their

skills

in English

for business

purposes

.

These

courses will

be

offered

for

credit as electives

for business majors.

Non-credit courses

in Putonghua,

available

to

all

University undergraduates,

RESEARCH

ACADEMIC RESEARCH

In

September

1994, the University

published its Academic Planning

Report

1994-1998,

estab-lishing its

basic

thrusts

for academic

research

over

the

ne

x

t

four

to five years.

Eight

major

research

themes

were

identified

:

• Advanced materials and devices

• Asia-Pacific economies

•

Biotechnology

• Chinese studies

•

Economic

reform and development

in

China

•

Environment

and infrastructure

•

Manufacturing

•

Telecommunications

and

information technology

Details

of

progress in

all areas of

research

pursued by academic staff are collected

in the

Uni-versity's annual

Research Report.

Some

highlights

of

research-related

activities

during the

year are

presented

below.

School of Science

Hong

Kong

'

s

Industry Department

provided support

for the

establishment of a

Drug Delivery

Technology

Centre at the

University, proposed by researchers in the Department

of Biochemistry

.

Professor

Shang-Fa Y

A

N

G,

an eminent scholar

in the field

of plant

biology,

was appointed to the

Department

of Biology

.

Professor

Yang is a member of Academia Sinica and

the U.S. National

Acad-emy of Sciences, as well as a recent winner of

the

prestigious

Wolf Foundation Prize.

In August

1994,

the Department

of

Chemistry hosted the

XIVth

International

Conference on

Raman

Spectroscopy.

With more than

550 delegates

from

40 countries in attendance,

this

was one of

the largest

academic conferences ever

held in Hong

Kong.

The

acquisition of an

Intel Paragon

computer

-

a

140-node

multiple-data

multiple-instruction

machine

-

has provided

a

powerful

new

tool for

researchers

in

scientific computation

,

one of

the

principal

areas of concentration

in the Department

of

Mathematics

.

The Department

also

hosted

an

international

conference on fluid dynamics

in January 1995.

In

October

1994

,

Professor

George K

. L. WONG

of

the Department

of

Physics

,

in

collaboration

with Professor CHEN Chungtian of

the Fujian Research Institute

on

the

Structure of

Matter,

established

a world

record for the

shortest wavelength of

deep ultraviolet light

generated

from

a solid-state crystal

laser

.

School of Engineering

Researchers

in

the Department

of

Chemical

Engineering

focused

on advanced materials

re-search

in polymers

and polymer composites

.

They

also collaborated with colleagues

in

several other

departments on research

projects related to the

environment.

The Department

of

Civil and Structural Engineering was awarded a Central Allocation Grant

by the University Grants

Committee

to

establish a geotechnical centrifuge

facility

for

Hong

Kong

.

The Department

of

Mechanical Engineering secured a grant

from

China

Light

and

Power for

construction of an environmental boundary layer wind tunnel

.

Plans went

forward during the year to establish a new Geotechnical/Environmental

Research Facility to house both the massive centrifuge and the wind

tun-nel. Besides its uses in academic research, the facility will provide

serv-ices now available to local industry only from overseas sources

.

Research in the Department of Computer Science concentrated

on several different areas, including software technology, computer

engi-neering

,

and artificial intelligence

.

The Department also established an

industrial affiliates programme with the IBM Consulting Group to facilitate

exchange of technical information and expertise, as well as other

collabo-rative activities.

A team from the Department of Electrical and Electronic

Engi-neering was awarded a grant to establish the HKUST Centre for Wireless

Communication. The award was made through the Co-operative Research

Centre programme of the Research Grants Council with industry support

from Hutchison Telephone Company Limited, National Semiconductor

Corporation, and Champion Technology Holdings Limited

.

Another

im-portant research effort, supported by Varitronix Ltd, involves development

of silicon-based active matrix liquid crystal displays.

The Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering

Man-agement acquired its new name, stressing the role of manMan-agement in

industrial enterprises. A research project on advanced manufacturing

systems obtained industrial support from Digital Equipment Corporation

.

School of Business and Management

In 1994-95, the School of Business and Management continued to

strive for a balance between academic research and applied research

directly relevant to the local and regional economies.

Examples of the latter include, in the Department of Accounting, a

comparative study of financial data based on the Chinese and

interna-tional accounting standards

;

in the Department of Economics, a study of

the privatisation of state-owned enterprises; in the Department of Finance,

an investigation of corporate insider trading in Hong Kong; in the

Depart-ment of Information and Systems ManageDepart-ment, a field study of

appli-cation programming productivity in Hong Kong

;

in the Department of

Man-agement of Organisations, an exploratory study of human resources in

changing Chinese enterprises

;

and in the Department of Marketing, a

study comparing advertising strategies in eight Asia-Pacific economies

.

School of Humanities and Social Science

Researchers in the Division of Humanities continued to draw on

expertise from many disciplines to focus on the Chinese Mainland,

Tai-wan

, Hong

Kong,

Macau

,

and

the

Chinese

Diaspora

within

the framework

of

interdisciplinary

and comparative studies

.

The Division

of

Social Science

focused its research

on

five major

themes: Asia and

the

changing world; modernisation and development;

conflict and conflict

resolution;

self-identity and community building; and

science,

technology,

and society.

During 1994-95

,

researchers from

the Division

of Social Science

collaborated with colleagues

from the Department

of Computer Science

and

the Research

Centre to establish

the Archival

and

Training Institute

for Chinese Studies at

HKUST, funded

by a grant from

the University

Grants

Council.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

The Research

and

Development Branch

consolidated and

inten

s

i-fied its

efforts

in 1994-95. It increased its

outreach

into the Hong

Kong

community, augmented

its

support of

research

activities

throughout

the

University

,

expanded its own research and development

programme

s,

and directed

the University

's

ongoing

refinement

of

policies

,

procedures,

and mechanisms

for

achieving excellence

in research

and development

activities.

During the

year

, the R&D Branch

welcomed

its first

Associate

Vice-President

for

Research

and

Development, Professor Joe H.

MIZE. A

mem-ber of the

U.

S. National

Academy

of

Engineering, Professor

Mize served

HKUST

as

Acting Dean

of

Engineering

before assuming

hi

s

duties

in the

R&D Branch

on

1 May 1995. His

academic experience and extensive

research and

industrial

consultancy work will be invaluable assets as

he

tackles

his new

responsibilities.

In

addition

to this

appointment,

two

outstanding

individuals

were

recruited to fill the

positions of

Director

of

the Technology Transfer

Centre

and

Director

of

the Institute for Infrastructure Development. Both these

individuals

will assume

duties

early in the

1995-96

academic year.

In

fulfilling its mandate

to

foster research within

the University

and

ensure

its timely

application

in the

community,

the R&D Branch

depends

for its success on a

high

degree of collaboration with members of the

academic

s

taff

.

During 1994-95, faculty

members in all four schools of

the

University

were commended

for

their notable efforts

in

accelerating

the

research

component of

their

programmes.

The

success of

these

efforts

was

manifest in

a significantly

increa

sed

number of externally

funded

re-search projects and

in highly

visible publication of

research results in

in-ternationally

recognised journals

and conference proceedings.

Research Centre

The Research

Centre and

its institutes for infrastructure

develop-ment

and environmental studies

have

one overriding

mandate

:

to

con-duct

mission-oriented research to

advance

Hong

Kong's

technological

and socio-economic development.

During 1994-95

,

the Re

sea

rch

Centre

made important

strides

in the

three

critical areas targeted for

its

attention:

energy, infrastructure,

and

the

environment.

The

$119 million

project to develop

an Operational

Windshear

Warn-ing

System

for Hong

Kong's new airport entered the design

phase

while

continuing

to

attract international attention.

Funding for

a

Database

on

Technological Manufacturing Resources

in Hong

Kong and Southern China was obtained

through

a $6

.

5 million

contract with

Hong

Kong's

Industry Department.

Technology Transfer Centre

The mission

of the

Technology Transfer

Centre

is to

ensure

the timely

application of University-based

technology

and expertise

.

Working

closely

with

its

commercial arm,

the HKUST RandO

Corporation

Limited,

the

Tech

-nology Transfer

Centre

protects intellectual

properties emerging from

the

University

'

s

research programmes

and

promotes

business ventures

based

on the application of

new technologies

.

In

its

second full year of operation,

the Technology Transfer

Cen-tre

processed

12 new

patent applications

,

four

of which were subsequently

filed

.

The RandO Corporation managed

23

new

commercial

projects with

a

total

contract value of

more than

$5

million. The

Corporation's

first

busi-ness

venture,

Hong

Kong SuperNet, enjoyed outstanding success.

As

of

June 1995

,

it

was providing more

than 4

,

700

subscribers

in Hong

Kong

and

Macau with low-cost

access

to the Internet. Moreover

,

it was

named

by a regional

magazine

as the "best

Internet provider in

Asia".

Research Institutes

Research institutes

provide a

focus for the material resources

and

interdisciplinary

expertise brought

to bear

on research problems

in

spe-cific areas.

By June 1995,

seven

research institutes had

been

established

at

HKUST. Presented below

are

highlights

of

their

activities.

Researchers in the Biotechnology Research Institute licensed

a

polymer-based

drug delivery technology to

a

local pharmaceutical

pack-ing firm

.

In

another project

,

researchers

successfully extracted and

puri-fied anti-oxidant compounds

from

traditional Chinese herbal medicines

.

The RandO

Corporation

is

pursuing opportunities for

marketing these

com-pounds.

Under

a contract with

Hong

Kong's

Environmental Protection

De-partment,

the Institute for

Environmental Studies

collaborated with

the

U.S. National

Center

for

Atmospheric

Research in

carrying out

the first

air

quality

measurements

over

Hong

Kong

.

Together

with

the Hong Kong

Pro-ductivity Council

,

the Institute

also

received

a grant

from Hong

Kong's

Industry Department to

provide information concerning

the

establishment

of "green

labeling

"

programmes for

certifying

the

production of

locally

manufactured

goods as environmentally friendly.

The Hainan Institute fostered

a broad

range

of activities aimed at

enhancing the

development

of

Hainan Province. Projects initiated

during

the Institute

's

first

year -

including

a

14-day Environmental

Management

Training Programme

,

a conference on agricultural development, several

training and technology transfer programmes, and establishment of a

marine

science

research

station at Sanya,

Hainan

-

were supported by

more than

$6 million

in public

and private

fund

s.

Projects in the Hongkong Telecom Institute of Information

Tech-nology made

significant progress during

the past

year.

Researchers in

the lightwave technology

research

programme filed

a patent

in

August

for

"high efficient

light-emitting materials",

a

new family

of alloy

thin film

s

that

could

lead to the development

of

thin, lightweight

television screens.

A

second

patent disclosure

was

made in November

concerning a

harmonic

generator

for the

production of

deep ultraviolet laser radiation. The

high-speed

network research

group

began testing new

network connections

established

between HKUST

and

the Univer

s

ity

of

Hong

Kong and

the

Chinese

University

of

Hong

Kong.

A harbinger

of

the

"

information

superhighway"

of the future

,

thi

s

new network is

robust enough

to

support

multimedia

and videoconferencing

applications

.

Research Grants and Contracts

During 1994-95

,

the

Office of Contract and Grant Administration

processed 645

new proposals for

sponsored programmes.

A total

of 554

projects were started or awarded funds

during the

year; support

for these

projects

was valued at $157

million. At

year's end,

the number

of active,

sponsored

projects

administered

by OCGA wa

s 876, with

total funding

of

$354.8

million.

HKUST faculty members

submitted

164

proposals

to the Research

Grants

Council

for

Competitive

Earmarked Research Grants

.

Of these

,

106

(65%) were awarded

fund

s

amounting

to

$50.1

million

,

compared

with the $20

million

awarded

in the previous year

's

exercise

.

Another 27

propo

sa

ls (16%)

were

recommended for

support

but

were

not funded

due to insufficient re

s

ources

.

These project

s

were subsequently

funded

through Direct Allocation

Grants administered by

the Univer

s

ity.

A

to

t

a

l

o

f 747 n

ew a

nd

o

ng

o

in

g

proj

ec

t

s, va

lu

e

d

a

t $

2

06.

5

mill

i

on

,

r

ece

i

ve

d fundin

g awa

rde

d

through the R

ese

ar

c

h Gr

a

nt

s

Coun

c

il

a

nd Uni

ve

r

s

ity Gr

a

nt

s Co

un

c

il.

E

x

t

e

rn

a

l

s

upp

o

rt

a

m

o

unt

i

n

g

t

o $

14

8.3

mi

l

li

o

n

was

pro

v

i

de

d f

o

r 1

2

9 additio

na

l pro

jec

t

s,

in

c

ludin

g

6

7 n

e

w pr

o

j

ec

t

s

th

a

t

we

r

e s

t

a

rted

o

r

awa

rded fun

ds

during 1

99

4-9

5

. Thi

s s

upp

o

rt

ca

me f

rom

G

o

v

e

rn

-m

e

nt

as we

ll

as

from pri

va

t

e

found

at

i

ons a

nd l

oca

l in

d

u

s

trie

s.

S

t

a

ti

s

ti

cs

for b

o

th R

GC

/UG

C a

nd

ex

t

e

rn

a

l

so

u

rces o

f r

esea

r

c

h fundi

n

g

a

r

e s

umm

a

ri

sed

in th

e

t

a

ble

s

b

e

l

ow.

RGC/UGC Sources of Research Funding

Category

Central Allocation Vote

China Programme Development Grant Competitive Earmarked Grants Cooperative Research Centre Direct Allocation Grants Matching Funds Grants

Postgrad. Seminar Conference Grants Research Infrastructure Grants Research Travel Grants TOTAL New Projects* No. 50 106 178 5 3 29 115 487 Amount (HK$'OOO) 1,900 1,000 50,129 10,123 4,278 125 19,780 1,000 88,335 Ongoing Projects* No.

4

* New projects were started and/or awarded funds in 1994-95. Ongoing projects were started before 1994-95 and do not include new projects.

Non-RGC/UGC Sources of Research Funding

New Projects*

Ongoing Projects*

Category

No.

Amount

No.

Amount

(HK$'OOO)

(HK$'OOO)

Foundations

Sino Software Research Centre

Hong Kong Telecom Institute of

Information Technology

Associations/Societies

Companies

Hong Kong Government

U.S. Government

Phase Zero

TOTAL

* New projects were started and/or awarded funds in 1994-95. Ongoing projects were started before 1994-95 and do not include new projects.

ACADEMIC SUPI-ORT SERVICES

LIBRARY

The HKUST Library

continued

to lead the

region with innovative information services.

In

Decem-ber

1994,

the installation of

the UMI PowerPages

Systems brought engineers

from neighboring

coun-tries

on site

to

study

the installation. The first large-scale

CD-ROM

jukebo

x

system

in

Asia,

this

system

provides networked

access

to full-te

x

t images

of articles

from

over

1

,

000

journals.

Significant enhancements were

made to the

online system

during the

year, adding many new

features

to the

online ca

t

alogue

, as well as a

new

Chinese-language

interface

.

As a

leader in information technology, the Library

began

functioning

as a beta

test

site

for

a

new

interlibrary

loan module

.

Also

under

beta

testing is

a Course

Reserve Image

System

,

scheduled

to

replace

the

software

in

lise since

1993.

The Library

signifi

c

antly

expanded

its use

of

the Internet

during

the past

year. Access

to

several

remote

databases and services were shifted from commercial datalines

to

the

Internet

,

saving a great

deal

in telecommunication

costs.

The Library

also became one of

135

participating

libraries in OCLC's

programme for

"Building a Catalog of

Internet

Resources

",

which will enable selected

Internet

re-sources

to become

a

part

of

the

active

library

collection

.

In

addition

,

the Library

established

its

pres-ence

on

the World Wide Web

with

the introduction

of a

prototype

version of its

home

page in

March

1995.

The Library

acquired over 67,000 books

this past

year,

bringing the

collection to a

total

of

ap-proximately

300,000 volumes.

These

are supported by another 66,000 volumes

in

microform and about

20,000

items in media resources. Journal

subscriptions

numbered

3,240

,

supported

by

almost as

many titles

in electronic

form. Fourteen new

electronic databases were added

,

for

a

total

of

106.

Par-ticularly noteworthy is the fact that the first HKUST theses

were received and catalogued

for the

li-brary

collection

this

year.

Among other

services

,

the Library registered

over 520

,

000 circulation

transactions

-

a

40%

increase

over

the previous

year. Close

to 20%

of

this

activity

involved

audio-visual

materials

in

the

Media Resources

department.

The number

of

items held

on

reserve increased by 172% to

a

total

of

5,014

.

The Library

processed

nearly

8

,

000 requests

for interlibrary loan materials,

and more

than

5

,

000 items from its own

collection were made available

to

other libraries

,

an

increase

of almost 20%.

In March 1995

,

the Library presented the first

series of

lectures in its Colloquium on Information

Science, dealing with

t

o

pics

in

scholarly communications.

The Library

also

held two

art exhibits

during

the

year.

"Splendors

of

Brush

and

Ink"

,

from the Library

'

s own special collection, was shown

in

Sep-tember

and October

,

1994

.

"The Ceaseless

Line: Recent Works by

Chu Ko" was displayed

during

March and

April,

1995. For the latter,

an exhibition catalogue

-

the

first

in

a

new

series

-

was published.

CENTRE OF COMPUnNG SERVICES AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

When

classes

began in 1994-95

,

there

were 4,000 active

nodes

on

the

campus computer

net-work

.

During the

course of

the

year, about

1,000 more

were added

,

making

the HKUST

campus

com-puting

environment

of

the largest in the region.

Of these 5,000 nodes,

approximately

1,000

were

high-performance

workstations providing

the

large

computing capacity

needed for

current

problem

solving in science

,

engineering, and

business

and

management.