HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Ninth Congregation ... 2
AoE congratulatory reception ... 3
Awards update ... 3
Robot Olympiad ... 3
Teaching and learning symposium ... 4
Athletics meet ... 4
Court, Council and Senate ... 4 INSIDE THIS ISSUE
President Chu officially installed
where he was founding Director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity and Professor of Physics. He is a member of leading aca-demic societies and has consulted and worked in some of the most prestigious research centers in the world, including Bell Labs and Los Alamos National Laboratory. He has won some of the topmost honors in science, including the John Fritz Medal and the National Medal of Science in the US.
In his installation address, President Chu said he was honored to take over the helm at a crucial time in HKUST’s and Hong Kong’s development. “I shall turn the spotlight on Hong Kong’s best-kept secret
by forging the University’s remarkable energies into a distinctive HKUST culture,” he stated. “I seek to define and nurture a spirit that makes HKUST graduates instantly recognizable.”
President Chu took over from founding President Prof Chia-Wei Woo, whom he credits with laying a solid founda-tion for the University, in July this year. “The University has an essential role to play in lifting the economic gloom currently de-scending on Hong Kong,” he said, vowing to actively work with all sectors in Hong Kong. Describing himself as the University’s chief
H
KUST formally ushered in a newera as world-renowned physicist Prof Paul Ching-Wu Chu was in-stalled as the second President of the University. The Installation Ceremony on 9 November was conducted under windy skies in the Hong Kong Jockey Club Atrium. Acting Vice-President
for Academic Affairs Prof Yuk-Shee Chan gave the introduction, praising Prof Chu as an eminent scien-tist with persever-a n c e persever-a n d v i s i o n , a caring academic administrator and teacher, and an all-round leader.
Dr the Hon Sze-Yuen Chung, Pro-C h a n c e l l o r o f HKUST, officiated the ceremony, pre-senting Prof Chu with a copy of the University Ordinance. Council Chairman Dr Vincent H S Lo
also formally welcomed the new President, presenting him with the Seal of the University. Prof Chu is a multi-award winning scientist, credited with making one of the most significant advances in modern physics—the discovery of stable superconductivity above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. He comes to HKUST from the University of Houston,
“I shall turn the spotlight on Hong Kong’s best kept secret,” vows the newly-installed President.
VOL. 12 NO. 10 5 DECEMBER 2001
coach and cheerleader, he called on faculty, staff and students to rise to this challenge with him. “Together we will light the way to the future.”
Attending the Installation were a host of distinguished guests, including fellow presidents from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Chinese University, Baptist University and City University. Government representatives included Mrs Fanny Law, JP,
HKSAR Secretary for Education and Manpower; and Dr Alice Lam, JP, Chairman of the Univer-sity Grants Committee. Adding to the applause were graduates of the Schools of Science and Humanities and Social Science, who together with their friends and families, cheered HKUST’s new President into office.
Leaders in Government, academia and the community applaud the new President into office, together with the President’s wife Mrs May Chu (front row, right).
Honored guests in-clude (from left) Mrs Fanny Law, Dr Alice Lam and Sir David Akers-Jones.
President Chu is presented a copy of the
Univer-sity Ordinance by HKUST’s Pro-Chancellor Dr the
Commencement . . . and beginning
A
t HKUST’s Ninth Congregation,2,488 graduates saw their hard work rewarded as they received their academic degrees.
Over three days from 7 to 9 November, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Atrium resounded with applause, cheers and congratulations, as families and friends celebrated with the jubi-lant graduates, who included 1,812 bachelor’s degree holders, 602 master’s degree recipients, and 74 PhDs. HKUST has nurtured nearly 16,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students since its establishment 10 years ago. The Congregation was officiated in turn by Mr Philip Chen, Vice-Chairman of the University Council; Dr Vincent H S Lo, Chairman of the University Council; and Dr the Hon Sze-Yuen Chung, Pro-Chancellor of HKUST.
On 9 November, four distinguished per-sons were awarded honorary doctorates for their outstanding contribution to education, research and public service—eminent he-matologist Prof Wang Debing, 1973 Nobel Laureate in Physics Prof Leo Esaki, Dr Lau Wah-Sum, Chairman of the Urban Renewal Authority, and Chinese literature scholar
Prof Leo Ou-Fan Lee. Two awards were also conferred on the same day: the University’s top teaching award—the Michael G Gale Medal for Distinguished Teaching—was presented to Associate Professor Andrew Horner of the Department of Computer Science, while Germaine Chore-Man Chan, past President of the HKUST Students’ Union, received the Stephen Cheong Kam-chuen Medal for Distinguished Service to the Student Body.
H K U S T ’ s N i n t h Congregration re-flects its international student population. Nobel laureate Prof Leo Esaki, honorary Doctor of Science, a d d r e s s e s t h e congregation.
Happy graduates pose with newly-installed President Chu.
Proud parents cap-ture the crowning m o m e n t s o f t h e ceremony.
Excellence at HKUST recognized
T
he clear autumn sunlight of 29 October spotlighted the achievements of the second round of Area of Excellence (AoE) recipients at HKUST, as researchers, faculty and staff gathered in the Chia-Wei Woo Academic Concourse for the AoE Con-gratulatory Reception, hosted by President Paul Ching-Wu Chu.HKUST has been selected as the leading institution on the “Molecular Neuroscience: Basic Research and Drug Discovery” AoE. Led by Prof Nancy Ip (right), Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Director of the Biotechnology Research Institute, the project focuses on utilizing modern scientific approaches to discover drugs for the treat-ment of disorders affecting the human brain. As the population of the world ages, the World Health Organization estimates that these diseases affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide with potentially staggering economic losses. “A unique feature of this research program is the combination of
molecular approaches with the utilization of Chinese herbal medicine as a source of potential neuro-drug candidates,” says Prof Ip.
The five-year project, which will receive an allocation of HK$26.8 million from the Univer-sity Grants Committe, is also expected to offer tremendous opportunities for local entrepre-neurs to invest in biotechnology start-up companies. “This AoE will assist the growth of Hong Kong’s biotechnological
infrastruc-ture and ultimately the strengthening of our economy,” says President Chu. Collaborating with HKUST on the AoE are the University of Hong Kong, Chinese University, Baptist Uni-versity and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The AoE scheme was initiated in 1998 to encourage the pursuit of excellence within Hong Kong’s tertiary institutions to develop their existing areas of strength. HKUST is also leveraging its strengths in high impact areas as key collaborator on two other AoEs— “Chinese Medicine Re-search and Further Development” and the “Institute of Molecu-lar Technology for Drug Discovery and Synthesis”, involving researchers from the D e p a r t m e n t s o f Biology, Biochemistry and Chemistry.
Awards update
•
HKUST’s Advanced Manufacturing Institute (AMI) has received a prestigious international award, in recognition of its excellence in production engineering and engineering management. The Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the world’s leading professional society for the manufactur-ing industries, presented HKUST with its LEAD Award on 12 November in Chicago. The award represents Leadership and Excellence in Application and Development, and is presented to only one university each year. AMI’s mission is to bring competitive advantages to industry by leveraging technological advances in the design, production, logistics and service sectors.•
SinoCDN, an HKUST start-up under the University’s Entre-preneurship Program, has won two 2001 Hong Kong Awards for Industry: the Machinery and Equipment Design Award, and the Technological Achievement Certificate of Merit. The awards were presented on 19 November at a ceremony officiated by the Hon Tung Chee-Hwa, Chief Executive of the HKSAR. SinoCDN was founded by PhD candidate James She (ELEC) in 2000. Winning the awards identifies the firm as being committed to the pursuit of excellence, and producing quality products and services in which customers can have full confidence.○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Robots, robots
everywhere
T
here were robots that danced; robot scorpions that stung their prey and carried it off; robots that raced and jumped and teams of robots that played soccer. There were robots every-where as 60 teams of primary and secondary students from 26 schools in Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong descended on HKUST for the 3rd International Robot Olympiad.Held on 3 November in the S H Ho Sports Hall as part of the University’s 10th anniversary celebrations, the Olympiad was organized together with Kinwell Trading Company, under the sponsorship of Lego Dacta. HKUST’s School of Engineering co-ordinated the event.
Contests included robot races, line tracing, best robot dancer and best animal robot. The philosophy behind the Robot Olympiad is to create a learning
env ironment for youngsters, and with the creativity on display in the S H Sports Hall, it was clear that many of the students at the 3rd Robot Olympiad w o u l d n u m b e r among the scientists of tomorrow.
Over 250 athletes took part in HKUST’s 10th Inter-Departmental Athletics Meet, held 3 and 4 November. Co-organized by the Track and Field Club and the Sports Association of the Students’ Union, the event was a fitting mark for the 10th anniversary of the University. The two days were hot and sunny, but the heat did not deter the athletes, including Chun Ming Wong (IEEM Year 1), who set a new record of 26.51 m in the Men’s Discus event.
10 years running
HKUST’s Center for Enhanced Learning and Teaching (CELT) will host a teaching and learning symposium on 12 December, to share experiences and innovations among the wider university community. “Teaching Innovations: Fostering a Creative and Collaborative Learning Environment”, co-organized by the Senate Committee on Teaching and Learning Quality, will be the first of a planned biennial event, aimed at assuring the continuous improvement in quality of teaching and learning at the University.
The daylong symposium will offer a rich perspective on the subject, with over 30 presentations in 9 sessions, followed by ques-tion and answer sessions and panel discussions. Topics include online teaching and learning, student-centered approaches to learning, and enhancing student learning with tecnology.
Keynote speaker will be Prof Eric Mazur, noted Harvard Univer-sity professor. Another highlight of the symposium will be the first Teaching Innovation Awards, to reward dedicated instructors at HKUST who have made a sustained effort to improve the quality of their students’ learning by innovative means. An exhibition on teach-ing and learnteach-ing will also be held in the Chia-Wei Woo Academic Concourse from 12 to 18 December. Further information is available at www.ust.hk/celt/TLSymp or by calling CELT at 2358-6811.
Creative and
collaborative learning
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We’re familiar with the terms Council, Court and Senate, but how many of us know their history? The Council, the Court and the Senate were established as the University’s supreme governing, advisory and academic bodies by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Ordinance, which came into effect on 10 April 1988.
The very next day, the HKUST Council held its first plenary meeting. 14 on the Council were members of its precursor, the University Planning Committee. At that first meeting, Chairman of the Planning Committee, Dr the Hon Sze-Yuen Chung, was appointed Council Chairman. The founding Council had a tremendous workload, including supervising the campus construction, planning the University’s academic and administration framework, and recruiting top faculty and administrative staff.
In September 1990, the Council approved their first statutes, putting the Senate into effect from 1 January 1991. These statutes became a part of the Law of Hong Kong.
The University President is the Chairman of the Senate. Membership includes faculty, staff, President of the Students’ Union, and two student representatives elected by the undergraduates and postgraduates. They play an important role in helping the University administration formulate appropriate academic policies. For example, in 1997, in response to comments from the student representatives, the Senate amended the policy on general education, lessening the workload of first year students to provide more time for extra-curricular activities.
The University Court was established on 27 May 1994. Its functions include providing advice on the University’s development, building networks for local and international collaboration, and raising funds. The Pro-Chancellor is the ex-officio Chairman of the Court. Prior to his appointment as the University’s first Pro-Chancellor on 1 April 1999, Dr Chung was acting Chairman of the Court.
The first Court had 31 members, including business and community leaders. As a symbol of their commitment to HKUST and its development, the Court held a tree-planting ceremony in April 1996. Today you can see those small trees they planted, growing and prospering with the University.
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Staff Christmas Party
Christmas is coming and it’s party time! Don’t miss the HKUST 10th Anniversary Staff Christmas Party to be held on 21 December at noon in the LG7 Student Canteen. The party is organized by the HKUST Staff Association to celebrate the festive season and as a finale of the University’s 10th anniversary celebrations. Enjoy sumptuous gourmet food, games, lucky draws with big prizes, Christmas carols and much, much more. The Staff Association will also hold a brief inauguration ceremony at the party. More details at http://www.ust.hk/~webstaff/
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New Arrivals
•Ms Maggie Lai Nga Hui (MATH) is happy to announce her marriage to Mr Chun Kit Hung on 23 September 2001.
•M s J e d d y M o k ( P C O ) i s p l e a s e d t o announce the birth of a son, Chun Lok Kan, on 19 September 2001.
•Dr Ross David Murch (ELEC) is happy to announce the birth of a son, Luke Justin Murch, on 18 October 2001.
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Home Affairs
• !"#$%&'()*+,OMMNV OP !"# • !"#$%&'()OMMNVNV !"#$%&' • !"#$%&'()*+OMMNNM NU !"#$%iìâÉ=gìëíáå=jìêÅÜSenior Editor Barbara Yang Editors Cecelia Judge, Bosco Wong Contributors Eliza Chan, Adrian Cheung, Steven Kong
Design & Production Publishing Technology Center
Genesis is published by the Office of
University Development and Public Affairs to keep members of the HKUST community in touch with
University news and views. The next issue of Genesis will be published on
6 February 2002. Contributions are welcome
but must be received at least three weeks before publication date either by fax at 2358-0537, or by
email at [email protected].
© 2001 by Hong Kong University of
Science and Technology. All rights reserved.
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Campus Calendar
6 Dec 7:30-9 pmBreeze of Autumn Winds — 2001-02 HKUSTSU Wind Ensemble Performance
Exposition Hall 7 Dec 6-9 pm
Film Series —
Hong Kong Cinema as a Cultural Discourse: Personal Visions
Chen Kuan Cheng Forum 8 Dec 7:30-9 pm
Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra Performance
Exposition Hall
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