News & Stories

The School of Business and Management of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST Business School) and ZhongAn Technologies International Group Ltd (ZA International) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) to open up a new stream of opportunities for faculty and students in the fields of Fintech and Insurtech. The HKUST Business School aspires to become a major intellectual powerhouse of Fintech in Asia and is undertaking a major Fintech research project funded by the Research Grants Council under its Theme-based Research Scheme. The project examines the impacts of Fintech on Hong Kong and looks into ways to contribute to the development of the city into a global Fintech hub.

By Henry Tye and Wang Yi, Chair Professor of Physics and IAS Professor; Assistant Professor of Physics, HKUST Scientific breakthroughs do not always make the front pages, but when an image of a black hole was released in mid-April, it became a headliner for days. What makes this photo so fascinating? There are multiple reasons. First, it is the first time humanity succeeded at photographing a black hole; in the past, scientists only inferred its existence from the effect black holes exert on their neighbors via its gravitational waves. Second, this picture confirms a number of theories we have long believed about these mysterious objects. People often ask: "How do you see a black hole?" Thanks to the immense energy emitted by its spinning accretion disk, this cosmological wonder is actually one of the brightest objects in the universe.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) will launch Hong Kong’s first undergraduate program in ocean science and technology this September, to nurture a young generation of new professionals with first-hand experience on the investigation, conservation and management of marine environment.

By Mow Wai-ho, Associate Professor of Electronic and Computer Engineering, HKUST Compared with the mainland, Hong Kong seems to be lagging behind in adopting QR codes for financial transactions. However, innovators in Hong Kong are not standing still in developing the next generation of barcodes that can revolutionize the way we do business. For example, my research team is continuing to work on PiCode, a barcode variant that utilizes images instead of the black-and-white lines and blocks that comprise conventional barcodes and QR codes. We have spent almost five years researching picture- and video-embedded codes, and are now in the demonstration phase. Picture-embedded barcodes offer considerable potential in consumer marketing. Many people may find regular barcodes intrusive, and businesses have searched for ways to transmit data and information to consumers in a more pleasing format.

A joint research team of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and The South China Normal University (SCNU) has set a new record of photonic quantum memory efficiency, pushing quantum computation a step closer to reality. Like memories in computers, quantum memories are essential components for quantum computers – a new generation of data processors that obey quantum mechanics laws and can overcome the limitations of classical computers. They may push boundaries of fundamental science and help create new drugs, explain cosmological mysteries, or enhance accuracy of forecasts and optimization plans with their potent computational power. Quantum computers are expected to be much faster and more powerful than their traditional counterparts as information is calculated in qubits – which unlike the older units (bits) used in classical computers, can represent both 0 and 1 at the same time.  

Edith Lee has experienced serious heartbreaks when she narrowly missed out on qualifying for world-class archery competitions not only once, but twice. The computer science and engineering student, who is one of the city’s top recurve bow archers, is now taking her gap year before resuming her final year study in September, after her disqualification for the World University Championships and the Asian Games. Edith studied science subjects in secondary school but she admits she was never a top student, so had never dreamed of studying in a university. But in order to follow her idol Korean archer Ki Bo Bae’s path to compete in the World University Archery Championships, she studied extremely hard and was admitted to HKUST in 2015.

The Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA (EMBA) Program is ranked the top in the world in the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Global EMBA Rankings 2019.For the third time, QS profiles the world’s top EMBA programs, including a separate chart for the best joint EMBA programs offered as partnerships across more than one school. The Kellogg-HKUST EMBA has not only ranked the best joint EMBA program for the second time in three years, but also scored a perfect 100 in two of the five indicators used to compile the ranking, namely “employer reputation” and “career outcomes”. Launched in 1998, the Kellogg-HKUST EMBA is the first joint EMBA program in Asia and has maintained its leading position for over two decades. In addition to the latest QS Rankings, the Program made a record-setting achievement last year by topping the Financial Times Global EMBA Rankings for the ninth time.

By Jason Chan, Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, HKUST Science is hailed by modern society as an academic discipline of strict moral grounding and high integrity. Almost every one would place some degree of trust in scientific studies as they are deemed to represent knowledge derived from empirical evidence gathered through meticulous experiments. Given its high social status, there is no doubt that people would feel inclined to trust a product or service backed up by scientific studies or claims. Unlike medical products and services that are tightly regulated by civil authorities, commercial use of scientific claims is less severely vetted. This has created a grey area for pseudoscientists, who devise clever scams that have the appearance of science but are full of errors and lies. One can learn well from a few recent (and still ongoing) examples - the alkaline diet and alkaline water scam.