News & Stories

The Hong Kong team of the 42nd International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) proudly brought home 3 Gold and 2 Silver medals from Thailand. Students of the award-winning team were trainees of the Physics Enhancement Program under the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's (HKUST) Department of Physics. HKUST is dedicated to discovering and nurturing elite talents to advance the science and technology development of Hong Kong. Hong Kong contestants of the IPhO have attended a focused training camp by HKUST for one year. Apart from receiving training in Physics equivalent to Bachelor's level, they also fully mastered different practical techniques. The students were selected for possessing sound fundamental science knowledge and positive mentality to become qualified to enter the IPhO.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's engineering professors Matthew McKay and Bing Zeng from the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering were recently awarded the 2011 Stephen O Rice Prize in the Field of Communications Theory and the 2011 Circuits and Systems Society CSVT Transactions Best Paper Award by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) respectively. This is the first time such distinguished international awards have been presented to researchers from Hong Kong.

A team of undergraduate students from the School of Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has won the Design Elegance Award in their very first attempt at the 2011 International Student Remotely Operated Vehicle Competition (ROV). The three-day competition was held at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, USA, in mid June. This year, 26 teams of higher education students from seven countries participated. Under the simulation of oil spill scenario in the Gulf of Mexico, teams were required to design underwater robots, known as remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), to execute various tasks at a depth of over ten meters under water, such as collecting water samples, capping a wellhead and rescuing animals. Teams also had to introduce their ROVs to a panel of judges through presentation of posters. Team members were tested on both their ability to communicate what they learned and how they put their knowledge to use.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Chair Professor Mingjie Zhang and his team of researchers in the Division of Life Science have achieved significant breakthrough concerning the visual systems of animals detecting light. The discovery has been published in Cell, one of the most prestigious scientific journals in biomedical sciences, as the cover story in its latest issue.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) today (24 June) conferred Honorary Fellowships on four distinguished leaders in recognition of their contributions. Dr the Honorable Sir Sze-Yuen Chung, Pro-Chancellor, Dr the Honorable Marvin Cheung, Council Chairman, and Prof Tony F Chan, President, of HKUST officiated at the conferment ceremony. The recipients of the 2011 Honorary Fellowships are: Dr Fong Yun-Wah, Prof Roger King, Ir James Kwan, and Prof Harry Shum. Their brief biographies are set out below:

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Value Partners Group Limited (SEHK: 806) jointly announce today the launch of the Value Partners Center for Investing at the HKUST Business School - the first academic center of its kind in Hong Kong to support research and training on investment management. The Value Partners Center for Investing aims to contribute to Hong Kong's role as a pre-eminent regional asset management center through promoting and supporting a wide range of activities in relation to investment research and training. The realization of the Center has been made possible through a generous donation from Value Partners Group Limited of close to HK$10 million. The Center will become fully operational in September 2011.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)'s first PhD graduate Dr Jack Lau's founding company Perception Digital Holdings Limited transferred its listing from the GEM Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to the Main Board and started trading under the new stock code of 1822 last Friday (3 June). Perception Digital is a specialist in technological solutions for consumer electronics and technology commercialization.

In view of the 3-3-4 education reform in Hong Kong, HKUST's Center for Enhanced Learning and Teaching and the Hong Kong branch of the Higher Education Research and Development Society in Australasia (HERDSA) co-organized the first local symposium on "Engaging Undergraduates in Research and Inquiry: A Scholarly Dialogue" to promote the creation of knowledge in undergraduate education. Over 70 teaching staff from nine local post-secondary institutions gathered together at HKUST, where faculty members from local universities shared their experience in developing undergraduate research and inquiry-based learning approaches. Prof Mick Healey, a well-known higher education consultant and researcher from the UK, gave an introductory address on "The Nature and Development of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry: Mapping the Territory" to share his insights on advancing undergraduate research and inquiry to promote student learning.