SENG News, Issue 14

Abstract

SENG News Jan 2017 Issue 14 School of Engineering The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Academic Excellence HKUST Engineering Ranks No.19 Globally The prestigious Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2016-2017 by subject ranked HKUST No.19 in engineering and technology and No.14 in computer science. Read More Faculty Achievements Prof Ching W Tang Receives 2017 IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal Prof Ching W Tang, IAS Bank of East Asia Professor and Chair Professor of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Chemistry and Physics, received the 2017 IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal together with two other professors for their pioneering work on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays. Read More Fare Deals, Fair Play, and Financial Engineering Companies, consumers and Hong Kong’s knowledge economy can all benefit from revenue management and dynamic pricing, according to SENG department head and industry operations pioneer Prof Guillermo Gallego. Read More Prof Tianshou Zhao Named Highly Cited Researcher for Third Consecutive Year Prof Tianshou Zhao, Chair Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Director of HKUST Energy Institute, has been selected as a Highly Cited Researcher by Thomson Reuters for three consecutive years. Read More SENG Awards Recognize Outstanding Teachers Profs David Rossiter, Ben Chan, Robin Ma and Raymond Wong were honored in the School of Engineering Teaching Excellence Appreciation Award 2015-16. Read More Prof Michael Yu Wang Appointed Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering Prof Michael Yu Wang, Founding Director of the HKUST Robotics Institute and Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and Electronic & Computer Engineering, has been appointed as the editor-in-chief of IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering for a 5-year term starting from October 2016. Read More Former Dean Named President-Elect of IEEE Communications Society Prof Khaled Ben Letaief, Chair Professor of Electronic and Computer Engineering and former Dean of Engineering, was named President-Elect of the IEEE Communications Society. Read More Women in Engineering Alumni Series: Women in Engineering – meet Karen Leong Karen Ka Long Leong received the 2016 ASME Arthur L Williston Medal with her paper on fuel choice regulation in the marine industry. She talks about how her winning work could help the environment and how she enjoys being an engineer. Read More

Research Excellence HKUST Researchers Develop Novel Audio Technology and Sales Model that Bring More Affordable and Better-performed Hearing Aids HKUST researchers have developed an intelligent hearing aid which not only allows users to adjust the clarity of selected sound sources, but is also much more affordable at just one tenth the price of similar products in the market. Read More HKUST Builds Frameworks to Boost Development of Mobile Applications on Augmented Reality Augmented Reality (AR) is the next big thing for mobile devices. Researchers at HKUST are on course of building a novel AR platform for mobile devices, in efforts to facilitate an ecosystem for entrepreneurs and programmers to develop AR programs and applications on mobile and wearable devices. Read More Student Achievements HKUST Wins Silver in Cybathlon – the World’s First Olympics for Bionic Athletes A team of undergraduate students at HKUST has developed a wheelchair which is not only cheap, but is also safe and effective enough to be crowned silver in the powered wheelchair race of Cybathlon – the world’s first “Bionic Olympics”, against competitors including Imperial College of London and ETH Zurich. Read More SENG Makes a Clean Sweep in the First Falling Walls Lab Hong Kong at HKUST There was a clean sweep of the awards in the first Falling Walls Lab Hong Kong at HKUST for School of Engineering students, who took the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. Read More HKUST Smart Car Team Performs Well in Intelligent Car Competition The Smart Car Team of the HKUST Robotics Team attained good results in the NXP Cup National University Students Intelligent Car Race(South China Region) held in Central South University in Changsha from July 16-19. Read More Industry Engagement HKUST Students Present Innovative Environmental Research Projects at Ford Regional Headquarters The 2015-16 Ford-HKUST Conservation and Environmental Research grants programme concluded with the 20 grant recipients visiting the Ford Motor Company’s regional headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand. Read More

Global Engagement Leaders of Top Engineering Institutions Gather at HKUST for Asia-Oceania Top University League on Engineering Conference The School of Engineering organized the Asia-Oceania Top University League on Engineering (AOTULE) Conference 2016 during November 23-25, attracting more than 110 deans, academics, senior administrative staff and students to the campus. Read More Community Engagement HKUST Receives Donation from Bright Future Charitable Foundation to Establish Academy for Bright Future Young Engineers HKUST celebrated on November 5, 2016 the opening of the Academy for Bright Future Young Engineers, where engineering students at HKUST will be given the opportunities to mentor and engage secondary school students in various engineering workshops, to spark their interests in technology and instill in them an engineering frame of mind. Read More SENG Holds its First Entrepreneurship Camp for Secondary School Students The School of Engineering successfully organized its first-ever Technology Leadership and Entrepreneurship Youth Camp for secondary school students from August 8 to 12. Read More Campus News Global Experts in Water Quality Converge at HKUST to Share Information and Insights Sixteen world renowned experts in water pollution control from overseas, Mainland China and Hong Kong assembled at HKUST from October 20 to 22 to share experiences of today and to crystal-gaze future possibilities for improvement. Read More SENG Distinguished Research Excellence Awardee Prof Qiang Yang Gives Keynote on Artificial Intelligence The recipient of the School of Engineering Distinguished Research Excellence Award 2016, Prof Qiang Yang, delivered an insightful keynote on the topic of “Artificial Intelligence Under Big Data and Small Data” on December 14. Read More Mr Yunfei Zhang Shares Entrepreneurial Insights on Unmanned Surface Vehicles at SENG/MAE 25th Anniversary Star Alumni Talk The School of Engineering (SENG) and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) successfully co-organized the SENG/MAE 25th Anniversary Star Alumni Talk on September 29, featuring distinguished MAE alumnus Mr Zhang Yunfei, who is the Founder and President of Zhuhai Yunzhou Intelligence Technology Co. Ltd. Read More

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29 / 09 / 2016 HKUST Engineering Ranks No.19 Globally

The newly released prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2016-2017 by subject: engineering and technology ranked HKUST No.19 worldwide and No.1 in Hong Kong. Five subjects are used to create this ranking, namely general engineering, electrical and electronic engineering, mechanical and aerospace engineering, civil engineering, and chemical engineering.

The engineering and technology ranking is one of the eight subject rankings published by THE in 2016-2017. Among them, two subject rankings are published for the first time and one is computer science. HKUST was ranked No.14 globally, jointly with Nanyang Technological University, and No.1 in Greater China in this new subject ranking.

The subject tables employ the same range of 13 performance indicators used in the overall World University Rankings 2016-2017, brought together with scores provided under five categories: teaching, research, citations, citations, international outlook and industry income. Related Link(s) Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2016-2017 by subject: engineering and technology Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2016-2017 by subject: computer science AddThis Sharing Buttons Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to PrintShare to EmailShare to More

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繁體 简体 18 / 12 / 2016 HKUST Researchers Develop Novel Audio Technology and Sales Model that Bring More Affordable and Better-performed Hearing Aids Prof Richard So (right) and Calvin Zhang showcase the research outcome of their audio technology. [Download Photo]

Researchers from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed an intelligent hearing aid which not only allows users to adjust the clarity of selected sound sources, but is also much more affordable at just one tenth the price of similar products in the market.

Developed by Prof Richard So from the Department of Industrial Engineering and Logistics Management and his student Calvin Zhang, fresh graduate of MPhil Program in Technology Leadership and Entrepreneurship (TLE), the novel audio technology not only promises to improve life for the elderly and the hearing-impaired, but will also enhance the audio quality of hearing protection equipment and communication devices such as mobile phones and walkie-talkies, as well as the accuracy of voice recognition devices.

Prof So said the new hearing aid combines innovative technology with new sales model, so not only it meets market demand, but it also comes in affordable prices. “Hearing impairment is a common problem among the elderly, but many of them are deterred from using hearing-aid devices due to money concern and their quality,” Prof So said. “We hope our product can help improve the well-being of people who are in need of such hearing-aid devices.”

The new technology uses a bio-inspired filtering and pattern recognition system to separate background noise from target audio signals. Users can adjust the volume of the target signals, hence significantly enhancing performance of the hearing aid. The technology is at the frontier of international level. The team has already filed patents.

Meanwhile, Incus Company Ltd – the start-up founded by Prof So’s team to commercialize the hearing aid, also created a mobile app that offers potential customers a chance to try the product. The app first conducts accredited hearing tests on users, then based on those results, it generates a customized trial for the user, who can place order for the product only if he is satisfied with the trial outcome. Such sales model resulted in a significant price reduction that reaches up to 90 per cent of that of existing products.

The team has garnered several awards in different entrepreneurship competitions across Greater China with their innovative audio technology, that include top prizes in the Innovation in the Cross-Strait, HK and Macau Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, as well as the “New World Cup” First Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition in the start-up category.

The School of Engineering has been strengthening its entrepreneurship education. It launched the MPhil Program in TLE in fall 2014 and a minor undergraduate program in entrepreneurship with the School of Business and Management in spring the same year. The school’s students, faculty and alumni set up a great number of start-ups over the years, including DJI, the world’s first multibillion drone empire founded by Electronic and Computer Engineering alumnus Frank Wang, who was named by Forbes magazine as one of the Top 10 Innovators in China in 2014.

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20 / 01 / 2017 Leaders of Top Engineering Institutions Gather at HKUST for Asia-Oceania Top University League on Engineering Conference 2016 [Download Photo]

The School of Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) organized the Asia-Oceania Top University League on Engineering (AOTULE) Conference 2016 during November 23-25. Composed of the Deans’ Meeting, Administrative Staff Meeting and Student Conference, the annual AOTULE conference was well received by more than 110 deans, academics, senior administrative staff and students in engineering from the 12 members of AOTULE league, namely (i) Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia; (ii) Chulalongkorn University, Thailand; (iii) Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Vietnam; (iv) Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India; (v) Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea; (vi) Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; (vii) National Taiwan University, Taiwan; (viii) The University of Melbourne, Australia; (ix) The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong; (x) Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan; (xi) Tsinghua University, China; and (xii) University of Malaya, Malaysia.

The Deans’ Meeting took place in parallel with the Administrative Staff Meeting and Student Conference. With the themes of “Best Practices of Innovative Teaching”, “Best Practices of Entrepreneurship” and “Research Collaboration Across Partner Institutions”, the Deans’ Meeting explored several collective responses to the perceived or real “avalanche of change” in higher education to enhance engineering education and set policies and guidelines for engineers across the region.

Centered on the theme of “Student Mobility and Professional Development on Postgraduate Studies”, the Administrative Staff Meeting enabled staff representatives from member institutions to open a constructive dialogue to strengthen cross-institutional student exchange for knowledge advancement and the professional development of research postgraduate students in engineering.

The School of Engineering embarked a new program in the Student Conference. Students not only presented their own research like in past conferences, but also collaborated with their counterparts of different backgrounds from other universities to work on a team project on “Global Problems Related to Big Cities”, applying knowledge of green built environment, sustainable living, and big data.

Officiating at the opening ceremony, Dean of Engineering Prof Tim Cheng said, “Knowing and learning alongside people across cultures and disciplines is vital for preparing students for thriving in an increasingly diverse global society. Dynamic exchanges yield creative results and often generate unique ideas and innovative solutions to problems. Such a powerful synergy should be highly encouraged among student groups.”

Prof Cheng added that, “This year is a very important milestone for HKUST, as it marks our 25th anniversary. The University’s anniversary slogan is ‘Innovating Today, Imagining Tomorrow’. We are pleased to invite Deans of Engineering and representatives to this auspicious occasion and to explore the potential collaboration in online education to further improve international partnerships and student/staff mobility.”

AOTULE was founded in 2007 by forming strong collaborative relationships through exchanges of information, students, faculty members and staff among the top ranking engineering universities in the Asia-Oceania region. With 12 member institutions, AOTULE promotes inter-university cooperation through joint programs including an annual Deans’ Meeting, student workshop and exchanges of students and staff to improve the quality of engineering education and research of the members. It also aims to broaden participating students’ perspectives through education, research and cross-cultural interactions.

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13 / 12 / 2016 Prof Ching W Tang Receives 2017 IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal

Prof Ching W Tang, IAS Bank of East Asia Professor and Chair Professor of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Chemistry and Physics, received the 2017 IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal together with two other professors from the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California for their pioneering work on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays.

The medal was established in 2002 in honor of Prof Jun-ichi Nishizawa, the Father of Japanese Microelectronics, and is presented to an individual, multiple recipients or a team of up to three who have made outstanding contributions to material and device science and technology, including practical application. Related Link(s) IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal AddThis Sharing Buttons Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to PrintShare to EmailShare to More

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11 / 01 / 2017 Fare Deals, Fair Play, and Financial Engineering Prof Guillermo Gallego (2nd from right) received the 2016 INFORMS Impact Prize at the 2016 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Nashville, US, in November. [Download Photo]

Companies, consumers and Hong Kong’s knowledge economy can all benefit from revenue management and dynamic pricing, according to SENG department head and industry operations pioneer Prof Guillermo Gallego

Prof Guillermo Gallego, Head and Chair Professor of the Industrial Engineering and Logistics Management (IELM) Department and Crown Worldwide Professor of Engineering, is a man with an eye for a good deal – for both companies and their customers.

As one of the academic founding fathers of revenue management and dynamic pricing, we have Prof Gallego and his fellow trailblazers to thank for revolutionizing the way that many businesses sell their products. For example, lower-priced air fares sold to leisure customers that book early, with prices rising for those who book close to departure depending on availability considerations.

Gaining a competitive edge

In recognition of his significant contribution to the field, Prof Gallego, who joined HKUST in 2016 from Columbia University in New York, recently received the 2016 INFORMS Impact Prize together with other academics and business executives who led the way to the widespread adoption of the revenue management strategy. The biennial accolade is one of the leading honors awarded by the prestigious Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), the world’s largest professional organization for operations research, management science and analytics with over 12,000 members.

A response to the era of ultra-competitiveness unleashed by deregulation and globalization in the late 1970s and 1980s, revenue management and dynamic pricing started out as a method for higher-cost established airline companies in the US to match and beat the cheaper fares of newbie budget rivals. It was subsequently utilized in other industries to maximize revenue for inventory within a limited time frame, such as car rental companies, fashion retailers, sports and theater events promoters, hotels, and e-commerce.

CEOs and academics pioneered the move, the latter including Prof Gallego. Observing the trend of falling and rising fares as a frequent flyer, Prof Gallego started to ask himself questions about when an airline should increase its prices or a retailer start to discount products. In 1994, he published a fundamental paper together with his then Columbia colleague Garrett van Ryzin titled “Optimal Dynamic Pricing of Inventories with Stochastic Demand over Finite Horizons” that became highly cited and voted one of the most influential papers published in Management Science. A year later, another article written with former student Youyi Feng garnered further attention by exploring “Optimal Starting Times for End-of-Season Sales and Optimal Stopping Times for Promotional Fares”. “The rudimentary elements of how to carry out revenue management and dynamic pricing started in industry but there wasn’t a well-developed way of thinking about the problem,” Prof Gallego explained.

He and van Ryzin went on to do extensive consulting for firms in different sectors, leading to numerous applications and more papers, broadening the practical and theoretical impact. Among Prof Gallego’s consultancies have been projects for Hewlett Packard, Lucent Technologies, several airlines and airline solution providers, and Disney World, among others. “Thousands of people are now working in the field. It is common to see a vice-president for pricing or revenue management in industry and positions in academia and research labs for people with expertise in this area,” he said.

All-round benefits

His recent research has helped to address the concern of whether the consumer gains from dynamic pricing along with the firm. “Some CEOs were initially skeptical about the benefits to the customer and worried that over the long term it might prove to be a sub-zero-sum game for the company. This motivated me to look into the question of how customers fare with these tools. Lately, we have been able to demonstrate that in nearly every case it is a win-win situation for both the firm and its consumers.”

Key elements for successful revenue management and dynamic pricing are mathematical models and the development of algorithms based on theory, demand forecasting and assessment of the competition. “Essentially, it is a balancing of demand and supply,” Prof Gallego noted. But one that shows that the intuitive response to seek full planes or theaters is not always true. “In some cases, where you are capacity constrained, your action is to maximize the amount you get per unit of capacity. However, where you have ample capacity but only limited time to sell it, then time is your precious resource and you want to maximize the amount of money per unit of time until the end of the sales horizon. You know it wouldn’t be optimal to drop the price as much as you would need to sell all the seats. What you want to do is maximize the revenue rate – the rate at which you accrue revenue.”

Given the extensive parameters to be considered, companies may need to develop their own system or one that enables them to work together with others in a sector, such as the airline industry’s practice of code-sharing flights. However, it is not only multinational and businesses with deep pockets that can take advantage of revenue management and dynamic pricing, according to Prof Gallego. Smaller companies can benefit by rapidly implementing off-the-shelf results from academic papers. Should they get stuck, they can turn to such researchers and their students for guidance, he said. “With relatively small effort and expense, companies can implement a system that improves their operations substantially.”

In addition, operations and management science researchers can find fertile ground for more studies investigating demand management, an issue Prof Gallego spoke on during his INFORMS award ceremony speech on behalf of all the awardees in November. “People have been working on the supply side – supply chain management – for a long time. Yet they always assume very simple forms of demand; that there is a price and a certain demand for that price. However, companies are not really operating that way. They have to dynamically adjust their prices depending on how items are selling. Supply chain analytics need to be informed by demand management, that is revenue management and dynamic pricing. One of the goals of my INFORMS speech was to raise awareness of the interconnections between the demand and supply sides,” he said.

Boosting Hong Kong’s knowledge economy

Prof Gallego has found it immensely satisfying that his work has had such impact on different business sectors across the world, seeing the possibility of extending revenue management concepts into healthcare and into private infrastructure in the future. Another source of joy is to serve as an institutional builder. While at Columbia, he launched one of the world’s first and most sought-after financial engineering master’s programs and built up his department from nine to over 20 faculty members.

Such insights and talents are now being put to work in his role as Head of the IELM Department, which he is seeking to steer toward research and education more related to decision-analytic tools and financial engineering to assist Hong Kong’s knowledge economy, including the banking, insurance, healthcare, and airline sectors, and the government. “All these areas need smart people who can help with better decision-making. If we can train those people, then I think we will be in good shape.”

He is also pleased with his own decision-making to move to Hong Kong and join HKUST. “I was very impressed that in 25 years HKUST had become one of the world’s leading universities. Things are dynamic and move so fast here. The potential for this University over the next 10 years is enormous and I want to be part of it.” Related Link(s) INFORMS Impact Prize News of IELM Department: Prof Guillermo Gallego received the 2016 INFORMS Impact Prize AddThis Sharing Buttons Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to PrintShare to EmailShare to More

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01 / 12 / 2016 Prof Tianshou Zhao Named Highly Cited Researcher for Third Consecutive Year Prof Tianshou Zhao

Prof Tianshou Zhao, Chair Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Director of HKUST Energy Institute, has been selected as a Highly Cited Researcher 2016 by Thomson Reuters. This is the third consecutive year he has been selected in the list, which represents some of the world’s most influential scientific minds. The honor is given to researchers whose papers rank among the top 1% most cited works for their subject field during the 11-year period of 2004-2014, earning them the mark of exceptional impact.

The list recognizes leading researchers in the sciences and social sciences from around the world with their work identified as among the most valuable and significant in the field. The 2016 list contains about 3,000 highly cited researchers in 21 fields of the sciences and social sciences. Prof Zhao is among only 145 researchers worldwide to be included in the engineering field of the list. There are a total of seven recipients from Hong Kong in the engineering field. Related Link(s) 2016 Highly Cited Researchers AddThis Sharing Buttons Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to PrintShare to EmailShare to More

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24 / 10 / 2016 SENG Awards Recognize Outstanding Teachers

Four faculty members were honored in the School of Engineering (SENG) Teaching Excellence Appreciation Award 2015-16. The award recognizes faculty members who demonstrate continuous excellence in undergraduate teaching, foster students’ interest in the subject, promote students’ learning, develop innovative and effective teaching methodologies, and more. Prof David Rossiter

Prof David Rossiter, Computer Science and Engineering, received the Distinguished Teaching Award. He developed a new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) which attracted more than 100,000 students to enroll and is one of the most popular MOOCs offered by HKUST. His teaching excellence has been recognized by being consistently voted the best teacher at various competitions at the university, such as the Best Ten Lecturers in 2014 and UST Great Minds in 2016. He has consistently earned very high student evaluation scores in different courses and has written books on Python Programming and Excel VBA which are being used in the department’s courses.

Prof Ben Chan, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Prof Robin Ma, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Prof Raymond Wong, Computer Science and Engineering, received Teaching Awards. Prof Ben Chan

On top of his very heavy administrative duty as Associate Director of the Center for Engineering Education Innovation to take care of all 700+ Year 1 SENG students, in the past three years Prof Ben Chan taught seven undergraduate courses which were all large classes with an enrollment of over 250 students. This effort has been astounding. He has also been conducting research on teaching and curriculum development, resulting in publications and presentations in international conferences on engineering education. His innovations in developing new teaching pedagogies and learning assessment methods have greatly contributed to the outcome-based course and curriculum development in the department. A dedicated teacher, Prof Chan genuinely has the interest of all students and this has been indicated by his unselfish allocation of time and effort in helping them. Prof Robin Ma

Prof Robin Ma has been active in undergraduate teaching as well as in leading experiential learning activities. He revamped the MECH2907 course by integrating a number of small projects into the classroom, receiving excellent feedback from students as they had the chance to get a lot of hands-on experience. He also led HKUST student teams to participate in engineering design competitions and earned major awards, including achieving the world’s No.2 place in Cybathlon held in Switzerland and Energy Efficient Design Award in the solar car competition organized by the Hong Kong government. Each competition was part of an experiential learning course. He also supervised a team of HKUST students to work with University of Iowa in a virtual design project class which enabled the students to gain international exposure. Prof Raymond Wong

Prof Raymond Wong, an innovative instructor, developed a Common Core course on Exploring and Visualizing Data (COMP192/1942) in his early career at HKUST to introduce data analytics techniques to students at beginning undergraduate level. His effort has earned him very high student evaluation scores consistently over the years. He served as Director of the Computer Engineering Program from 2014 to 2016 where he had been successful in promoting student interaction with a large increase in enrollment and raising the quality of the program to a higher level. He has also been introducing new teaching methods, including role play and interactive demonstration, to increase student participation in class. AddThis Sharing Buttons Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to PrintShare to EmailShare to More

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09 / 09 / 2016 Prof Michael Yu Wang Appointed Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering

Prof Michael Yu Wang, Founding Director of the HKUST Robotics Institute and Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and Electronic & Computer Engineering, is appointed to be the next editor-in-chief of IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (T-ASE) for a 5-year term starting from October 2016.

Published by IEEE Robotics and Automation Society since 2004, T-ASE covers new abstractions, algorithms, theory, methodologies, models, systems, and case studies that can be applied across industries to significantly advance efficiency, quality, productivity, and reliability for society. Its acceptance rate is under 15% and impact factor is 2.696.

Prof Wang joined HKUST in 2015 in his current positions. His research focuses on robotics and control, particularly in the interdisciplinary study of robotics, automation, structural optimization and additive manufacturing. He obtained his PhD in Carnegie Mellon University and served on the engineering faculty at University of Maryland, Chinese University of Hong Kong and National University of Singapore before coming to HKUST. He is a Fellow of ASME, IEEE and HKIE and was internationally recognized by many awards, including ASME Design Automation Award and State Natural Science Award (Second Class) of China. AddThis Sharing Buttons Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to PrintShare to EmailShare to More

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05 / 08 / 2016 Former Dean Named President-Elect of IEEE Communications Society

Prof Khaled Ben Letaief, Chair Professor of Electronic and Computer Engineering (ECE) and former Dean of Engineering, was named President-Elect of the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc), an independent society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) with over 32,000 members in more than 160 countries.

He will serve a one-year term as President-Elect in 2017 and subsequently a two-year term as President in 2018 and 2019. The election is held every two years and is based upon a worldwide vote by all members and graduate students members. Founded in 1952, IEEE ComSoc is a leading global community comprised of a diverse group of industry professionals with a common interest in advancing all communications technologies.

Prof Letaief is currently Provost of Hamad bin Khalifa University, a newly established research-intensive university in Qatar. He joined HKUST in 1993 and had served as the Dean of Engineering from 2009 to 2015 and the Head of ECE Department from 2003 to 2009. As a world-renowned leader in wireless communications and networks, he has published over 500 journal and conference papers and given invited keynote talks as well as courses all over the world. He has made six major contributions to IEEE Standards along with 13 patents. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications and was instrumental in organizing many IEEE flagship conferences as well as serving IEEE in many leadership positions, including IEEE ComSoc Vice-President for Technical Activities and IEEE ComSoc Vice-President for Conferences.

Prof Letaief is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including IEEE Marconi Prize Paper Award (2009 & 2016), 2010 Purdue Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award and 2011 IEEE Harold Sobol Award. He is also named ISI Highly Cited Researcher, IEEE Fellow and HKIE Fellow.

He holds the BS degree with distinction, MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University, US. AddThis Sharing Buttons Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to PrintShare to EmailShare to More

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19 / 01 / 2017 Alumni Series: Women in Engineering – meet Karen Leong

BEng in Mechanical Engineering (2016), HKUST The first Hong Kong recipient – and one of the few female recipients – of the prestigious Arthur L Williston Medal by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in the award’s 60+ years of history Currently a Graduate Trainee of a leading electrical and mechanical engineering contractor company based in Hong Kong

Karen received the prestigious ASME Arthur L Williston Medal at a ceremony at the ASME Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition in Arizona, US, in November 2016.

Karen Ka Long Leong received the 2016 ASME Arthur L Williston Medal with her paper on fuel choice regulation in the marine industry. The medal is presented annually to the student or recent graduate who writes the best paper in the area of civic service. The theme of the 2016 contest was “Achieving 2025 Greenhouse Gas Emissions While Creating Economic Growth and Quality of Life Benefits”. She talks about how her winning work could help the environment and how she enjoys being an engineer.

What is your winning paper about? My paper on “Fuel Choice Regulation – The Way to Narrow the Gap Between Current IMO Marine Standard and 2025 Greenhouse Gas Emission Target” examined carbon dioxide reduction in the marine industry of the United States. I looked at biodiesel, natural gas and nuclear power as potential alternatives for ships, assessing their feasibility using a range of parameters, including technology maturity, lifecycle cost and environmental performance.

How did you come up with the idea of studying the US marine industry? I came up with the idea of studying the US marine industry because in US the transportation sector emits the largest amount of carbon dioxide and I found that marine sector has fewer regulations relevant to carbon emission.

How is your paper relevant to the society? The meaning of my paper is to suggest ideas to achieve the 2025 greenhouse emission target as the global warming worsens our living environment. We do need to have more solution to deal with the current situation as relying only on the current measures is not enough for achieving the goal and the 2°C target is just the minimum carbon reduction to prevent irreversible climate change.

Did you receive support from any mentors in writing the paper? How did they guide you? Yes. The contest requires the author to seek support from an ASME member to be the sponsor by providing us advice throughout the preparation time. My sponsor Ir W K Chow, who is the Advisory Committee Chairman of the ASME Hong Kong Section, gave me lots of advice throughout the process. He guided me to set up the title of my paper first (which is one of the most challenging tasks during my preparation) and reviewed my work. As I have no similar experience on writing a paper for a competition before, I am grateful to have Ir Chow to discuss the direction and flow of the paper.

Also, I have sought advice from my department’s communication tutor Mr Graham Young when I finished the first draft. His advice helps me to improve the sentence structure and effectiveness of my expression.

Why did you choose engineering and HKUST? I chose engineering because it enabled me to apply scientific knowledge to daily life. I was interested in learning science when I was in high school. HKUST Engineering School is well-known and offers a lot of opportunities for me to explore the subject.

What do you like about studying at HKUST? My horizons are broadened over these years. The study life in HKUST is full of challenges and this enables me to keep on learning and improving. HKUST also gives me many opportunities to try different things and helps me to discover my potential.

What kind of project do you work on in your current position? How do you like the work experience? I am involved in a water treatment project. I like to work in a contractor company because I can acquire more site work experience, which is vital for carrying out design work and can equip myself with better fundamental knowledge of mechanical design.

What are your short-term and long-term plans? What is your career aspiration? My short-term plan is to accumulate more engineering knowledge and site experience these years. I hope that in long term I can make good use of these knowledge and experience to benefit our communities and the environment. My career aspiration is to participate in innovative projects that make our life different from the past.

As a female undergraduate student, how do you see the gender balance at SENG? Although there are more male students in SENG, more and more females are joining every year. The gender balance is getting better and better these years. To me, gender balance is not going to hinder my interest in engineering. I get used to studying and working in an environment with more males.

Advice to prospective students who are interested in engineering? Engineering knowledge is closely related to our daily lives. If you pay attention to the engineering knowledge applied to our daily lives, you will find that engineering is much more interesting.

As engineering students, you should also be curious about your daily lives as this helps to stimulate new ideas to solve real-world problems.

Apart from studying course materials, engineering students should also read magazines and websites related to the field to learn about state-of-the-art technology and interesting ideas. This will be helpful to your studies. Related Link(s) SENG news: Undergraduate Student Received ASME Arthur L Williston Medal HKUST cover story: First of Her Kind AddThis Sharing Buttons Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to PrintShare to EmailShare to More

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繁體 简体 20 / 09 / 2016 HKUST Builds Frameworks to Boost Development of Mobile Applications on Augmented Reality Prof Pan Hui (middle front) and his research team. [Download Photo]

Augmented Reality (AR) is the next big thing for mobile devices. Researchers at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) are on course of building a novel AR platform for mobile devices, in efforts to facilitate an ecosystem for entrepreneurs and programmers to develop AR programs and applications on mobile and wearable devices.

Prof Pan Hui, Director of HKUST-DT System and Media Lab (SyMLab), said the lab resolved to a bottom-up approach in its research to facilitate the development of AR applications on mobile and wearable devices. “We sought to identify and develop major AR components including hardware platforms, software frameworks and display devices, then we enable technologies such as object tracking and process offloading to significantly accelerate the development cycle,” he said.

Setting up in 2013, SyMLab is a joint laboratory generously funded by Deutsche Telekom (DT), a major telecom operator in Europe and the US, to conduct cutting-edge research in the area of mobile systems and media. The vision of the lab is to bring pioneering system and media research to Asia by providing an excellent academic research environment with strong ties to industries and to address real problems. HKUST is the first university in East Asia to establish a joint lab with DT.

SyMLab has been developing dozens of AR system components, it has filed 18 patents so far spanning across different AR sectors. Among the projects are CloudRidAR – a mobile cloud computing technology and the in-cloud big data processing algorithms which allows real-time performance of mobile AR apps by offloading intensive computational operations to the cloud and co-located devices. Users can thus access a plethora of relevant data, reviews or analysis when they point the mobile to an object – a book or a movie poster, without having to overwhelm the mobile devices. The project has received over HK$2 million funding from the Innovation and Technology Commission.

While AR enriches the real world with digital information and media, it also raised many privacy issues. To address the problem, researchers at SyMLab proposed a novel interactive and context-aware platform between mobile users and cameras, allowing users to use static tags and flexible hand gestures to blur their faces in the photographs.

The lab is also developing an integrated system called Ubii – which allow users to interact with several smart devices using simple hand gestures. This new human-computer paradigm allows files to be transferred easily among computers or sent to the printer remotely with a ‘dragging’ hand gesture. Other projects include a real-time emotion sensing system on mobile and wearable devices, and an AR social network which allows people to share messages with other users without having to go through the server.

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繁體 简体 26 / 10 / 2016 HKUST Wins Silver in Cybathlon – the World’s First Olympics for Bionic Athletes Prof Robin Ma (back row, third left) and members of HKUSTwheels [Download Photo]

A team of undergraduate students at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed a wheelchair which is not only cheap, but is also safe and effective enough to be crowned silver in the powered wheelchair race of Cybathlon – the world’s first “Bionic Olympics”, against competitors including Imperial College of London and ETH Zurich.

Developed by a team of seven HKUST students in just eight months’ time, the wheelchair, driven by pilot Carol Ng Cho-yu from the Hong Kong Federation of Handicapped Youth, finished the race comprising six obstacles – which include stair climbing and crossing uneven surface, in 3 minutes 39 seconds, just five seconds behind the Champion. The team – supervised by Prof Robin Ma, Prof Michael Wang and Prof Christopher Chao from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is planning to refine and commercialize the product to make it Hong Kong’s most affordable stair-climbing wheelchair.

Prof Wei Shyy, Executive Vice-President and Provost of HKUST, extended warm congratulations to the team. “We are excited that HKUST has achieved remarkable result in the competition, it speaks volumes about our students’ talents and innovative mind, as well as their can-do spirit,” he said.

Held in Zurich on 8 October 2016, Cybathlon is the first international competition that allows disabled competitors to use bionic assistive technology such as robotic prostheses, brain computer interfaces and powered exoskeletons. It attracted 66 teams with over 70 disabled athletes from 25 countries, who competed in six different categories.

Prof Robin Ma said,“I am truly amazed by our team members’ devotion and diligence in this project, we started much later than most of our contestants, and yet they managed to produce this quality product under extremely tight schedule and limited resources, I am very proud of them.”

The HKUSTwheels wheelchair, developed by Chunli Jiang, Gwyneth Sze Ho Lau, Harin Lee, Chengqi Lu, Kenneth Man Kit Suen, Isabel Yan Pui Tai and Rachel Yuet Yee Cheng, is equipped with durable belt system capable of mounting various kinds of terrace. The belt design can solve wheel-jamming problems and prevent the wheelchair from sliding down the stairs. It not only allows stair climbing in a face-forward direction, but its intelligent automatic system also allows the seat to stay at a horizontal level while ascending, offering the user extra comfort and convenience.

The team will spend the next year refining the features, and automatizing most of the parts to minimize the chances of human errors in operation. The team set to limit the price of their final product to two third of that of the comparable models now available in the market.

HKUSTwheels is one of the three Hong Kong teams competed in Cybathlon, they were led by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks.

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13 / 10 / 2016 SENG Makes a Clean Sweep in the First Falling Walls Lab Hong Kong at HKUST (From left): Prof David Banfield, Professor of Division of Life Science and Chairman of panel of judges, 1st place recipient Daniel Josephus Villaroman, and Prof Joseph H W Lee, Vice-President for Research & Graduate Studies [Download Photo]

There was a clean sweep of the awards in the first Falling Walls Lab Hong Kong at HKUST for School of Engineering students, who took the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. Exclusive for HKUST members, the Lab offers young talents, innovators and entrepreneurs an exciting opportunity to present their innovative ideas, research projects or social initiatives in 3 minutes with just 3 slides. It is a platform for bright minds to present groundbreaking ideas that spark discourse and have great potential to impact our future. The event was held on 27 September and organized by the University’s Research Office and Office of the Vice-President for Research & Graduate Studies.

The 1st place went to Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering PhD student Daniel Josephus Villaroman for his presentation on “Breaking the Wall of Insufficient Solar Power”. The performance of commercial solar panels has reached a limit because the spectrum of light they can absorb and convert to electricity does not match well with the light we depend on from the sun. To address this problem, Daniel proposed to concentrate sunlight to heat up a specialized chemical emitter, which delivers a light spectrum that matches well with traditional solar panels, for exceptional power generation and efficiency. As the winner of the competition, Daniel will go to Berlin to present his ideas on a world stage at the Falling Walls Lab Finale, and attend the Falling Walls Conference, a prestigious annual global gathering of forward-thinking individuals from 80 countries, on 8-9 November 2016. Daniel is also a 2012 BEng graduate in Mechanical Engineering from HKUST.

Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD student Weiqi Xue gained 2nd place for his presentation titled “Breaking the Wall of Waste to Pharmaceuticals”. He proposed producing sulfated polysaccharides from excess sludge, an inevitable waste from biological wastewater treatment, as an alternative to extraction from algae. Currently sulfated polysaccharides that are used as food additives, cosmetic materials and pharmaceuticals can only be extracted from algae, causing insufficient supply and high price of the related products. Weiqi also received a MSc in Environmental Engineering and Management from HKUST in 2014.

Two awardees tied for 3rd place, who are Po Sang Lo, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering MPhil student and 2016 BEng graduate from the same department, and Yun Xu, PhD student of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Po Sang proposed a next-generation graphene-based blood purification technology called perfusion to address the problem of dialysis as a result of kidney failure. Yun proposed a new curved retaining wall which has a better performance than conventional straight retaining walls.

The presentations are evaluated based on three criteria: the degree of innovation, originality and breakthrough; impact to society; and clarity and articulation of vision and proof of concept. The panel of judges includes faculty members from Schools of Science, Engineering, Business and Management, and Humanities and Social Science.

The Falling Walls Lab is an international forum, which aims at building and promoting interdisciplinary connections between young excellent academics, entrepreneurs and professionals from all fields. Launched in 2011 in Berlin, the Lab was subsequently brought to a number of international cities and has taken place in more than 30 countries so far. The Falling Walls Lab Finale is held each year in Berlin on 8 November, gathering 100 participants from all over the world, among them all winners of the international Falling Walls Labs. The winners also have the opportunity to attend the Falling Walls Conference, organized each year on 9 November – the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall – where world’s leading scientists present their current breakthrough research.

The Falling Walls Lab and Conference are organized by the Falling Walls Foundation, a non-profit organization in Berlin, dedicated to the support of science and the humanities.

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15 / 08 / 2016 HKUST Smart Car Team Performs Well in Intelligent Car Competition [Download Photo]

The Smart Car Team of the HKUST Robotics Team attained good results in the 11th NXP Cup Intelligent Car Racing Competition (South China Region) held in Central South University in Changsha from July 16-19. The team was awarded three Second Class Awards, in Balance Group, Beacon Group and Camera Group respectively, and also a Certificate of Merit in Chasing Group. Over 300 teams participated in the competition.

NXP Semiconductors is the new organizer of the race this year, as a result of the company acquiring Freescale Semiconductor last year, yet traditions from the past competitions have been maintained. Now in its 11th year, this Intelligent Car Race has built up a good reputation in Mainland China among undergraduates and especially robotics related disciplines. The competition is divided into six categories, namely Beacon Group, Balance Group, Camera Group, Chasing Group, Electro-Magnetic Group and Linear CCD Group. Cars in each category require different sensors and components, but all are based on NXP Kinetis K-60 MCU. The HKUST Smart Car Team named FreeRiders attempted in all six categories, with three members participating in each category.

The main rule for the optical-related groups (Camera and Linear CCD Groups) is to identify and follow the track in the field with the processed data from the camera sensors or linear CCD camera sensors installed on the cars. For the Chasing Group, communication protocols have to be implemented besides image processing to enable two cars to run on the track without crashing each other. For the Electro-Magnetic and Balance Groups, magnetic sensors are installed in order to follow the track through a signal wire located underneath the whole track. Teams from the Beacon Group are required to track down infrared light emitting beacons on the ground while this group is an exception that the routes are freestyle but not designated like other groups.

This contest requires knowledge of circuit designs, mechanical designs, and algorithms in embedded software systems in order to build the cars to run on tracks with intersections, ramps, obstacles and S-curves at the highest speed attainable.

To prepare for the contest, members of FreeRiders stayed at lab after lectures starting from the Spring Semester to design their own PCB boards, implement suitable algorithms, design and print the 3D mechanical parts, test and tune the cars with numerous trials for around six months. They were beginners in robotics and it was glad that their hard work paid off.

The HKUST Smart Car Team is formed by 13 new members and 6 returned members ranging from Year 1 to Year 3. They come from different departments of the School of Engineering (SENG), with two each from Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Computer Engineering Program, and Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and the rest are Year 1 students from the School. The students are supervised by Prof Tim Woo, Director of the Center for Global & Community Engagement (GCE).

Student List

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25 / 08 / 2016 HKUST Students Present Innovative Environmental Research Projects at Ford Regional Headquarters The 3rd year of the Ford-Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Conservation and Environmental Research Grants program saw 15 students visit the Ford Thailand Manufacturing plant in Rayong, Thailand [Download Photo]

HONG KONG, 25 August 2016 – The 2015-16 Ford-Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Conservation and Environmental Research grants programme recently concluded with the 20 grant recipients visiting the Ford Motor Company’s regional headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand. The Master of Science students from HKUST’s School of Engineering presented their research findings during the study tour of Ford’s facilities.

This year marked the third year of the programme, a unique partnership between Ford Motor Company and HKUST promoting environmental sustainability and research, with a focus on green technologies and transportation.

This year’s research projects included personalising ventilation in vehicles, examining more efficient vehicle batteries and the development of smart car windows to help conserve energy.

“Ford is excited about the innovative ideas from this year’s grant recipients. With every year we have collaborated with HKUST on this grant, we have seen increasingly impressive research projects. We’re proud to support the future engineers who will help shape a better world with their work,” said David Westerman, managing director, Asia Pacific Emerging Markets, Ford Motor Company.

Yang Zhou, one of the grant recipients, harnessed his childhood love of cars and worked on a project that could help make electric vehicle batteries more efficient. He developed an idea to decrease cost and enhance the vehicle’s performance by spreading the heat generated by the converter’s power chip. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to develop this idea because environmental protection and energy sustainability are so important for the automotive industry,” said Yang.

Fellow student Umar Siddique Virk says the trip and the work on the grant were invaluable experiences. His project developed a smart window to conserve energy. “The support from Ford made a big difference to me. It was very good experience to work on a project which, if applied, could lead to a greener environment and will save resources for our future,” Virk said.

“The trip to Ford regional headquarters in Bangkok was definitely a precious learning experience. Hopefully, my research project on electrodes for high-performance lithium-air batteries can help power the next generation of electric vehicles,” said grant-recipient Li Luyu.

In Asia Pacific, Ford has played a pivotal role in advancing environmental initiatives for more than a decade across multiple markets, from protecting wildlife and preventing forest fires, to funding cultural heritage projects and replenishing resources in rural communities.

For more information, please visit www.hkford.com.

Ford’s Conservation and Environmental Grants Program Founded in 1983, the Ford Conservation and Environmental Grants program was created to empower individuals and non-profit groups to conduct research and projects which help preserve the environmental well-being of their communities and provide solutions contributing to a sustainable planet.

Since launching, Ford has awarded more than USD 5 million in grants to hundreds of environmental projects in more than 60 countries around the world.

In Asia Pacific, Ford has played a pivotal role in advancing environmental initiatives for more than a decade across multiple markets, from protecting wildlife and preventing forest fires, to funding cultural heritage projects and replenishing resources in rural communities.

For more information, please visit www.hkford.com or call 2820 4018.

About Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is a global automotive and mobility company based in Dearborn, Michigan. With about 203,000 employees and 67 plants worldwide, the company’s core business includes designing, manufacturing, marketing, financing and servicing a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs and electrified vehicles, as well as Lincoln luxury vehicles. At the same time, Ford aggressively is pursuing emerging opportunities through Ford Smart Mobility, the company’s plan to be a leader in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience, and data and analytics. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford, its products worldwide or Ford Motor Credit Company, visit www.corporate.ford.com.

About The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (www.ust.hk) is a world-class international research university excelling in science, technology and business as well as humanities and social science. The University was ranked Asia’s number one by QS Asian University Rankings for the third straight year in 2011-2013. In the field of Engineering and Technology in 2015, HKUST was ranked No. 14 in the world by QS World University Rankings by Faculty, and No. 16 in the world by Times Higher Education World University Rankings and No.1 in Greater China.

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繁體 简体 07 / 11 / 2016 HKUST Receives Donation from Bright Future Charitable Foundation to Establish Academy for Bright Future Young Engineers (From left) Prof Tim Cheng Kwang-ting, HKUST Dean of Engineering; Prof Tony F Chan, HKUST President; the Honorable Andrew Liao Cheung-sing, HKUST Council Chairman; Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim, Secretary for Education of the HKSAR Government; Prof Roy Chung, Founder and Chairman of Bright Future Charitable Foundation and Co-founder and Non-executive Director of Techtronic Industries Company Limited; HKUST Council Vice-Chairman Prof John Chai Yat-Chiu; Dr Eden Woon, HKUST Vice-President for Institutional Advancement and Prof Tsui Chi-ying, HKUST Associate Dean of Engineering (Undergraduate Studies) officiate at the opening ceremony of the Academy for Bright Future Youth Engineers. [Download Photo]

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) celebrated on November 5, 2016 the opening of the Academy for Bright Future Young Engineers, where engineering students at HKUST will be given the opportunities to mentor and engage secondary school students in various engineering workshops, to spark their interests in technology and instill in them an engineering frame of mind.

The academy, launched under the School of Engineering (SENG), is made possible by virtue of a generous donation from Prof Roy Chung, Founder and Chairman of Bright Future Charitable Foundation and Co-founder and Non-executive Director of Techtronic Industries Company Limited, who officiated the opening ceremony with Secretary for Education of the HKSAR Government Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim; HKUST's Council Chairman the Honorable Andrew Liao Cheung-sing; Council Vice-Chairman Prof John Chai Yat-chiu; President Prof Tony F Chan and other honorable guests. After the ceremony, Director of the Academy for Bright Future Young Engineers Prof Tsui Chi-ying and Associate Director Prof Ben Chan, led them to visit SENG's Engineering Commons, a student-centered space that promote total learning experience, and the Undergraduate Student-initiated Experiential Learning (USEL) Laboratory, a place where students formulate ideas and work on their own projects.

President Chan expressed his gratitude to Prof Chung's generosity. "Engineering is one of the foremost driving forces that transforms innovative ideas into inventions which improve our lives," he said. "I have known Roy for years, as a self-made industrialist, he is, no doubt, one of the best demonstrators of Hong Kong's "Lion Rock Spirit", and that is in perfect concordance with HKUST's "can-do" spirit. I would like to express my sincere thanks to his ardent support to the founding of this academy, which offers our future engineers the opportunities to begin their creative journey at a young age."

"Today I am pleased to witness this Lion Rock Spirit materialized and turns into a legacy for the Bright Future Spirit," said Prof Chung. "I truly wish all students of the Academy through working hard with their learning will enjoy a very bright future."

After the ceremony, Prof Woo Kam-tim, Associate Director of the academy staged a seminar for a group of teachers on how to promote STEM (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in secondary schools. Meanwhile, over 80 high school students participated in a number of HKUST student-led workshops which covers the building of fuel cell electric vehicles, scratch programming, building electronic piano as well as 3D printing and modeling.

The academy seeks to develop secondary school students' innovation, spark their enthusiasm in engineering and build a positive public perception of engineering through these hands-on and interactive projects. Other programs in the pipeline include summer and winter camps, laboratory visits, seminars, robotic competitions, training, credit-bearing courses and workshops.

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繁體 简体 18 / 08 / 2016 HKUST School of Engineering Holds its First Entrepreneurship Camp for Secondary School Students All the participants of the camp together with HKUST engineering faculty members and staff [Download Photo]

The School of Engineering (SENG) of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) successfully organized its first-ever Technology Leadership and Entrepreneurship Youth Camp for secondary school students from August 8 to 12. The 5-day camp provides the participants a broad overview and understanding of entrepreneurship and enables them to have a taste of entrepreneurship through a team project to formulate the business plan of a technology product.

Fifteen Form 3 and Form 4-to-be students, including eight girls and seven boys, from seven schools joined the camp. Over the 5-day period, they had the opportunity to shadow HKUST students who are enrolled in the MPhil Program in Technology Leadership and Entrepreneurship (TLE) as well as visiting their start-ups at Science Park. They also gained first-hand experience as entrepreneurs in the team project, where they were asked to propose ways on how to differentiate a particular technology product in the market place and to build a sustainable business model. In addition, laboratory tour and campus tour were arranged where students experienced the vibrant entrepreneurial culture on campus and dynamic university life.

Prof King Lun Yeung, Associate Dean of Engineering (Research and Graduate Studies) and Director of MPhil Program in TLE, said, “The camp is a pioneering initiative of the School to extend entrepreneurship education to junior secondary school students. Technology innovation and leadership skills are key elements of successful entrepreneurship. We hope the camp will nurture students’ entrepreneurial spirit and inspire them to explore entrepreneurship in their future career prospect.”

In the camp, the young students learned about what entrepreneurship involves and characteristics of successful entrepreneurs, the benefits and challenges for entrepreneurs, as well as entrepreneurial resources in Hong Kong and Southern China, such as co-working space, funding sources and competitions. Through working in the team project, they also developed their teamwork and communication skills and understood the importance of these skills in business.

Prof Terrence Yee, Associate Director of MPhil Program in TLE, said, “We hope these experiences will not only foster students’ innovative mindsets but also give them early exposure to understand entrepreneurship in terms of what they can do. Entrepreneurship is not something difficult to pursue and they can start planning in their age.”

The School of Engineering has been strengthening its entrepreneurship education over the past years. The MPhil Program in TLE was launched by the School in Fall 2014 and the Minor Program in Entrepreneurship, jointly offered with the School of Business and Management for undergraduates, was introduced in Spring 2014. The School’s students and faculty also have a large number of start-ups, including DJI, founded by Electronic and Computer Engineering alumnus Mr Frank Wang, who was named one of the Top 10 Innovators in China by Forbes magazine China edition in 2014.

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05 / 12 / 2016 Global Experts in Water Quality Converge at HKUST to Share Information and Insights

Sixteen world-renowned experts in water pollution control from overseas, Mainland China and Hong Kong assembled at HKUST from October 20 to 22, 2016 to share experiences of today and to crystal-gaze future possibilities for improvement.

This momentous event, entitled “IAS Summit Hong Kong – Inventing Today Imagining Tomorrow for Water Pollution Control”, was co-organized by the HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) and the newly established Hong Kong Branch of the Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Heavy Metal Pollution Control and Treatment. It was one of the key events to celebrate the HKUST’s 25th Anniversary.

The range of collaborating institutions testifies to the tremendous significance of this Summit, including the International Water Association, three Hong Kong government departments (namely the Environment Protection Department, the Water Supplies Department, and the Drainage Services Department), three publicly funded universities (namely the University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and the Hong Kong Baptist University), and two public institutions (namely the Hong Kong Branch of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, and the Environmental Division of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers).

Professor Guang-Hao Chen, Chair Professor of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Chair of the Organizing Committee of IAS Summit Hong Kong, said, “With the growing concerns over climate change, increasing global population, rapid industrialization and urbanization in emerging countries and particularly in China, effective water pollution control is crucial for water safety and security, water environment protection, and urban water management. To this end, continuous research and development, technology implementation and regulatory enforcement are necessary.”

The Summit focused on several key areas – technology innovations, new system developments for water pollution control, urban water management, wastewater treatment, and exploiting alternative water resources.

In addition to the Opening Session, the Summit Program comprised six sessions – five on global experiences and one on local experiences.

On top of speakers from mainland China and Hong Kong, there were many overseas speakers – from the USA, the Netherlands, Norway, France, Japan and Australia – covering four continents.

In parallel to the Summit Program, the University-Industry Collaboration Forum was specially held on the final day comprising two parts –Part One featured speakers from three supporting government departments and the two supporting institutions and Part Two featured a wide range of leading water organizations/companies in Mainland and overseas– namely North China Municipal Engineering Design & Research Institute, China Everbright Water Ltd, Weiming Group Co Ltd, Wuhan Kinghome Environmental Technology Co Ltd, Xylem Ltd, and SUEZ (Asia) Ltd.

"The Summit on Water Pollution Control provided an exceptional opportunity for water professionals, academics, students, regulators and policy-makers to come together and discuss the future of water science and technology", said Prof Guang-Hao Chen.

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19 / 12 / 2016 SENG Distinguished Research Excellence Awardee Prof Qiang Yang Gives Keynote on Artificial Intelligence (From left): Mr Man-Kwai Lee, Director and General Manager of New Bright Industrial Co Ltd; Prof Tim Kwang Ting Cheng, Dean of Engineering; New Bright Professor of Engineering Prof Qiang Yang, recipient of SENG Distinguished Research Excellence Award 2016; Prof Wei Shyy, Executive Vice-President and Provost; and Ms Gemma Wong, Director of New Bright Industrial Co Ltd [Download Photo]

The recipient of the School of Engineering (SENG) Distinguished Research Excellence Award 2016, Prof Qiang Yang, delivered an insightful keynote on the topic of “Artificial Intelligence Under Big Data and Small Data” on December 14, 2016. The keynote received an overwhelming response with over 180 participants, including industry members, government representatives, friends, faculty, students and alumni.

Prof Yang is the New Bright Professor of Engineering and Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. In his talk, he shared an overview of his research in transfer learning, which adapts a learned model from a big data to new situations where only small data might be available. He also discussed foundations and different transfer learning methods, as well as their applications in a number of application domains, including recommender systems, sentiment analysis and dialog systems. The keynote was followed by a cocktail reception, where participants had a joyful gathering in a festive ambience.

Prof Yang is a world-leading authority on transfer learning, an important area of research related to machine learning, data mining and big data. His significant publications include a 2007 International Conference on Machine Learning paper, written together with his students and proposing the TrAdaboost system; and “A Survey on Transfer Learning”, which is a must-read in the transfer learning area. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR) and American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and has a Google Scholar citation record of 30,000.

The Research Excellence Awards scheme was established by the School in 2011 to recognize and reward faculty members for their research impact and contributions. The awards are classified into three categories for academics at different stages of their careers, namely Distinguished Research Excellence Award, Research Excellence Award, and Young Investigator Award. The first one is the highest-level accolade which honors an eminent faculty member with exceptional research achievements and significant impact locally and globally. The keynote forms part of this award and is an honor in itself.

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03 / 10 / 2016 Mr Yunfei Zhang Shares Entrepreneurial Insights on Unmanned Surface Vehicles at SENG/MAE 25th Anniversary Star Alumni Talk

The School of Engineering (SENG) and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) successfully co-organized the SENG/MAE 25th Anniversary Star Alumni Talk on September 29, featuring distinguished MAE alumnus Mr Yunfei Zhang, who is the Founder and President of Zhuhai Yunzhou Intelligence Technology Co. Ltd. Mr Zhang graduated with an MPhil in Mechanical Engineering in 2009 and is now pursuing PhD studies in the MAE Department. Titled “Unmanned Surface Vehicles Sailing Towards the Briny Deep”, the talk drew over 230 participants including secondary school teachers and students, HKUST faculty, students, staff and alumni. Mr Zhang shared his exciting entrepreneurship journey and his outlook on the future of the Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) industry.

In the talk, Mr Zhang unveiled the transformation from a student project, an inflatable boat with a few sensors, to Zhuhai Yunzhou Intelligence Technology Co. Ltd., a RMB3.1 billion USV corporation which has contributed substantially to the development of USV industry since 2009. Empowered by their first award in 2009, the President’s Cup, Mr Zhang and two HKUST classmates kicked off their entrepreneurship journey in the same year to explore the mysterious ocean.

Mr Zhang shared with fellow students that developing ideas into action largely relies on having a strong belief of creating unprecedented value to the society with empathy and responsibility. He also revealed his future plan in the talk, including setting up laboratories with Xidian University in Xi’an and South China Sea Marine Engineering Surveying Center of State Oceanic Administration, People’s Republic of China after completion of his PhD studies in the MAE Department of HKUST.

Carrying his dream and mottos – seize the opportunities, stress on innovation, no-pain-no-gain, strive for excellence, Mr Zhang is now sailing Zhuhai Yunzhou Intelligence Technology Co. Ltd. towards the briny deep to discover the mysterious ocean of which we humans only understand less than 10%.

Souvenir presentation to Mr Zhang by the Dean of Engineering, Prof Tim K T Cheng, and the Department Head and Chair Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Prof Christopher Y H Chao, and group photo-taking with all the participating faculty brought the talk to a successful close.

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