SENG News, Issue 24

Abstract

Prof. Pascale FUNG Helps to Debunk COVID-19 Myths with Science Platform for Real-Time Reporting of Vaccine Target Recommendations Universal Mask-Wearing is Urgent Against Spread of COVID-19 as Social Distancing Lifts Teaching and Learning in the Time of COVID-19 If you have any difficulties viewing this email, please click here. SENG eNewsletter (Issue 24, Sep 2020) FIGHTING COVID-19 PhD Student SU Dan Leads Award-Winning Research Related to COVID-19 HKUST Alumni Join Fight Against COVID-19 with Antimicrobial Technology Sharing on Research Efforts to Fight COVID-19 HKUST Researchers Uncover Chemo-Resistance Mechanism in Glioma Patients The mechanism explains why patients of gliomas – a common and aggressive type of brain tumors, would develop chemo-resistance, potentially allowing early identification of drug-resistant brain cancer patients. Prof. Tim CHENG Received Pan Wen Yuan Foundation Award for Outstanding Research Prof. SHI Ling Named a World Economic Forum Young Scientist 2020 HKUST Engineering Received Three Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards Three More SENG Faculty Received Named Professorships SENG Faculty & Alumni Recognized as AI 2000 Most Influential Scholars Three Professors Recognized in HKUST Common Core Teaching Excellence Award 2019 RESEARCH FACULTY ACHIEVEMENTS Prof. Pedro SANDER Expands on His Passion for Computer Graphics He has recently been focusing on gigantic panorama videos in a research project, such as the still of a zoomed-in area of Central taken from The Peak in Hong Kong. HKUST Signs Cooperative Agreement with Guangzhou Metro to Nurture Talents in Intelligent Transportation HKUST and Guangzhou Metro would each assign a professor-grade supervisor to guide and train selected postgraduate students. HKUST Becomes the First University in Asia-Pacific Associated with EY Tax Lab The collaboration will solve complex tax issues through the use and application of advanced technologies. Chemical and Biological Engineering Teams Won Championship and First Runner-up in HKUST-Sino One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition HKUST Launches First e-Verified Certification Platform in Hong Kong FACULTY INSIGHT PARTNERSHIP CAMPUS NEWS HKUST Hosts Inaugural Entrepreneurship Fireside Chat Series to Nurture and Inspire the Next Generation of Technology Leaders HKUST Holds Second Entrepreneurship Fireside Chat to Guide and Advise Budding Founders PhD Student Received Fulbright-RGC Hong Kong Research Scholar Award PhD Research Excellence Recognized in SENG Award Advancing Take-Off Dynamics of Amphibious Aircraft Two Alumni Named in Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2020 List The list comprises 300 young leaders under 30 years of age, chosen from 3,500 nominations in 10 different categories. STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS ALUMNI CONNECTIONS To comment: sengpr@ust.hk To unsubscribe: click here Copyright © 2020 School of Engineering, HKUST ALL Rights Reserved.

21/05/2020 Thumbnail Title The High-Spirited High Achiever Prof. FAN Zhiyong Leads His Team to Publish Sci Fi-Inspired ‘Super Human Eye’ Research in Nature Content Banner The team has successfully made the prototype of the “super human eye” – an artificial visual system that uses a spherical biomimetic electrochemical eye with hemispherical retina made of a high-density perovskite nanowire array. From left: Swapnadeep Poddar, Shu Lei, Zhang Daquan, Prof. Fan Zhiyong, Dr. Gu Leilei and Long Zhenghao. The team has successfully made the prototype of the “super human eye” – an artificial visual system that uses a spherical biomimetic electrochemical eye with hemispherical retina made of a high-density perovskite nanowire array. From left: Swapnadeep Poddar, Shu Lei, Zhang Daquan, Prof. Fan Zhiyong, Dr. Gu Leilei and Long Zhenghao. [Download Photo] Body Prof. FAN Zhiyong, a professor of Electronic and Computer Engineering in his 40s, has established himself and his team with notable achievements just in time to celebrate his 10th anniversary at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Having secured over HK$16 million in research grant, he has published over 170 research papers in top journals with 18,000 citations. The latest milestone of his research team is an academic paper published in the prestigious science journal Nature. Always wearing a smile, the cheerful professor enjoys everything he is doing, from coming up with “crazy” research ideas to educating the young.

Born in the remote province of Qinghai in China, Prof. Fan had his Eureka moment early in life when he saw a poster showing the planet, spaceships and astronauts on the wall of his kindergarten. “It was like a beam of light or a spell that was cast on me; I can still remember it vividly today.” The fascination led him to make more than 100 paper models of spaceships and other vehicles before finishing kindergarten.

Another turning point came when he moved with his parents to the Mian County (or Mian Xian) in the Shaanxi Province before turning eight years old. In the tiny county where people knew each other and always wore a smile, he visited his uncle every week to borrow popular science books from the huge bookshelf that opened the universe of knowledge for him. From being a naughty kid who often broke school rules, Prof. Fan gradually became motivated towards self-learning, building complex remote control models and reading about Newton’s laws before they were taught at junior high.

Mesmerized by the beauty of physics and getting full score in the subject at the university entrance examination, he became one of the few students from Shaanxi to enter the reputable Fudan University in Shanghai, much to the delight of his father who was originally from Shanghai.

Majoring in Physical Electronics, a rare interdisciplinary program at Fudan, Prof. Fan had to take physics, chemistry and engineering subjects with other students who majored in those disciplines. The training laid a solid foundation for his interdisciplinary research in later years. Despite having mediocre performance in the first year, he later caught up with his studies after being inspired by a diligent roommate. “If you have to do something, you’d better do it well,” Prof. Fan stated.

Prof. Fan went on to pursue PhD in Interdisciplinary Materials Science at the University of California (UC), Irvine before becoming a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences. On the way to scholarly achievement, he learned to explore fabulous ideas for top-notch research and refine his research skills. “My supervisor encouraged us to be creative and to generate social impact. He often asked, ‘What difference can we make?’ This had tremendous influence on me.”

Prof. Fan joined HKUST in 2010. “I was attracted by HKUST’s global ranking, as well as its flat hierarchy and academic freedom that are similar to the United States. And after the first glimpse of the sea view here, I decided that this is the place to be,” he said joyfully.

Celebrating his 10th anniversary here in May, he has discovered more jewels about the University. “HKUST has a vibrant culture that is extremely supportive especially towards young professors, demonstrated by the grants available to them. There is superb equipment in laboratories situated close to the staff quarters. We enjoy tranquility for research as well as big city life just minutes away.”

Cutting-edge research published in Nature Prof. Fan’s achievement in the last 10 years is by all means phenomenal. Apart from being named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a 2018 Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Analytics, he has secured research grants well over HK$16 million from Mainland China and Hong Kong. His accolades range from IEEE Sensor Research Scholarship Award, Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center’s (BSAC) Outstanding Research Presentation Award, HKUST School of Engineering’s Young Investigator Award and Research Excellence Award, to HKUST-Sino One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition’s President Award and Innovation Award.

Most recently, his research team has the impressive achievement of publishing on the first-rate science journal Nature a paper titled “A Biomimetic Eye with a Hemispherical Perovskite Nanowire Array Retina”.

“Watching sci-fi series such as Star Trek and I, Robot, I thought about making a ‘super human eye’ to be used both in humanoid robots and for the visually challenged. At that, my students thought it was yet another crazy idea of the professor,” he remarked with a delightful grin.

“Whereas the spherical human eyeball is useful for our most important visual sense and for providing a wide field of view, it can hardly be imitated because of its curved surface. Artificial eyes, currently used in hospitals and enabled by flat-surfaced integrated circuit chips, can only imitate part of the human retina to provide blurred vision. In 2012, I came up with the idea to use nanowires and external electronic circuitry to enable high-density sensors on curved surface. The resulting biomimetic eye prototype, with distance among sensing rods minimized to three micrometers, has 30 times more sensors on the artificial retina than the real human eye. This super human eye technology, with high imaging resolution, will be ready for integration into medical robots to take care of patients. It will even cater to the visually impaired when we find suitable bio-compatible materials.”

Dr. GU Leilei, a postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Fan’s team, is the first author of the paper. Dr. Gu recalled, “Nature’s editor was so excited about our research that he responded within five days after we first submitted our manuscript. It then took us almost a year to fine-tune our research, redo experiments and re-submit the paper with much enriched content based on their queries. The biggest challenge was to scale down the microns, and that alone took us 10 months working 24/7. After numerous failures and bearing tremendous pressure, our efforts paid off. To this day, I still cannot believe that the good news is real. I would like to thank my parents, Prof. Fan and our teammates for the great teamwork.”

Also from Fudan, Dr. Gu joined HKUST as a PhD student supervised by Prof. Fan in 2011. After graduation in 2016, he was one of the first to work on the professor’s “crazy idea” when it sounded like fantasy. “Prof. Fan has completely changed my perspectives towards research. I was more theoretical then, and now I have learned to combine practical formula-based approach with daring imaginations.”

Teaching out of the box Prof. Fan is equally passionate about nurturing the younger generation. For him, being one of the founding members of the Hong Kong Young Academy of Sciences is not about having just another title. He passionately shared his visions with obvious fervor, “We serve as a platform to bring young scholars from abroad and to promote science among policymakers, industry and the public. I especially enjoy reaching out to elementary and high school students as a judge in science competitions.”

In his own capacity as a volunteer, he even went back to his own primary and secondary schools in his hometown Mian Xian to deliver popular science talks. “Absolutely thrilled, the pupils kept on asking questions. I wish I had the chance to speak to a professor at their age,” said Prof. Fan.

Interestingly, Prof. Fan has a precious belief that is rather contrary to practices in today’s society. “I had lots of free time to think and explore on my own as a child, and I thank my parents and uncle, and my leisurely small-town life during childhood for enabling this. My schools were by no means famous, but there were dedicated teachers who were always available for the children.”

Thus in his advice for adolescents who aspire to pursue science and research, Prof. Fan spoke against the common practice of engaging in ultra-heavy schoolwork and instead emphasized the space for self-exploration. “Discover your passion. Explore. Look for books and popular science magazines. Try to reach out to university professors, which is what some high school students do in the United States. Come to my laboratory and work together on projects. In fact there is a local high school student enrolled in my university-level class about electronics and robotics, and I love talking to him.”

He holds a similarly liberal attitude towards his master’s and PhD students. “We discuss over things and improve together.” Prof. Fan is the first co-director of the dual master’s degree program focusing on future energy and power system smart operation and management, the first tripartite program jointly offered by HKUST, CLP Power Hong Kong Limited and the University of Strathclyde in Scotland to train professionals with an industry focus. The program started in September 2019 with the first cohort of student intake.

Nothing is impossible With admirable accomplishments, Prof. Fan has always tried to lead a balanced life. He likes playing soccer as a striker, playing the guitar and singing Cantonese pop songs, and has picked up the piano in his 30s. Perhaps more importantly, he always watches sci-fi movies to get refreshed and inspired.

To him, awards are but by-products that provide short-term excitement. “I treasure it more when our technologies generate impact in the society, when my students land on good positions in top universities or become entrepreneurs, and when our research results are being cited even after a prolonged period of time. Making a difference – this brings long-term satisfaction.”

“Nothing is impossible”, Prof. Fan commented about his clues to success. “Always ask, ‘How do we go from here to cutting-edge research?’ Be driven and curious, be imaginative, and be humble and collaborative. Get used to multi-tasking and fast-paced work. Learn from others and generate great ideas. Always challenge the result, unless you have conducted experiments to verify it.”

Related link:

HKUST press release (June 9, 2020): HKUST Scientists Develop World's First Spherical Artificial Eye with 3D Retina Prof. Fan Zhiyong fell in love with HKUST’s seaside campus at first sight. Prof. Fan Zhiyong (middle, front row) finds it most rewarding to see students having good prospects. The team spent yet another 10 months to conduct further experiments before the paper was accepted by Nature. An artistic image of the artificial eye inspired by sci-fi.

03/07/2020 Thumbnail Title AI Guru Contributing to Public Health Prof. Pascale FUNG Helps to Debunk COVID-19 Myths with Science Content Banner Prof. Pascale Fung has come up with innovative solutions for COVID-19. Prof. Pascale Fung has come up with innovative solutions for COVID-19. [Download Photo] Body Ateam led by Prof. Pascale FUNG has won, among more than 1,000 teams globally, one of the 10 tasks of the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset Challenge (CORD-19 Challenge), and they have successfully used the system for debunking COVID-19 myths based on scientific evidence.

Pioneer in open source Prof. Fung’s team at HKUST’s Center for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAiRE) built CAiRE-COVID in response to the CORD-19 Challenge, a task using natural language processing on Kaggle – the world’s largest data science community and a subsidiary of Google. CAiRE-COVID is a machine learning-based system with top-notch natural language processing (NLP) question-answering (QA) techniques, combined with summarization, for mining available scientific literature.

“CAiRE-COVID aims to facilitate the medical community, in the time-critical race, to find answers to various COVID-related queries in the hope of finding a cure for the virus. With an end-to-end neural network-based open-domain QA system, it can quickly generate ranked lists and paragraph-level summaries among COVID-19 Open Research Dataset’s 57,000 scholarly articles, most of them with full texts, about COVID-19 and related coronaviruses,” said Prof. Fung.

“Our CAiRE-COVID is significant and unusual because it is about open search, open database, and open collaborative research. Whereas we use open-source models of other companies, we also release our codes publicly. In fact the artificial intelligence (AI) research community has always been proposing open collaborative research. The medical research field on the other hand, has been very much protected and has not been involved in open source due to privacy laws, compliance issues and regulations. Information about cancer research, for instance, is hardly existent in open source.”

“The CORD-19 Challenge, for which we won one of the 10 tasks, is important as it is the first open-search and open-call initiative using AI in the medical field. It is the first time AI and public health work together. With this collaboration, we hope that the power of machine learning in medical research will be unlocked,” she continued.

Mining scientific truths and debunking myths A 30-year research veteran in the NLP area, one of the most challenging fields in AI, Prof. Fung previously worked on translating medical terms with data mining methods. A turning point came when Prof. Fung met Dr. Oliver MORGAN, Director of the Health Emergency Information and Risk Assessment Department in the World Health Organization (WHO) at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions in July 2019. There, they discussed how NLP technologies could be used in epidemic intelligence.

Then when the world was hit with COVID-19 this spring, Kaggle posted an open call to the world’s AI experts to develop text and data mining tools that could help the medical community develop answers to high-priority scientific questions using the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset, which was created by the Allen Institute for AI in partnership with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, Microsoft Research, and the National Library of Medicine – National Institutes of Health, in coordination with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

“At that, I thought of adapting our previous work to answer this AI challenge.” First and foremost, the team had to meet the challenge of finding time to work on the project. “With all team members being preoccupied with other tasks, the team had to meet such a tight deadline with so little time that they could only find time during three weekends to have video conferences and small-group meetings.”

Led by Prof. Fung’s PhD student SU Dan, the handful of postgraduate students and research assistants came up with a strategy to divide the task of their system into three steps of search, question and answer, and summarization.

First, a user question is used to query a search engine to find and rank all related documents. One example of a user question would be “What do we know about the seasonality of COVID-19?” Second, a neural QA engine finds the snippets in all these documents that answer the question from the top-ranking documents using an open-source pre-trained natural language model that is adapted to medical QA databases. Finally, a neural summarization engine generates an abstract to answer the question. Both the QA engine and the summarizer use state-of-the-art neural networks, which are also known as deep learning models.

Thus using open-source NLP and QA models as well as an open-source search engine, the team was able to build a system that can answer questions in real time. Completing the task a week before the deadline, they nevertheless had yet another hurdle to overcome – their system was running too slowly. “Whereas companies such as Google and Facebook have computing resources that no academic institution can match, we at the University have to solve this problem as neural models are notoriously hungry for computing power,” Prof. Fung noted.

Their efforts paid off when they came first, among over 1,000 teams around the world, in the CORD-19 task.

Meanwhile, Prof. Fung thought of using this centralized resource of scientific publications to help debunk the many pseudo-scientific myths on COVID-19. What if, she thought, “we use the output of the QA system we developed to check whether a claim is of scientific merit or not?”

Debunking misinformation has become an increasingly urgent task as without timely rebuttal, misinformation can potentially lead to disaster and even deadly consequences. For example, a couple died from drinking bleach that they believed would kill the coronavirus, after such a claim spread in the news and online. The WHO’s website has a specific page with “Myth Busters”. It is difficult for humans to catch up and check all misinformation online on a daily basis. An automatic misinformation debunker can help by flagging them for human verification. However, using machine learning methods require large amounts of labeled data for training and it is not realistic to expect there to be sufficient human labeled data for this purpose as misinformation tends to be highly varied and bears no resemblance to previous information.

Working with her other PhD student LEE Nayeon and MPhil student BANG Ye Jin, they came up with a way to flag misinformation by measuring how “predictable” the subject is in a statement. For example, when asked to complete the sentence “5G can help spread …”, humans would think of words such as “data, information”, etc. Indeed, given the scientific evidence, and while using a publicly available language model that learned from 8 million web pages, machine would also predict “data”, “information”, etc with high probability, whereas “5G can help spread COVID-19” will return a very low score. Such “scientific evidence” is provided by the QA engine that entered the Kaggle competition.

More challenges to come This being said, the mere size of publications continues to grow. The open resource of scientific publications has grown to 57,000 when they launched the system, and it has further increased to over 135,000 as of June 9. “The number of entries will increase to tens of millions in the future. Our challenge is to scale up the system to continue improving accuracy and coverage to update its answers.” Meanwhile, misinformation and myths are not unique to the topic of COVID-19, there are other myths and rumors in both the medical and political areas.

Releasing the source code of both their QA system and the myth debunker to the public in the spirit of open source, the HKUST team hopes that other developers can use it for further work.

Collaboration with EIOS Further to the success, Prof. Fung’s team is now collaborating with Dr. Morgan’s team in the Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) initiative of the WHO to co-develop QA and summarization technology. The goal is to find answers from millions of online material for early detection, verification and assessment of public health risks.

“At HKUST’s CAiRE, we collaborate with the WHO’s EIOS that picked up the first article reporting on a pneumonia cluster towards the end of 2019. According to our mutual agreement, the source code of our technology will be released publicly. Our tool will eventually be put on EIOS’ website to be used by the United Nations’ member states, their ministries of health and their centers for disease control and prevention, so that they too can conduct their own research.”

Future aspirations “With CAiRE-COVID, we hope that the open-source initiative between AI and public health will be the shape of things for the future. It is our aspiration that the CORD-19 Challenge and other open competitions will encourage the global research community to tackle other health hazards such as cancer, and that our invention will be used in early assessment and detection of any kind of epidemic.”

Related Link:

SENG news (Jun 24, 2020): PhD Student SU Dan Leads HKUST Engineering Team in Award-Winning Research Related to COVID-19 Competitions are good opportunities for students to achieve greater heights and get feedback.

29/06/2020 Thumbnail Title First of Its Kind HKUST Sets Up a Platform for Real-time Reporting of Vaccine Target Recommendations for COVID-19 Content Banner The new platform, COVIDep, periodically pools SARS-CoV-2 sequence data and compares with experimentally-determined epitopes of SARS-CoV, to provide scientists around the world an up-to-date set of vaccine target recommendations for COVID-19. The new platform, COVIDep, periodically pools SARS-CoV-2 sequence data and compares with experimentally-determined epitopes of SARS-CoV, to provide scientists around the world an up-to-date set of vaccine target recommendations for COVID-19. [Download Photo] Body As genetic sequences of SARS-CoV-2, the cause of the novel pneumonia (COVID-19), are similar to those of the 2003 SARS virus, SARS-CoV, knowledge and data of SARS-CoV may be useful for finding ways to combat COVID-19. Such an approach was used by a research team at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) led by Prof. Matthew MCKAY, from the Departments of Electronic & Computer Engineering and Chemical & Biological Engineering, and Dr. Ahmed Abdul QUADEER, to establish a first-of-its-kind web-based platform for reporting vaccine target recommendations for COVID-19, to help scientists across the globe in the quest for an effective COVID-19 vaccine. The platform, called ‘COVIDep’, implements ideas presented by the team in an earlier study to report viral fragments, called epitopes, that can trigger human immune responses against SARS-CoV, and which also have a close genetic match in SARS-CoV-2. The identified epitopes can guide the design of vaccines for SARS-CoV-2, as they represent parts of the virus for which a robust, protective immune response may be mounted. It can also help to guide laboratory experiments for understanding the immune responses mounted by COVID-19-infected people, and to probe the immune responses triggered by existing vaccine candidates.

The new platform pools all available SARS-COV-2 sequences on a daily basis, which is over 33,000 as of June 28, and provides the scientific community with up-to-date information of immune targets (B cell and T cell epitopes) potentially capable of inducing a protective immune response against the virus. Periodically updating the system is important since SARS-CoV-2 sequences are being made available at an unprecedented rate, and the recommendation of vaccine targets is influenced by newly observed genetic variation in SARS-CoV-2. For the recommended T cell epitopes, the platform reports an estimate of the population coverage, globally and for specific regions. This can be useful for determining the percentage of individuals in a specific population that is expected to mount an immune response against an epitope, if it was to be selected as a vaccine target.

The recommendations provided by COVIDep may be used to broadly guide vaccine designs and associated experimental studies, and may help to expedite the discovery of an effective vaccine for COVID-19. Many of the vaccine, or immune, targets that are recommended by COVIDep are being supported by emerging SARS-CoV-2 experimental studies. That is, immune responses against them have been observed in blood samples taken from recovered COVID-19 patients and in some pre-clinical vaccine trials.

Prof. McKay is a Professor in the Departments of Electronic & Computer Engineering and Chemical & Biological Engineering at HKUST; Dr. Quadeer is a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering. This platform was recently published in the scientific journal Nature Protocols. For details of the platform, please visit the website https://covidep.ust.hk/.

18/05/2020 EN 繁 简 Thumbnail Title A Key Non-Pharmaceutical Intervention HKUST Co-led Study Suggests Universal Face Mask Wearing is Urgent Against Second Wave of COVID-19 Outbreak as Social Distancing Lifts Content Banner De Kai, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, demonstrates how the interactive visualization of the simulation works. De Kai, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, demonstrates how the interactive visualization of the simulation works. [Download Photo] Body As governments worldwide are planning to gradually ease lockdown or social distancing measures after months of life disruptions due to COVID-19, an interdisciplinary study co-convened by a Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) computer scientist has recently found that universal face mask wearing is an urgent non-pharmaceutical intervention to suppress the spread or second waves of the disease before effective vaccines or treatments are available.

The team, co-convened by De Kai, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, presented two new theoretical models to predict the impact of face mask wearing over time. The first extends the standard epidemiological SEIR model* to predict the effects of mass face mask wearing. The second introduces an AI inspired agent-based model, which explicitly simulates infections occurring as a result of contact between individuals moving in physical space. The team also took into account the varying degrees of mask effectiveness and found that the effects hold even with inexpensive, widely available non-medical face masks or homemade masks with only 70% effectiveness – an important factor in regions where medical-grade masks must be reserved for health workers.

The team’s simulation results show that if the vast majority (80%-90%) of the general public adopt masking on about day 50 after an outbreak, before lockdown measures are lifted, the number of new COVID-19 infections could be slowed significantly and help avoid a second wave of outbreak. However, if face masking is not adopted nearly universally by the general public (for example if only half the population adopt masks) or if universal masking is delayed (for example to day 75), then significant slowing of the virus spread becomes unlikely.

The modeling results were validated and compared against empirical data from regions that have so far best managed their COVID-19 outbreaks such as Hong Kong, and Taiwan, where putting on face mask in public is culturally acceptable or government policies advise people to do so. The data comparison shows a near perfect correlation between early universal masking and successful suppression of daily COVID-19 case growth rates and/or the rates of reduction from peak daily case growth. In contrast, regions that did not implement early adoption of universal masking have instead needed to maintain a strict societal lockdown, with the attendant huge economic and social costs.

The study – a collaborative effort among an artificial intelligence professor, economist, computational molecular biologist, medical doctor / PhD, and behavioural scientist from Hong Kong, France, Estonia, the UK, and Finland – provides fresh insights into the urgency of putting on face masks in addition to continued physical distancing, increased testing, and contact tracing.

“Locking down our noses and mouths is far preferable to locking down our full bodies inside our homes,” said De Kai. “The cost of masks, including educating populations how to properly make and wear masks, is negligible in comparison to the large economic and human costs of increased infection rates.

To provide the public and policy makers with a feel of how mass wearing of face masks impacts the spread of COVID-19, an interactive visualization of the simulation can be found here. Further resources can be found here.

*In a SEIR model, the population is divided into groups that represent different states with respect to disease progression of any individual: S stands for susceptible, E stands for exposed, I stands for infectious and R stands for recovered or deceased.

More details on this video

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 research university that focuses on science, technology and business as well as humanities and social science. HKUST offers an international campus, and a holistic and interdisciplinary pedagogy to nurture well-rounded graduates with global vision, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking. HKUST attained the highest proportion of internationally excellent research work in the Research Assessment Exercise 2014 of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee, and is ranked as the world’s best young university in Times Higher Education’s Young University Rankings 2019. Its graduates were ranked 10th worldwide and top in Greater China in Global Employability University Survey 2019.

(This news was originally published on the HKUST Public Affairs Office website.)

20/05/2020 Thumbnail Title Interactive Online Teaching Teaching and Learning in the Time of COVID-19 Content Banner Multiple cameras have helped faculty deliver effective real-time interactive online teaching. Multiple cameras have helped faculty deliver effective real-time interactive online teaching. [Download Photo] Body As the COVID-19 outbreak and strategic measures to deal with it ratcheted up in Hong Kong in early 2020, the start of the Spring semester was delayed at HKUST, assisting decisions to move to total interactive online learning and faculty to prepare for this switch.

Although the School of Engineering (SENG) has played a signicant role in the introduction of blended learning (a mix of face-to-face and digital/online instruction) and online learning via Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) at HKUST and globally over the past decade, full interactive online teaching was a new experience for most instructors and students.

The form adopted by HKUST was to use Zoom to deliver all classes on schedule, and in person, meaning teachers gave and learners took the courses virtually in real time.

To master such teaching, the University set up many tutorials for faculty on using and optimizing the soware and other equipment. For example, academics were shown how to create their own whiteboards using a piece of paper and a well-positioned camera. In addition, multi-camera set-ups were employed, for instance, one directed on the “whiteboard”, another on a PowerPoint, while a third could capture the instructor’s face.

Difficulties related to online examinations and assessment were also addressed, with training arranged for instructors in handling fairness, monitoring, and other such issues.

Initially, students pushed back against full online teaching, especially in the early stages of the pandemic when fewer locations were aected. However, surveyed aer two weeks, and again at mid-term, more than 60% of SENG students reported they were satised, feedback similar to classes where they are physically present.

“We have had instructors who reported they found students more comfortable about asking questions, as with online tools this meant questions could also be typed,” Dean of Engineering Prof. Tim CHENG Kwang-Ting said.

Meanwhile, laboratories that were essential for thesis research for some engineering students, particularly those focusing on chemical, mechanical or electronic engineering, were partially re-opened during the semester. With the School working together with the University’s Health, Safety and Environment Oce, lab access entailed adherence to stringent protocols, including wearing of masks, temperature checks, logging of start and nish times, and careful scheduling of sessions.

“Our attitude throughout has been one of caution, with safety the top priority, ahead of everything else,” Dean Cheng said.

School arrangements have been overseen by the Dean and his management team, comprising Associate Deans, Department Heads, and Administration Unit Heads. Members have met regularly to discuss critical issues, policies, and actions, including taking care of the many challenges facing both undergraduate and postgraduate students. HKUST senior management have handled University-wide issues.

“Moving forward we are still very cautious,” Dean Cheng said. “The types of challenges we have had to handle are unique for academics, situations we have never had to deal with before. But it shows HKUST’s robustness to take proper action in a time of crisis.

“Actually, every crisis oers new opportunities as it causes us to reflect and we change our mindset,” he pointed out. “We have tried hard in the past 10 years to do blended learning, for example. Now, if people see the value of online interactive lecture delivery, then you will fundamentally change engineering teaching in a classroom setting.”

Dean Cheng is also expecting that this experience will serve as a living example of the need for engineering education to move beyond the training of technical experts toward the provision of solutions and services that can impact society. “From this pandemic, we have seen our faculty and alumni produce so many useful solutions, provide something needed,” he said. “That’s why we must strengthen our students’ training in the humanities in addition to technical knowledge. In this way, they will understand people’s needs, and the services and products they create will not just be another technical solution or gadget but impactful and relevant.”

This story was originally published on the SENG In Focus magazine (issue 32, P.22).

NEWS TAGS News Tags Teaching and Learning Massive Open Online Courses Health SHARE

Instructors have found some students are more comfortable asking questions online.

24/06/2020 Thumbnail Title The Intellectual, the Doer and the Leader PhD Student SU Dan Leads HKUST Engineering Team in Award-Winning Research Related to COVID-19 Content Banner Su Dan led two HKUST teams to win two competitions during her first 12 months as a PhD student. Su Dan led two HKUST teams to win two competitions during her first 12 months as a PhD student. [Download Photo] Body SU Dan, a PhD student of Electronic and Computer Engineering (ECE), has recently led a team at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) to win Kaggle’s COVID-19 Open Research Dataset Challenge with a question-answering system for medical professionals to quickly find answers to their queries about the pandemic. As early as her first month as a PhD student last year, she led another team to garner the Chatbot Millionaire Challenge organized by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation. The high achiever, who does well with her studies and in the workplace, is so down-to-earth that she talks about her phenomenal achievements as if they are commonplace.

Extraordinary abilities at a young age Unlike many high achievers who consciously set far-reaching goals to help them overcome hurdles on the way, Dan is unique in the way that she does not seem to need clearly-defined goals to become motivated. The naturally driven, intelligent and diligent student from Shaanxi in China started school one year earlier than other kids of the same age. This did not stop her from always coming first in class. She won awards in national competitions in mathematics multiple times, and was able to get good score among junior high students when she was only a pupil in primary five.

Her world of knowledge was further widened as she went to an elite senior high school in the same province. There, she had the opportunity to join other outstanding students and meet professors from the prestigious Tsinghua University.

Due to little prior exposure to the computer however, she almost had to start from scratch when she joined the University of Science and Technology of China’s Computer Engineering program. While this made her rather different from other classmates, it did not take long for the talented and hardworking student to be awarded scholarships again and demonstrate leadership abilities in the university’s career development society.

After some struggles during the fourth year, the top student declined an offer at the National Engineering Laboratory for Speech and Language Information Processing (NEL-SLIP), and instead applied for universities in Hong Kong and Singapore. Joining MPhil in ECE at HKUST in 2009 with scholarship, she published three papers on personalized music emotion classification via active learning and participated in conferences abroad, all of which were notable for an MPhil student. And despite being busy with her studies, she managed to fulfill responsibilities as head of HKUST’s Mainland Students and Scholars Society to organize activities for fellow students.

Motivation from within “I seldom thought about how I got to where I am today, until being asked during this interview. Somehow I didn’t really set long-term goals. I always try to do things well and solve problems on the way; it is natural. By doing these, opportunities came, and I grasped them,” noted the humble, high-achieving student.

“There might be painful experiences that drove me to tears, but the next morning I forgot about them and started anew. I am optimistic; hurdles are only meant to be inspirational. Always recalling the positive experiences, I feel grateful towards people who have helped me.”

Dan’s MPhil and PhD supervisor Prof. Pascale FUNG remarked, “I could see the potential in her, and I still think that she has more to offer now that she is already on the way to become a strong leader. As a bright problem-solver, she can see the bigger picture.”

Launching an exciting career Upon completion of MPhil in 2012, Dan decided not to pursue PhD immediately. She launched her career by joining a well-established bank, but unfortunately the job did not offer enough challenges. In 2014, she co-founded a robotics company in Shenzhen.

The venture that followed involved SF Technology, an affiliate of the delivery giant SF Express. As the Senior Machine Learning and AI Engineer, she was given the arduous task to build a system with the aim to retrieve lost claims. “As an issue beyond mathematics, it could not be solved by artificial intelligence alone. Since it had to do with overall logistics and management, a credit system needs to be set up,” the then new employee quickly concluded.

Whereas other new recruits might have found it a time-consuming task with little promise of being successful, Dan once again showed her first-rate intellectual ability and perseverance by conducting substantial research on her own to build machine learning algorithms. “In machine learning, you have to get your hands dirty with data,” she stressed.

As a result, her boss was so impressed by her conceptual model that she was invited to meet with senior management and present her ideas. Soon after, she became the project lead and was given seven team members under her to achieve the company’s goals. Adaptations of the system, which helped to enhance risk control, are still being used today in one form or another. As part of the celebrated success, she acquired a few patents for the invention.

Repeatedly being given A+ for her performance during annual evaluations and being awarded the High Potential and Performance Award, she had set such a superb role model that she represented the company to go to MIT, Georgia Tech, Boston University, HKUST and other prestigious universities to recruit new talents.

HKUST Homecoming At the peak of her career in the multinational corporation in Shenzhen, Dan made the life-changing move to return to HKUST in Spring 2019. “There is always the psychological complex in me to pursue PhD studies. If I let it go, I may never have the chance to pursue it.” So here she comes, pursuing PhD studies and leading HKUST teams to achieve victories at competitions.

Once again, Dan is ready to overcome challenges in relation to her uncommon choice. “Whereas my parents back in Shaanxi were worried that I might not be able to pay off my mortgage for the purchased flat in Shenzhen, I believe there must be a way and a solution. I might be slightly older than other PhD students, but I have learned to solve problems. Other people may feel the pressure, but I like finding solutions.”

Two weeks after her return to her alma mater last year, she was encouraged by Prof. Fung to lead a team, made up of PhD students and engineers from EMOS Technologies, to participate in the Chatbot Millionaire Challenge organized by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation. With merely a fortnight to prepare, and with all team members being simultaneously occupied with other projects, Dan led the team to quickly explore the rules and formulate a strategy. The team, working mainly on weekends and sometimes meeting online, ended up winning by a huge margin among competing teams specialized in data science and chatbot solutions.

Most recently, she led the team at HKUST’s Center for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAiRE) to achieve the highest scores, among over 1,000 global teams, regarding one of the 10 tasks of the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset Challenge (CORD-19 Challenge). The team built their own CAiRE-COVID system, a machine learning-based system with top-notch natural language processing (NLP) question-answering (QA) techniques combined with summarization for mining available scientific literature. Quickly generating ranked lists and paragraph-level summaries among over 57,000 scholarly articles about COVID-19 and related coronaviruses, it is meant to facilitate the medical community to find answers to queries and ultimately a cure. The AI Challenge is jointly organized by Allen Institute for AI, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Microsoft Research, Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, the US National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine, and the White House.

Building her portfolio in a male-dominated profession As a female engineer and a PhD student, Dan has to consistently overcome hindrances regarding expectations from the family and the society. Having higher aspirations towards studies and career than her parents could ever imagine, she always had to choose the road less traveled and pursue her own way. “Individual thoughts were something I have had since a young age. I am grateful for the encouragement of Prof. Fung who has influenced me immensely,” she said.

Prof. Fung commented, “Girls are often discouraged to pursue PhD. For Dan, her strong motivation is all internal. Her precious strengths are not only about intellectual and technical skills; her leadership abilities are unusual. She had led two teams to win two competitions within only weeks of preparation.”

“Don’t think too much. Just do it.” Interestingly, the down-to-earth talent does not have lofty goals. Instead, she takes things one at a time with a utilitarian, step-by-step approach. “Don’t think too much. When there are good projects, just do it and solve problems along the way. Be courageous.”

She is not overly pragmatic either. “Some people ask me how many awards I expect to get, but I never see things that way. It is important to filter out these noises. Just focus, try your best, work seriously and it will be fine. Never give up; you only live once. And I don’t like to admit failure.”

Related link:

SENG news (Jul 3, 2020): Prof. Pascale FUNG Helps to Debunk COVID-19 Myths with Science

ECE news (Mar 7, 2020): A Question Answering and Summarization System Developed by CAiRE Team Won one of the 10 Tasks of The COVID-19 Open Research Challenge (CORD-19)

ECE news (Mar 1, 2019): EMOS Technologies Won The Chatbot Millionaire Challenge in "AI+U: Explore and Experience Exhibition" Organized by HKSTP

NEWS TAGS News Tags Women / Gender Women in Engineering Artificial Intelligence Data Science Achievements Electronic and Computer Engineering Postgraduate SHARE

Prof. Pascale Fung (right) sees the strong potential and motivation in her student Su Dan. The team won the Chatbot Millionaire Challenge in “AI+U: Explore and Experience Exhibition” organized by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation.

30/05/2020 Thumbnail Title Knowledge Transfer for a Safer World HKUST Alumni Join Fight Against COVID-19 with Antimicrobial Technology Content Banner (From right) HKUST alumni Donald Lai and Winsor Lee, who earned Bachelor’s degrees from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and worked on research projects at the University, joined the same company after graduation where they continue to further their research and apply their engineering knowledge, which in turn has contributed to society during the COVID-19 pandemic. (From right) HKUST alumni Donald Lai and Winsor Lee, who earned Bachelor’s degrees from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and worked on research projects at the University, joined the same company after graduation where they continue to further their research and apply their engineering knowledge, which in turn has contributed to society during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Download Photo] Body As the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, much attention was focused on healthcare systems. A quieter front in the fight against the disease was the prevention of its spread through disinfection. Two alumni joined the battle against the unseen enemy, using a long-lasting antibacterial and antiviral spray with a new smart Multilevel Antimicrobial Polymers (MAP-1) coating developed by HKUST.

After completing the Master of Philosophy (MPhil) program at HKUST, alumni Donald LAI Yue-Tak and Winsor LEE Jong-Hong joined Chiaphua Industries Limited (CIL), which owns Germagic, an antimicrobial technology that has proved highly effective in the fight against COVID-19.

The technology was developed by a research team led by Donald and Winsor’s MPhil supervisor, Professor YEUNG King-Lun of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Division of Environment and Sustainability. Prof. Yeung is also the director of the HKUST-CIL Joint Laboratory of Environmental Health Technologies (Joint Lab), which was established by HKUST and its industrial partner CIL in 2018.

CIL’s latest product Germagic Thyme contains polyethylenimine and thyme essential oil, which form a coating on objects that inactivates viruses and bacteria. Effective for up to 90 days, the coating can kill 99.9% of viruses, such as measles, German measles, mumps and FCV, a virus found in cats which is considered an important indicator of a product’s efficacy in eliminating the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Sponsored by local charities, disinfection service was arranged for more than 1,000 homes of people from grassroot communities, including those living in cage dwellings and subdivided flats. Germagic coating has now been widely used in public utilities and more than 70 daycare centers, elderly homes, kindergartens and schools, shopping malls, school buses, churches and sports training facilities since the outbreak.

Rising to the Challenge With demand for Germagic escalating rapidly during the COVID-19 outbreak, Donald and Winsor have been working around the clock. “My key duties now range from explaining the technical principles and functionality of the products to both internal team members and external clients to purchasing raw materials and supervising mass production. There are various problems to be solved at every stage,” says Donald, who works as a project engineer at CIL.

He and Winsor also need to get the products tested to ensure they comply with the industry regulations in various countries. For example, Donald says, even if a product has undergone comprehensive testing in Hong Kong, the United States Environmental Protection Agency requires the tests to be repeated there. This prolongs the process of launching even mature technology in the market.

Because the Germagic technology is relatively new, clients have more questions or ask for additional testing based on their needs. “For example, a client might ask if the results of a test done on keyboards at HKUST could be replicated on tablecloths and countertops in their own office,” says Winsor, who is an assistant project engineer at CIL.

They do field tests, collecting samples from different locations and then test them at the HKUST-CIL Joint Lab. Winsor often ends up spending a great deal of time in the laboratory at his alma mater.

Foresight opens up Opportunities CIL offers clients a one-stop service, including a professional team that conducts spraying to ensure that it is properly done. The company has recently launched a retail version of Germagic after tackling some hurdles in packaging.

Their preparation for the new product launch, originally planned for the end of the year, allowed them to act quickly when the COVID-19 crisis broke. “As researchers, we sensed that there might be an epidemic at the end of last year when the first cases appeared. With my boss’s support, we lined up the required raw materials and resources early on and so avoided being affected by the recent breakdown in the supply chain of raw materials,” says Donald.

He also pays tribute to Prof. Yeung’s vision. “He saw the need for epidemic prevention research after the SARS outbreak in 2003. As time passed, even though public interest in this area waned, we insisted on pursuing it. Therefore, when faced with an unfortunate event, we were well prepared and knew how to deal with it.”

Friendship and Partnership Donald and Winsor first met each other in Prof. Yeung’s research lab in 2016. At the time, Donald was finishing up his MPhil. They worked together on a project for a month, before Donald joined CIL.

“As a student, I had worked closely with CIL on projects related to disinfection so it felt quite natural to join the company when I graduated,” says Donald. He recalls he had been interested in research since his secondary school days and that HKUST had been in his sights early on. After completing his undergraduate studies, he realized he was best suited to research and so decided on an MPhil.

Winsor, who is from Malaysia, says he chose a chemistry-oriented major because he loved doing experiments as a boy. The desire to learn how to transform research into marketable products motivated him to join HKUST’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Although some family members had reservations about him living alone in Hong Kong, he is more than happy with his decision.

Both cite Prof. Yeung as the mentor who has influenced them the most. “He always shows us the way, step by step,” says Donald, with a smile.

Donald was happy that Winsor also decided to join CIL after he graduated. “Prof. Yeung’s inventions are proliferating as are their applications. There were too many for me to handle myself, so I was thrilled to have Winsor on board.”

Donald and Winsor have forged a close and productive partnership. Donald is clearly very fond of Winsor: “He is diligent and willing to share ideas frankly. He doesn’t hesitate to remind me if tasks need my attention and, at the same time, is willing to accept feedback.” Meanwhile, Winsor says: “My relationship with Donald is multi-faceted ­- he’s like an elder brother, but also a trusted colleague and good friend.”

Training Bears Fruit Looking back, the two alumni say their research training at HKUST taught them life lessons that have held them in good stead during their careers. “Research may not always be successful and it may be several years before you see a breakthrough. When problems arise, you must find a solution,” Winsor says.

Donald says meeting the skyrocketing demand for Germagic from countries around the world is also challenging. “There has been an influx of enquiries and a lot of coordination work which really tests my patience.”

However, there is great satisfaction once these obstacles are overcome. “If you’ve been working hard on a project and it eventually receives recognition and helps the community as a whole, it’s incredibly fulfilling,” Donald says. He is particularly proud of their research team winning a gold medal for the antimicrobial technology at the 2018 Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions.

The coronavirus pandemic has once again raised interest in technology, with news coverage of scientific research rising, so both Donald and Winsor see bright prospects for the future.

Over the years, Donald has tried to live up to his motto, “Never give up, follow your beliefs”. “For example, I encountered many obstacles when making product registrations, which stressed me out. There have been times I wanted to give up and doubted whether I was on the right path. Had I not persevered, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Winsor follows an even more straightforward credo: “Try to live happily, don’t regret your choices."

Both these HKUST alumni can be proud that, through their optimism and can-do spirit, they have played a part in serving the world at a critical time.

NEWS TAGS News Tags Chemical and Biological Engineering Postgraduate Global Health Technology Research and Technology Alumni Environment SHARE

(From left) Alumnus Donald Lai and his co-supervisors Prof Yeung King-Lun, Professor of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE) and Division of Environment and Sustainability (ENVR), and Prof. Joseph K. C. Kwan, Adjunct Professor of ENVR, pose with their gold medal at the 2018 Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions after the signing ceremony of HKUST-CIL Joint Lab in 2018. Donald still vividly remembers the old days when he and his fellow ExCo members of the Chemical and Biological Engineering Students’ Society took photos in front of the sundial sculpture at the piazza. One of his goals is to pursue a PhD, preferably also at HKUST. Winsor, who is from Malaysia, is more than happy with his decision to study engineering abroad at HKUST and to work in Hong Kong, although his family members sometimes urge him to return home.

25/05/2020 Thumbnail Title Fostering Global Exchanges Sharing on Research Efforts to Fight COVID-19 Content Banner Engineering faculty members shared their experiences and research efforts to fight COVID-19 in a joint webinar with the University of Strathclyde. Engineering faculty members shared their experiences and research efforts to fight COVID-19 in a joint webinar with the University of Strathclyde. [Download Photo] Body Five School of Engineering faculty members formed the line-up of panelists for a webinar titled “All-Round Efforts to Fight COVID-19 Pandemic”, which was jointly organized by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow on May 19, 2020.

Through academic exchanges, the webinar helped participants to better understand the implications and impact of COVID-19 and to make sense of how a post-COVID-19 world might be shaped to be more inclusive with global collaborations. The event attracted around 200 attendees, including faculty, students, and alumni of the two universities, friends and collaborators from other universities worldwide, and industrial partners. HKUST Dean of Engineering Prof. Tim CHENG delivered opening remarks and Dr. Phil CONSIDINE, Director of Executive Development of the University of Strathclyde, served as the moderator.

Faculty members who shared their experiences and research efforts to combat the COVID-19 crisis are: Prof. Richard SO (Industrial Engineering and Decision Analytics), on smart fever screening systems; Prof. YEUNG King-Lun (Chemical and Biological Engineering), on smart antimicrobial technologies; Prof. Gary CHAN (Computer Science and Engineering), on geo-fencing technology for home quarantine order; Prof. LIU Ming (Electronic and Computer Engineering), on autonomous driving in low-speed scenarios for mitigation of COVID; and Prof. Matthew MCKAY (Electronic and Computer Engineering), on finding vaccine targets for COVID-19.

The webinar was the first event of the Global Webinar Series in the theme of “Navigating a World of Disruption” that HKUST co-organized with different global partners.

Related links:

Summary of the webinar (in Chinese) About the webinar

05/08/2020 EN 繁 简 Thumbnail Title Early Detection of Drug Resistance HKUST Researchers Uncover Chemo-resistance Mechanism in Glioma Patients Content Banner Prof. Wang Jiguang (second right) and his research team members Prof. Wang Jiguang (second right) and his research team members [Download Photo] Body An international research team co-led by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, and the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) has discovered a mechanism that explains why patients of gliomas – a common and aggressive type of brain tumors, would develop chemo-resistance, potentially allowing early identification of drug-resistant brain cancer patients.

At present, the main treatment for glioma is a combination of surgery, radiotherapy and the chemotherapy agent temozolomide (TMZ). This type of treatment can usually prolong patients’ overall survival time. However, most of them would suffer a relapse and some would become resistant to TMZ.

To understand why, the research team at the Wang Genomics Lab, led by Prof. WANG Jiguang, Assistant Professor at HKUST’s Division of Life Science and Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, computationally analyzed a large cohort of the TMZ-treated recurrent tumors consisting of both publicly available cases and those collected by the team led by Prof. JIANG Tao from the Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, and found that there were translocations of chromosome 10 in some of these recurrent tumors. The team at CNIO validated the biological function of the genetic rearrangement using cancer cell lines and animal models.

The translocations significantly promoted the expression of a gene called MGMT, which repairs the main TMZ-induced DNA damage in cancer cells, causing treatment failure. The study has also found that such translocation only present in recurrent tumors, indicating that the resistance may occur as a consequence to the treatment itself.

“We hope the discovery of this mechanism would help develop a method for early detection of drug resistance and assist doctors in deciding whether the patient should continue be treated with TMZ,” said Prof. Wang. “While it’s true that other drug options for gliomas are currently very limited, I hope this discovery could help develop a rapid test for chemo-resistance, so precious time could be saved for patients who may otherwise be undergoing ineffective treatment.”

Dr. Massimo SQUATRITO, who led the team at CNIO, added that the next step would be to identify novel treatment intervention for TMZ-resistant patients.

The study was recently published in top scientific journal Nature Communications.

Find out more about other work by Prof. Wang: HKUST Researchers Discover Mutation Route That Helps Find New Therapeutic Lead for Deadly Brain Cancer Patients

Read more about relevant research: HKUST Scientists Discover How RNA Polymerase II Maintains Highly Accurate Gene Transcription with High-Performance Computing

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 research intensive university that focuses on science, technology and business as well as humanities and social science. HKUST offers an international campus, and a holistic and interdisciplinary pedagogy to nurture well-rounded graduates with global vision, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking. HKUST attained the highest proportion of internationally excellent research work in the Research Assessment Exercise 2014 of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee, and is ranked as the world’s best young university in Times Higher Education’s Young University Rankings 2020. Its graduates were ranked 10th worldwide and top in Greater China in Global University Employability Survey 2019.

About the CNIO The CNIO is a Spanish public institution dedicated to the research, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and affiliated to the Carlos III Institute of Health (Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities). It is one of the 10 leading cancer research centres in the world (Scimago Institutions Rankings World Report; Nature Index) and covers the entire R&D and Innovation spectrum, from basic research to the clinic, with a view to transferring the results quickly and efficiently to the National Health System and to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology market.

The CNIO has an Experimental Therapeutics Program that covers the initial stages of the development of drugs directed against the therapeutic targets its scientists are working on. Some of the CNIO’s compounds have been licensed to international pharmaceutical companies. In addition, the CNIO is actively involved in ‘open innovation’ programs of international pharmaceutical companies, which has resulted in an influx of more than 25 million euros into the CNIO in the past six years. Finally, three spin-off companies have emerged from the CNIO, which have also allowed patients to benefit from the centre’s developments. These data reflect the Institution’s commitment to innovation and technology transfer and illustrate the importance of public-private collaboration for the advancement in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

(This news was originally published on the HKUST Public Affairs Office website.)

NEWS TAGS News Tags Cancer Genomics Life Science Chemical and Biological Engineering Discovery SHARE

Eight forms of genomic translocation that drive MGMT gene fusions identified from TMZ-treated glioma patients. Structure of the MGMT fusion proteins, for which the two key functional domains (the deep blue and light blue parts of the bars) are preserved, while each gene partnered with MGMT would promote its expression.

13/07/2020 Thumbnail Title Honoring Research and Leadership Prof. Tim CHENG Received Pan Wen Yuan Foundation Award for Outstanding Research Content Banner Prof. Tim Cheng (fourth from right) joined the award presentation ceremony held in Taiwan via video conferencing. Prof. Tim Cheng (fourth from right) joined the award presentation ceremony held in Taiwan via video conferencing. [Download Photo] Body Dean of Engineering Prof. Tim CHENG was honored with a Pan Wen Yuan Foundation Award for Outstanding Research in 2020 in recognition of his international contributions in very-large-scale integration (VLSI) testing and design verification, design automation of electronic and photonic systems, mobile computer vision, and learning-based multimedia computing. He is concurrently a Chair Professor jointly in the Departments of Electronic & Computer Engineering and Computer Science & Engineering.

The award is presented annually to no more than three outstanding ethnic Chinese researchers who specialize in the fields of electronics, information, and communication. Selection criteria include demonstration of international standards in theoretical innovations, experimental technique developments, production process enhancement or instrument production, as well as excellence in leading large-scale or integrative projects.

The Foundation was named after Dr. PAN Wen Yuen, the most memorable founder of Taiwan’s integrated circuit (IC) industry, and aims to promote the cultivation of technical manpower in information science. A number of awards were set up under the Foundation to recognize outstanding contributors in Taiwan’s technology industry.

Prof. Cheng joined HKUST as the Dean of Engineering in 2016 after a 23-year career at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has made significant contributions in electronic design automation (EDA), and is one of the most impactful researchers globally in both testing and design verification/validation. His contributions in test and verification represent a sustained level of innovations driving the evolution of VLSI test and verification technologies over a span of three decades. A number of his inventions have been adopted in commercial tools and deployed commercially with high impact to the IC design industry.

His work has addressed the challenges of ensuring correctness and reliability of complex integrated circuits. He has developed a number of techniques that have led to the availability of low-cost and high-quality solutions for design validation and manufacturing testing of high-performance silicon ICs as well as flexible electronics. Among the most significant and impactful results he has produced include design-for-testability (DfT) and delay testing for high-performance electronics systems, logic equivalence checking for functional verification, validation and test for high-speed IOs, and a design style for designing low-power and robust flexible circuits, named “Pseudo-CMOS”, becoming the most commonly used design style for designing flexible circuits.

27/05/2020 Thumbnail Title Rising Star in Cybersecurity Prof. SHI Ling Named a World Economic Forum Young Scientist 2020 Content Banner As a 2020 Young Scientist, Prof. Shi Ling joins a community of the most forward-thinking and celebrated scientific minds in the world. As a 2020 Young Scientist, Prof. Shi Ling joins a community of the most forward-thinking and celebrated scientific minds in the world. [Download Photo] Body Prof. SHI Ling, Electronic and Computer Engineering (ECE), was named a World Economic Forum Young Scientist in the class of 2020. He is one of the 25 brightest researchers worldwide under the age of 40 selected this year.

The Young Scientists community was created in 2008 to engage rising-star researchers in the work of the World Economic Forum (WEF). The Young Scientists are a community of extraordinary scientists from various academic disciplines and geographies. They are committed to integrating scientific knowledge into society for the public good. In the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the community helps leaders engage with science and the role it plays in society.

Selection criteria include experience as a principal investigator, group leader or early tenure track professor; a recognized record of research excellence; a commitment to serve society at large through exceptional contribution; and an impeccable public record and good standing in candidate’s community.

Prof. Shi is excited about this honor. “I am grateful to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) for providing an ideal academic platform without which this award is impossible. My current research focuses on cyber-physical systems privacy and security. Designing privacy- and security-aware cyber-physical systems and preventing major critical infrastructures from being attacked (in cyber or physical forms) have paramount importance in this information era when the cyber world and physical world are closely intertwined,” he said.

“Being a member of the WEF Young Scientists is truly a great honor. At the same time, it also means greater responsibility. I will try my best to make good use of the excellent platform, interact with other leading researchers in the world, and communicate with relevant policymakers and government officials to make some true impact to the academic community as well as to the society,” he added.

Prof. Shi received his BEng in Electronic Engineering from HKUST in 2002 and PhD in Control and Dynamical Systems from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 2008. He is currently an associate professor at the ECE Department, and the associate director of HKUST Robotics Institute and HKUST-DJI Joint Innovation Laboratory.

Other School of Engineering faculty members who were named WEF Young Scientists previously included Prof. Matthew MCKAY, ECE, and Prof. Angela WU, Chemical & Biological Engineering, both in the class of 2018.

Related link:

WEF blog (May 26, 2020): Science leads the response to COVID-19. These 25 scientists are tackling the other global challenges

06/07/2020 Thumbnail Title Prestigious National Honors HKUST Engineering Received Three Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards Content Banner Prof. Irene Lo (center) garnered a Natural Science Award as the lead applicant of her team. Prof. Zhang Limin (left) and Prof. Christopher Leung (right) received a Natural Science Award and Scientific & Technological Progress Award respectively with their teams led by their former PhD students. Prof. Irene Lo (center) garnered a Natural Science Award as the lead applicant of her team. Prof. Zhang Limin (left) and Prof. Christopher Leung (right) received a Natural Science Award and Scientific & Technological Progress Award respectively with their teams led by their former PhD students. [Download Photo] Body Three School of Engineering faculty members were honored in the Ministry of Education’s 2019 Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards (Science and Technology). These significant national awards recognize leading contributions to scientific discovery and technological innovation carried out in tertiary institutions across China.

The awardees and their winning projects are:

Natural Science Award (Second Class) Prof. Irene LO, Chair Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering - Fundamentals of Heavy Metal Pollution Control Using Iron-based Magnetic Materials

Led by Prof. Lo, the project is joined by HKUST PhD graduates GUAN Xiaohong and DONG Haoran as well as a collaborator in Tongji University. Prof. Lo has been studying the fundamentals of heavy metal pollution control using iron-based magnetic materials for the past two decades, and has recently turned the technical know-how into a pilot-scale application. Dr. Guan and Dr. Dong are now on the faculty of Tongji University and Hunan University respectively.

Natural Science Award (First Class) Prof. ZHANG Limin, Chair Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering - Rain-induced Colluvium Landslides: Mechanism and Risk Control

The project is carried out together with Prof. Zhang’s past PhD students (ZHANG Lulu, LI Xu, ZHANG Shuai, ZHAO Hongfen, ZHU Hong) and a former postdoctoral fellow CHEN Qun. Led by Lulu, the team looked into the mechanisms of rain-induced failure of colluvium soil slopes and developed risk mitigation measures for such slopes. Team members are now working in different universities, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Beijing Jiaotong University, Zhejiang University, Sun Yat-sen University, and Sichuan University.

Scientific and Technological Progress Award (Second Class) Prof. Christopher LEUNG, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering - Optimizing Design of High Ductility Cementitious Composites and Its Application in Improving Infrastructural Performance

The project is led by Prof. PAN Jinlong of Southeast University, who received his PhD from HKUST in 2005 under Prof. Leung’s supervision. In addition to Southeast University and HKUST, the project also involves Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, and some industry partners. The team developed cost-effective high ductility cementitious composites and design guidelines for their applications in (i) high performance structural components for earthquake resistance, (ii) pre-fabricated structural components and their in-situ joints, and (iii) structural repair and strengthening.

NEWS TAGS News Tags Research Award Civil and Environmental Engineering Geotechnical Engineering SHARE

Prof. Irene Lo (center) Prof. Zhang Limin Prof. Christopher Leung

10/08/2020 Thumbnail Title Generous Support from Donors Three More SENG Faculty Received Named Professorships Content Banner Three more School of Engineering faculty have been appointed to named professorships: (from left) Prof. Khaled Ben Letaief, Prof. Chan Man-Sun, and Prof. Li Zexiang. Three more School of Engineering faculty have been appointed to named professorships: (from left) Prof. Khaled Ben Letaief, Prof. Chan Man-Sun, and Prof. Li Zexiang. [Download Photo] Body Three leading faculty members of the School of Engineering, all from the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, were recognized with prestigious named professorships at HKUST’s fifth inauguration ceremony for such honors today. They were among a group of 11 outstanding academics across the University to receive named professorships.

HKUST Council Chairman Mr. Andrew LIAO Cheung-Sing and President Prof. Wei SHYY officiated at the ceremony – conducted online this year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Donors and friends of the University also participated in the ceremony in celebration of the inauguration.

Mr. Andrew Liao expressed deep gratitude for the donors’ benevolence, “In an era of global competition for talents, our donors’ continued support reinforces our efforts in attracting and retaining distinguished academics from around the world, helping the University in advancing its mission to offer quality education. With their generous donation, HKUST, as a research university, will continue to fulfil the shared vision of addressing the global challenges and contributing to the economic and social development with innovation and creativity.”

Prof. Wei Shyy said in his opening remarks, “Faculty member is one of the key pillars of HKUST. They not only teach, but also mentor, support and advise our students. We are very proud of having this opportunity to recognize our outstanding faculty colleagues, whose commitment and accomplishments will allow HKUST to continue to break new ground. We are also grateful for the donor’s generosity and strong support to our faculty members.”

The professorships were made possible by generous donations rendered to HKUST from long-standing contributors to higher education. The three engineering-related ones are (in alphabetical order according to their first names): Dr. Colin Lam Ko Yin, King’s Flair Development Limited, and Wong Check She Charitable Foundation.

The appointed professors from the School of Engineering are:

New Bright Professor of Engineering Prof. Khaled BEN LETAIEF Chair Professor, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering

Alex Wong Siu Wah Gigi Wong Fook Chi Professor of Engineering Prof. CHAN Mansun Chair Professor, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering

Colin Lam Ko Yin Professor of Engineering Prof. LI Zexiang Professor, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering

They joined seven other SENG named professors to bring the School’s total to 10.

(This news was adopted from a press release on the HKUST Public Affairs Office website.)

19/05/2020 Thumbnail Title Dedicated and Innovative Educators Three Professors Recognized in HKUST Common Core Teaching Excellence Award 2019 Content Banner Outstanding common core course teachers: (from left) Prof. Raymond Wong, Prof. Marshal Liu, and Prof. Kenneth Leung Outstanding common core course teachers: (from left) Prof. Raymond Wong, Prof. Marshal Liu, and Prof. Kenneth Leung [Download Photo] Body Three School of Engineering faculty members have been named recipients of the HKUST Common Core Teaching Excellence Award 2019 in recognition of their substantial contribution to the design and the teaching of exemplary common core courses.

Prof. Marshal LIU, Chemical and Biological Engineering, gained the Excellence Award for his CENG 1800 Introduction to Food Science and Technology course.

Two Honorary Mentions went to Prof. Kenneth LEUNG for his COMP 1001 Exploring Multimedia and Internet Computing course and Prof. Raymond WONG for his COMP 1942 Exploring and Visualizing Data course. Both professors are from Computer Science and Engineering (CSE).

In the signature experiential course CENG 1800, described as “eye-opening”, “thought-provoking” and “rewarding and unforgettable” by students, Prof. Marshal Liu skillfully connects theories on food science, food processing technology, and safety issues while simultaneously inspiring curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking.

Leveraging an enterprising interdisciplinary course design, he draws on real-world scenarios using everyday items, including bread, tofu, and even skincare products. He strives to relate course content to the latest research and current events, and adopts a range of dynamic learning activities such as food factory visits, laboratory experiments, class discussions and student-initiated projects to help students create lasting impressions of what they learn.

In COMP 1001, Prof. Kenneth Leung opens up a whole new world of hands-on know-how and thinking skills that transform students’ understanding of the online world. A firm believer in engaging and motivating education, the CSE alumnus has continuously endeavored to advance and enliven students’ learning experience over the past seven years of teaching the course. These include effectively revamping the course using a “flipped classroom” strategy, which enables learners to work more at their own pace, as well as an unconventional online exam model and peer evaluation. Such custom-designed content and pedagogy have not only enhanced students’ knowledge and generated a positive environment for peer learning, but also stimulated their curiosity and interest in exploring more about the subject.

Prof. Raymond Wong’s COMP 1942 has been popular with students from diverse subject areas since it was first offered in 2011, with course participants increasing from 114 over the past five years to a massive 277 in 2019. In the course, he focuses on presenting data mining and visualization concepts in a well-organized and logical way, and a range of tailor-made experiential approaches that overcome technical knowledge challenges. Such teaching innovations, including role play, interactive demonstrations, and carefully designed in-class exercises that stimulate class participation, have helped students acquire life-long learning and critical thinking skills.

This is not the first time that Prof. Liu’s and Prof. Wong’s courses were recognized in the Common Core Teaching Excellence Award scheme. CENG 1800 and COMP 1942 were selected for the Honorary Mention in 2017 and 2016 respectively.

NEWS TAGS News Tags Common Core Teaching and Learning Recognition Chemical and Biological Engineering Computer Science and Engineering SHARE

For Prof. Marshal Liu, teaching – his “calling in life” – is all about igniting intellectual fire, by passing on his passion and pursuit of excellence to his students, broadening their intellectual vision, and fostering their personal growth. Prof. Kenneth Leung is dedicated to teaching innovation and provision of a learning journey with a difference. Prof. Raymond Wong’s inspirational commitment and willingness to rethink and enhance course materials and approaches have impressed colleagues and students alike.

07/07/2020 Thumbnail Title Contributing to the Big Picture at HKUST Prof. Pedro SANDER Expands on His Passion for Computer Graphics Content Banner Prof. Pedro Sander from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering has recently been focusing on gigantic panorama videos, such as this still of a zoomed-in area of Central taken from The Peak in Hong Kong. Prof. Pedro Sander from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering has recently been focusing on gigantic panorama videos, such as this still of a zoomed-in area of Central taken from The Peak in Hong Kong. [Download Photo] Body From working with renowned talent from around the world and participating in exciting computer graphics projects to coming up with new research ideas through teaching, Professor Pedro SANDER has had an invigorating journey at the HKUST Department of Computer Science and Engineering so far.

It’s a long way from Brazil to Hong Kong, but Prof. Pedro Sander says he sees many similarities between the city he now lives in and the town near Rio de Janeiro where he grew up. “Hong Kong actually reminds me of Rio – the natural beauty in a big city, the skyscrapers and the sea remind me of home,” he muses. “Hong Kong is very international, a melting pot of people from all over the world.”

Prof. Sander also experiences this cosmopolitanism at HKUST, which he joined in 2006, having earned a Master’s and a PhD from Harvard University, followed by a stint as a senior member of the Application Research Group of ATI Research in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

“When I first came to Hong Kong, I didn’t expect to be here this long,” he says. “I find the city extremely organized, it’s easy to get things done. HKUST has an impressive community, with advanced research areas and extremely bright students from Hong Kong and abroad. That combination of the strength of the university and the appeal of the city make it very attractive to academics and overseas students.”

Breakthrough in Graphics At the School of Engineering, Prof. Sander has been involved in a number of promising research projects in the field of computer graphics. Most recently, he was part of a team of researchers using looping video content to form a gigantic panorama.

Panorama images are created by stitching together multiple high-resolution photographs. While putting together a panorama with video content is more challenging, the technology can be used in a wide range of areas from virtual tours in the travel industry to surveillance in the security sector.

“It was research from the ground up as there were no methods for creating a video panorama of this scale using raw video content,” Prof. Sander explains. “Some interesting projects in the past have taken smaller datasets and looped them together. The task we set ourselves was to do this on a massive scale.”

They ended up fixing a professional 4K video camera onto a robotic arm to capture spatially overlapping eight-second videos, which were then processed to stabilize the content and ensure consistency in brightness and color. The team devised an optimization method to stitch the videos together into a gigantic high-resolution panorama. They also developed an interface to enable authors and viewers to edit specific areas of the video.

In the next phase of the project, the team is considering the use of drones to capture the videos, which involves challenges in camera stabilization. “Another potential project is to try to embed smaller videos into different parts of the panorama, adding sound and other interactive elements, or even real-time dynamic content so people can zoom into the image and interact with it,” Prof. Sander says.

Teaching Inspires Research The COVID-19 pandemic offered him an opportunity to combine his love of the visual with a burning global issue in the classroom. “In devising our programming assignments, we try to think of current events and problems that may interest students to link classroom learning with the wider world,” he shares.

Thus, for the introductory C++ programming course he co-teaches with Dr. Cecia Chan and Dr. Cindy Li, they worked with teaching associate Mr. Wallace Mak to develop programming assignments asking students to process the COVID-19 case data from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

“The idea was to explore the wealth of available data to generate some statistics that allow students to analyze the current outbreak situation in different countries,” he says. Prof. Sander then developed a web-based motion chart that loads and displays the statistics from student assignments to help them visualize trends, and went on to come up with a more advanced version of the visualization tool online. “It became a hit online, with several people using it daily to explore the statistics and better analyze the current situation in several countries,” he says.

This project inspired a further investigation into how to assign optimal, mostly unique colors to countries in the visualization. “I am now collaborating with Prof. Guilherme FONSECA, from Aix-Marseille University, who is developing an algorithm to automatically assign color visualization based on the national colors of each country. We plan to further explore other aspects of the visualization as well.” The project is an encouraging example of how research can not only inspire teaching, but how the classroom can spark new research ideas as well.

What is his pedagogical philosophy? “What I cherish most in academia is the opportunity to enable possibilities where students work on projects that they are passionate about and they move on with their careers and do very well in their chosen fields,” he shares. “This process of watching students from the beginning of their trajectory all the way to fulfilling their career dreams is what’s most satisfying.”

Attracting the Best With the recent rise in big data and artificial intelligence, admission into the department is no easy feat. “What is exciting about our students at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level is how motivated they are,” he observes.

Faculty members of HKUST Computer Science and Engineering are renowned in a broad range of fields, covering almost every area of computing. Irrespective of their area of interest, students can find advisors in their research field in the department.

Apart from the HKUST community, what kept Prof. Sander in Hong Kong and HKUST for more than 14 years? Prof. Sander is a foodie who enjoys exploring the cuisines of the world available in Hong Kong and participating in various sports on campus. “These were a lot of fun and led to many friendships with alumni in Hong Kong. I particularly enjoy the many tennis events we organized with the student team.” He is eagerly awaiting the opening of the new HKUST Water Sports Centre where students, alumni and staff will be able to try dragon boating, windsurfing and other water sports.

He strongly believes that, as a relatively young university, HKUST is well positioned to attract and integrate people from all over the world. “We have faculty and students from everywhere. This has encouraged me to stay on for so long even though Hong Kong is so far away from Brazil.”

NEWS TAGS News Tags Computer Science and Engineering Campus Life Computer Vision Research SHARE

Prof. Sander used to fly more than 30 hours back to his birth place Rio de Janeiro in Brazil from Hong Kong occasionally before the COVID-19 pandemic. This gigapixel image was taken from the Corcovado peak 10 years ago and set a world record for the largest digital photograph at that time. A visualization project from an undergraduate programming course, processing COVID-19 case data from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, sparked the idea of developing a new visualization tool and an algorithm to automatically assign colors from each country’s national flags and Hong Kong's flag. Prof. Sander (front row, second right) with members of the HKUST tennis team at the HKUST Student/Staff event. Prof. Sander with his family and friends enjoying kayak sailing in Sai Kung.

Related link:

Video: The Fifth Inauguration Ceremony of Named Professorships List of named professorships at HKUST

NEWS TAGS News Tags Recognition Electronic and Computer Engineering Donation SHARE

HKUST Council Chairman Mr. Andrew Liao officiated at the ceremony. HKUST President Prof. Wei SHYY addressed the audience.

07/05/2020 Thumbnail Title AI Pioneers SENG Faculty & Alumni Recognized as AI 2000 Most Influential Scholars Content Banner

[Download Photo] Body Nine faculty members from the Department of Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) and Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering (ECE) were selected for inclusion on the AI 2000 Most Influential Scholar Annual List (AI 2000), which named 2,000 of the world’s top-cited research scholars from the fields of artificial intelligence over the next 10 years (2020-2029).

The list covers 20 sub-fields. The top 10 most-cited scholars in each sub-field are named as “AI 2000 Most Influential Scholars” and the top 11–100 scholars are recognized as “AI 2000 Most Influential Scholars Honorable Mention”.

Two professors who made to the world’s top 10 are:

Prof. YANG Qiang, Chair Professor of CSE and Chief AI Officer of WeBank, ranked 1st in the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence/International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI/IJCAI) sub-field and 43rd in the information retrieval and recommendation sub-field Prof. QU Huamin, Professor of CSE, ranked third in the visualization sub-field Other awardees include:

Prof. Khaled BEN LETAIEF, New Bright Professor of Engineering and Chair Professor of ECE, ranked 28th in internet of things Prof. James KWOK, Professor of CSE, ranked 21st in AAAI/IJCAI Prof. Vincent LAU, Chair Professor of ECE, ranked 51st in internet of things Prof. Shaojie SHEN, Assistant Professor of ECE, ranked 73rd in robotics Prof. ZHANG Tong, Chair Professor of Mathematics and CSE, ranked 68th in machine learning Prof. ZHANG Jun, Adjunct Assistant Professor of ECE, ranked 27th in internet of things Prof. ZHANG Zhengyou, Adjunct Professor of CSE, ranked 46th in multimedia ​​​In addition, at least four alumni were included on the list. They are Dr. TAO Meixia (33rd in internet of things), Dr. YIN Jie (78th in AAAI/IJCAI), who were also among the 179 female scholars (corresponding to 9.7%) on the Women in AI 2000 List, and Dr. WONG Kai-Kit and Dr. Ernest S. LO (58th and 69th respectively in internet of things). All of them received their PhD from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s ECE Department (Meixia, Kai-Kit and Ernest) or CSE Department (Jie).

The AI 2000 Annual List is jointly announced by Tsinghua-Chinese Academy of Engineering’s Joint Research Center for Knowledge and Intelligence, and the Institute for Artificial Intelligence of Tsinghua University. It is automatically generated and determined by computer algorithms deployed in the Tsinghua AMiner system that tracks and ranks scholars based on citation counts collected by top-venue publications over the past 10 years (2009-2019). The list is widely recognized by renowned universities and organizations, including the University of California Berkeley, Cornell University, Duke University, National University of Singapore, and others.

21/07/2020 EN 繁 简 Thumbnail Title Broadening Insights on GBA Transport Technologies HKUST Signs Cooperative Agreement with Guangzhou Metro to Nurture Talents in Intelligent Transportation Content Banner Intelligent transportation is one of the key research thrust areas of the proposed HKUST Guangzhou campus. The photo is an impression of the Guangzhou campus. Intelligent transportation is one of the key research thrust areas of the proposed HKUST Guangzhou campus. The photo is an impression of the Guangzhou campus. [Download Photo] Body The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Guangzhou Metro Group Co. Ltd. (Guangzhou Metro) have signed a cooperation agreement to jointly nurture HKUST postgraduate (PG) students into experts of intelligent transportation.

Under the agreement signed between Prof. Lionel NI, Provost of HKUST and Mr. DING Jianlong, Chairman of Guangzhou Metro, HKUST and Guangzhou Metro would each assign a professor-grade supervisor to guide and train selected PG students at HKUST in one of the four aspects of intelligent transportation - the forecasting and planning of urban agglomeration transportation system, rail transit passenger flow forecasting analysis and guidance, urban rail operation key equipment intelligent operation and maintenance technology, as well as subway security inspection technology.

The program is set to groom all-round talent with special training in the innovation of and professional skills in intelligent transportation – a new spectrum which combines transportation, artificial intelligence and data science. These talents are expected to contribute to the enhancement of the region’s transport system as a whole. Intelligent transportation is a key research thrust area of HKUST’s new Guangzhou campus (HKUST(GZ)) which is now under construction.

Application will soon be open for all PG students at HKUST - including those participated in the Guangzhou Pilot Scheme. Succeeded applicants will be assigned two supervisors - one from HKUST and another a professor-grade senior engineer or staff of equivalent qualification appointed by Guangzhou Metro. They will follow through the student’s entire study process, and offer advice and guidance to his/her writing and defense of thesis. The students will also be provided with internship and research opportunities at Guangzhou Metro and the company’s "National Engineering Laboratory for the System Safety and Operation Assurance of Urban Rail Transit" respectively. Guangzhou Metro will sponsor the students of their training and living expenses during the study period.

“The program is exemplary of the collaboration between academia and leading enterprises in Guangzhou, it will strengthen the development of scientific research and innovation between the two parties,” Prof. Lionel Ni said. “HKUST is a staunch supporter of cross-disciplinary learning. Our new Guangzhou campus, for example, will focus on cross-disciplinary thematic fields. Our vision on innovation is consistent with that of Guangzhou Metro, and I believe this cooperation will bring synergies to both sides and contribute to the nurturing of talents and urban transport technologies in the Greater Bay Area."

HKUST has stepped up in cooperation with Guangzhou in recent years, one of the landmark collaborative projects, for example, is the new HKUST Guangzhou campus. HKUST(GZ) will adopt a novel pedagogy, replacing conventional schools and departments with academic hubs and thrust areas, which is set to create synergy with the Clear Water Bay campus and better realize the cross-disciplinary principles. The four Hubs at HKUST(GZ): Function, Information, Systems, and Society, are all interconnected. Intelligent transportation will be one of thrust areas of System Hub.

Related links:

Read more about relevant research: HKUST Intelligent Transportation Systems Laboratory Find out more on HKUST Guangzhou Campus

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 research intensive university that focuses on science, technology and business as well as humanities and social science. HKUST offers an international campus, and a holistic and interdisciplinary pedagogy to nurture well-rounded graduates with global vision, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking. HKUST attained the highest proportion of internationally excellent research work in the Research Assessment Exercise 2014 of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee, and is ranked as the world’s best young university in Times Higher Education’s Young University Rankings 2020. Its graduates were ranked 10th worldwide and top in Greater China in Global University Employability Survey 2019.

(This news was originally published on the HKUST Public Affairs Office website.)

NEWS TAGS News Tags Greater Bay Area Transportation Artificial Intelligence Data Science Postgraduate SHARE

HKUST and Guangzhou Metro sign the first talent cultivation cooperation agreement in the field of intelligent transportation. Guangzhou Metro will open its "National Engineering Laboratory for the System Safety and Operation Assurance of Urban Rail Transit" to students participated in the joint program.

27/05/2020 EN 繁 简 Thumbnail Title Advanced Tech to Solve Complex Tax Issues HKUST Becomes the First University in Asia-Pacific Associated with EY Tax Lab Content Banner (From left) Agnes Chan, EY Managing Partner – Hong Kong & Macau; Prof. Tam Kar-Yan, Dean of HKUST Business School; Albert Lee, EY Global Tax Technology and Transformation Co-Leader and Asia-Pacific Tax Technology and Transformation Leader; and Ian MCNEILL, EY Asia Pacific Tax Deputy Leader. (From left) Agnes Chan, EY Managing Partner – Hong Kong & Macau; Prof. Tam Kar-Yan, Dean of HKUST Business School; Albert Lee, EY Global Tax Technology and Transformation Co-Leader and Asia-Pacific Tax Technology and Transformation Leader; and Ian MCNEILL, EY Asia Pacific Tax Deputy Leader. [Download Photo] Body The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) today announces a collaborative partnership with EY’s Advanced Technology Tax Lab (“Tax Lab”). This unique collaboration brings together experts in data science, machine learning and business research, as well as a global leader in professional services, to solve complex tax issues through the use and application of advanced technologies.

The agreement between HKUST and EY will establish a platform for joint research and technology development opportunities of mutual interest relating to the application of emerging technology to practical tax scenarios, thereby facilitating collaborations between the two organizations. This will include practical tax technology case study projects, speaking opportunities for HKUST academic staff and EY partners, and internship and graduate employment opportunities for students.

Leading the collaboration from HKUST are Prof. TAM Kar-Yan, Dean of HKUST Business School; Prof. Allen HUANG in the Department of Accounting; and Prof. James KWOK in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at the School of Engineering. The expert team from HKUST underscores the value of interdisciplinary knowledge and the role of technology in business in the new digital economy.

Prof. Tam says: “We are honored to become the first Asia-Pacific university to be associated with the EY Advanced Technology Tax Lab. The collaboration allows our researchers and students to build relevance to the corporate world and address real challenges faced by the industry.”

Albert LEE, EY Global Tax Technology and Transformation Co-Leader and Asia-Pacific Tax Technology and Transformation Leader, says: “The digitalization of tax administrations is dramatically disrupting the tax profession. New technology enables more reporting requirements, more real-time data, digital data collection, application of data analytics and machine learning, as well as more data sharing between tax authorities.”

The new partnership reinforces HKUST’s vision to transfer its technology and expertise leading to economic or social improvements and EY’s commitment to help the tax profession navigate the evolving tax landscape as new technologies enter the market.

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 research university that focuses on science, technology and business as well as humanities and social science. HKUST offers an international campus, and a holistic and interdisciplinary pedagogy to nurture well-rounded graduates with global vision, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking. HKUST attained the highest proportion of internationally excellent research work in the Research Assessment Exercise 2014 of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee, and is ranked as the world’s best young university in Times Higher Education’s Young University Rankings 2019. Its graduates were ranked 10th worldwide and top in Greater China in Global Employability University Survey 2019.

(This news was originally published on the HKUST Public Affairs Office website.)

11/08/2020 Thumbnail Title Putting Innovation into Practice Chemical and Biological Engineering Teams Won Championship and First Runner-up in HKUST-Sino One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition Content Banner (From right) Wong Ka-Chin from SPES Tech, Prof. Gary Chan, Director of HKUST’s Entrepreneurship Center, and Prof. Terence Wong and his PhD student Zhang Yan from PhoMedics. (From right) Wong Ka-Chin from SPES Tech, Prof. Gary Chan, Director of HKUST’s Entrepreneurship Center, and Prof. Terence Wong and his PhD student Zhang Yan from PhoMedics. [Download Photo] Body Two teams led by Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE) Professors SUN Fei and Terence WONG received the top two prizes respectively from the HKUST-Sino One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition 2020. The two teams, together with the second runner-up, will compete with finalists from seven other regions, including Macau, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Zhongshan and the Yangtze River Delta, in the Grand Final to be held later this year.

Marking its 10th anniversary this year, the competition attracted 151 participating teams – 29% more than the previous year and the highest in a decade. It was hosted online for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In order to enhance participation and diversity, HKUST provides an online matching platform for its member to seek partners outside of the University. The University also introduced the “Best Video Award” this year, drawing over 2,000 voters to select what they considered the best pitching video. Presentation of the finalists were also online for the first time.

SPES Tech Limited, a biotechnology start-up co-founded by Prof. Sun Fei and his former students WONG Ka-Chin, Dr. WANG Ri and Dr. YANG Zhongguang, won both the President Award (champion) and the GF Innovation Award for its proprietary photosensitive hydrogel “LitGel”. Hydrogel has good tissue-like properties to simulate in-vivo cell environment, creating more physiologically relevant models for biomedical studies. Using advanced genetic engineering and light sensing technology, the new hydrogel created by the team offers a more flexible and accurate testing environment than its counterpart derived from animal sources.

Established in early 2019, the start-up was selected for the global tech giant Merck’s China Accelerator program later in the same year and is an incubatee of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation’s Incu-Bio Programme.

Ka-Chin, who is the CEO of SPES Tech, received his MPhil in Technology Leadership and Entrepreneurship (2019) and BSc in Biochemistry and Cell Biology (2017) from HKUST. Ri and Zhongguang became postdoctoral fellows in the CBE Department after earning a PhD in Bioengineering (2018) and a PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (2019) respectively from HKUST. Other team members include Bioengineering MPhil student JIANG Bojing, and undergraduate JIANG Hongliang in the Department of Finance.

PhoMedics Limited, a medical technology start-up founded by Prof. Terence Wong, received the Gold Award (first runner-up). He and his team developed a technology called computational high-throughput autofluorescence microscopy with pattern illumination (CHAMP), which allows a surgeon to check during a cancer surgery whether the patient’s cancer cells are cleanly eradicated, thus minimizing the chance of requiring a second operation. The technology is now undergoing clinical trial at the Queen Mary Hospital and will soon be trialed at the Prince of Wales Hospital as well.

Team members include Bioengineering students WONG Hei-Man (PhD), ZHANG Yan (PhD), and Victor TSANG Tsz-Chun (MPhil), Technology Leadership and Entrepreneurship MPhil students Oscar MOLIN and WU Jiajie, and Biotechnology undergraduate CHAN Wing-Yan.

(This news was adopted from a press release on the HKUST Public Affairs Office website.)

Related links:

More about HKUST’s research on hydrogels and the story of the SPES Tech entrepreneurs Video: The production process of LitGel and its advantages over existing hydrogels Video: computational high-throughput autofluorescence microscopy with pattern illumination (CHAMP) NEWS TAGS News Tags Entrepreneurship Award Innovation Competition Biomedical Engineering Bioengineering Chemical and Biological Engineering Alumni Undergraduate Postgraduate SHARE

Members of the PhoMedics team: (from left) Oscar Molin, Chan Wing-Yan, Wong Hei-Man, Prof. Terence Wong, Wu Jiajie, Victor Tsang Tsz-Chun, and Zhang Yan. Members of the SPES Tech team: Wong Ka-Chin (left) and Yang Zhongguang. The new hydrogel developed by SPES Tech offers a more flexible and accurate testing environment than its counterpart derived from animal sources. A novel microscope developed by PhoMedics allows a surgeon to check during a cancer surgery whether the patient’s cancer cells are cleanly eradicated. Comparison of the tissue images presented by the microscope developed by PhoMedics (left) and the FFPE tissue (right) – existing gold standard methodology for cancer cell imaging. The former can be displayed within three minutes while the latter takes about a week.

22/06/2020 EN 繁 简 Thumbnail Title Blockchain-based Degree Authentication System HKUST Launches First e-Verified Certification Platform in Hong Kong Content Banner (From right) Prof. Chen Qifeng, Assistant Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at HKUST; Mr. James Prince, Academic Registrar, HKUST; Mr. Davis Bookhart, Senior Manager and Head, HKUST Sustainability Unit; and Prof. Lo Hong-Kam, Director of HKUST’s GREAT Smart Cities Institute demonstrate how different HKUST documents can be verified using different devices. (From right) Prof. Chen Qifeng, Assistant Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at HKUST; Mr. James Prince, Academic Registrar, HKUST; Mr. Davis Bookhart, Senior Manager and Head, HKUST Sustainability Unit; and Prof. Lo Hong-Kam, Director of HKUST’s GREAT Smart Cities Institute demonstrate how different HKUST documents can be verified using different devices. [Download Photo] Body The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has launched the HKUST “Blockcerts” platform – a trust-free, user-friendly verification system for documents such as graduation diplomas and academic transcripts, in its latest move to promote a paperless and sustainable campus as well as tackling the problem of fake diplomas.

As the first University in Hong Kong to launch this blockchain-based degree authentication system, HKUST hopes to set a trend for the gradual replacement of the conventional paper verification process - where graduates must make requests and pay the institution every time they need a print copy of their diploma, which is not environmentally friendly and also time-consuming for graduates and employers. HKUST also hopes the Blockcerts system can help hinder illegal activities on academic forgery.

By the end of this month, HKUST graduates will begin receiving cryptographically signed and tamper-proof e-versions of their graduation diploma certificates. Starting in November, the University will also begin providing e-transcripts to graduates. Students can make individual request for the e-transcript starting September.

HKUST has been promoting this new initiative to employers including global background check company First Advantage, integrated telecom and technology solutions provider HKBN and tax and audit consultant PwC Hong Kong. Industry interest in this technology has been positive and supportive.

Blockchain guarantees the integrity of data by linking up blocks of records using cryptography. Each block contains a unique identifier called a hash, and must be aligned with the hash from the previous block. That means if the data in any one block is tampered with, its own hash will change making it no longer aligned with the hash from its previous block. This would cause the whole blockchain to become invalid, and therefore the user will be alerted to the attempted tampering. This feature is what ensures the integrity of the platform.

“Blockchain is an emerging technology that is highly-secured, allowing transactions between parties without the presence of any trusted intermediates. Given such nature, many industries, such as finance and gaming, have begun using it to build applications to make their businesses more efficient and bringing us all towards a smarter society,” said Prof. CHEN Qifeng, Assistant Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at HKUST behind this “Blockcerts” project.

The “Blockcerts” certificate data is saved on a private and secured University server. Employers or any third parties who wish to verify the authenticity of the diploma and transcript of our graduates can do so by following some simple steps on the University’s official website: https://registry.ust.hk/verify anytime and anywhere in the world.

HKUST’s Academic Registrar Mr. James PRINCE said, “HKUST prides ourselves on innovating new technologies and best practices. With our debut introduction of Blockcerts, we are now in a position to revolutionize academic credentialing in Hong Kong, Greater China and beyond.”

The “Blockcerts” project is part of the “Sustainable Smart Campus as a Living Lab” campaign – an initiative HKUST launched in early 2019 that aims to transform the campus into a testing ground for learning, experimenting, and advancing smart and innovative ideas to address real-life challenges.

Find out more about "Sustainable Smart Campus as a Living Lab" campaign: HKUST Launches “Sustainable Smart Campus as a Living Lab” Inspiring a Culture for Sustainability Innovation

More details on this video

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 research university that focuses on science, technology and business as well as humanities and social science. HKUST offers an international campus, and a holistic and interdisciplinary pedagogy to nurture well-rounded graduates with global vision, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking. HKUST attained the highest proportion of internationally excellent research work in the Research Assessment Exercise 2014 of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee, and is ranked as the world’s best young university in Times Higher Education’s Young University Rankings 2019. Its graduates were ranked 10th worldwide and top in Greater China in Global Employability University Survey 2019.

(This news was originally published on the HKUST Public Affairs Office website.)

NEWS TAGS News Tags Sustainability Smart Campus Blockchain Cyber​​security Computer Science and Engineering SHARE

Users can download or directly view the e-diploma after verification. Employers can verify blockcerts’ authenticity with a few simple steps on https:/registry.ust.hk/verify

03/07/2020 Thumbnail Title Learning from Seasoned Tech Entrepreneurs HKUST Hosts Inaugural Entrepreneurship Fireside Chat Series to Nurture and Inspire the Next Generation of Technology Leaders Content Banner Prof. Tim Cheng (top left), Dean of Engineering, introducing Mr. Alfred Chuang (bottom) as the guest speaker and Prof. Jack Lau (top right) as the moderator in the first edition of the HKUST Entrepreneurship Fireside Chat Series. Prof. Tim Cheng (top left), Dean of Engineering, introducing Mr. Alfred Chuang (bottom) as the guest speaker and Prof. Jack Lau (top right) as the moderator in the first edition of the HKUST Entrepreneurship Fireside Chat Series. [Download Photo] Body Hundreds of members of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) community and the general public tuned in worldwide to the first online webinar of the Entrepreneurship Fireside Chat Series held on June 26, 2020 to meet its first guest, Mr. Alfred CHUANG, a Hong Kong native, accomplished serial entrepreneur, venture investor and company advisor.

Moderated by Prof. Jack LAU, HKUST’s first PhD graduate and current Chairman of Swanland.AI, the hour-long discussion divulged into Mr. Chuang’s extensive experience as a general partner at Race Capital, co-founder of the non-profit organization FoundersHK, and co-founder and CEO of BEA systems which led to its acquisition by Oracle for US$8.5 billion. His passion to nurture the rising entrepreneurship talent in Hong Kong was inspirational and hugely beneficial to aspiring individuals looking to understand how the tech start-up industry is developing during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Welcoming remarks from Prof. Tim CHENG, Dean of Engineering, assured participants of an insightful conversation ahead between the moderator and guest speaker. This was followed by the announcement of the second edition of the series scheduled for late-July featuring Ms. Edith YEUNG, another Hong Kong native and accomplished venture capitalist based in Silicon Valley.

Beginning with the topic of the discussion at hand, Mr. Chuang explained how a crisis often creates unique opportunities for technological innovation, quoting industry examples rising from the burst of the 2000 dot-com bubble and the 2008 financial crisis. He attributed this phenomenon to the need for a ‘global reset’ to see what new, exciting technology is necessary in the next 10 years.

Prof. Lau then inquired how to start a successful company and best utilize Mr. Chuang’s resources on behalf of the future HKUST graduates, to which Mr. Chuang responded with “starting a company is really hard, in good times and bad times, none of it is easy. It really comes down to the people. Starting a company really has to do with the heart.” He emphasised the life-long dedication an entrepreneur must possess to become successful. He also explained that FoundersHK was created to help entrepreneurs achieve their long-term goals by providing pivotal funding beyond just the seed stage, as well as mentorship to nurture them to push the company further.

To cater to those not trained in the engineering discipline, Prof. Lau queried how these participants could get involved with tech start-ups. Mr. Chuang pointed out that Hong Kong has a unique advantage in the realm of Fintech due to the city being the second largest financial market in the world and its strong central bank, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. He noted half of Hong Kong’s unicorns are in the Fintech industry. He continued on, adding that “the crucial thing is going to be the composition of the team. What skills you don’t have, just go find it,” and illustrated that HKUST is like a “vault of the smartest engineers, the ultimate research university” filled with technical people waiting to work on the next cutting-edge technology.

Questions were invited from the audience in which a HKUST undergraduate student asked what the most crucial evaluation elements of start-ups are and what young start-ups should consider when there are numerous uncertainties ahead. Mr. Chuang revealed his venture firm runs much like a software company with daily, full attendance 4 o’clock “scrums” to talk through everything that has happened or is planned to ensure they keep moving quickly. He added that as an investor, he prioritises those he would like to start a company with and those he feels are incredibly talented and committed to the company. To answer the latter part of the question, he suggested entrepreneurs to consider, “What I’m doing, is it what the product market needs?” and highlighted the importance of timing and the product’s flexibility to pivot into a new-use case when necessary.

The discussion concluded with a lighter question proposed by Prof. Lau regarding the recommendation of books that aspiring entrepreneurs should read. Mr. Chuang first lists “Crossing the Chasm” by Geoffrey Moore, a previous colleague at BEA, which is seen as the “Bible” in the Silicon Valley and talks about product-market fit and break-through companies getting a massive adoption in the marketplace. The second book titled “The Hard Things About the Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz, a good friend of his and famous venture investor from the Silicon Valley, is recommended because it talks about the generation of technology. The final book called “Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy” by William H. Janeway, someone he would normally call his boss, is suggested for its technical outlook on entrepreneurship.

Watch the recording of this webinar here or read the transcript here.

By HKUST Engineering Student Ambassador Selina Fawdry

03/08/2020 Thumbnail Title The Soft Skills Side of Entrepreneurship HKUST Holds Second Entrepreneurship Fireside Chat to Guide and Advise Budding Founders Content Banner Prof. Tim Cheng (top left), Dean of Engineering, introducing Miss. Edith Yeung (bottom) as the guest speaker and Prof. Jack Lau (top right) as the moderator in the second webinar of the HKUST Entrepreneurship Fireside Chat Series. Prof. Tim Cheng (top left), Dean of Engineering, introducing Miss. Edith Yeung (bottom) as the guest speaker and Prof. Jack Lau (top right) as the moderator in the second webinar of the HKUST Entrepreneurship Fireside Chat Series. [Download Photo] Body Founders, potential entrepreneurs, and interested members of the community once again tuned in on July 29, 2020 to the second episode in the HKUST Entrepreneurship Fireside Chat Series, titled How to Build the Next Global Unicorn of Hong Kong. The featured guest speaker was Miss. Edith YEUNG, an experienced venture capitalist and technology executive who has invested in over 2,000 companies, and frequently speaks on the China and Silicon Valley technology and investment landscape. The hour-long webinar was moderated by Prof. Jack LAU, and started with a warm welcome from Dean of Engineering Prof. Tim CHENG.

Miss. Yeung, having been in Silicon Valley since the beginning of the pandemic, noted, “This crisis has created a lot of really, super interesting opportunities.” She commented that many companies were still pitching to venture capitalists even though funding activities had slowed down in the United States, and emphasised the need for founders to build something that is long lasting, to sustain beyond COVID-19. As a partner at Race Capital, she could foresee businesses and enterprises to continue the behaviour of conducting business online, and pointed out that there was still a lot of room for growth in video conferencing as a service.

With regards to advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, she listed questions she would ask as a venture capitalist, such as about the startup’s install base, retention rate, or monetisation method for consumer startups, or its contract value, potential average revenue per user (ARPU) or sales cycle for business-to-business (B2B) or software as a service (SaaS) companies. She concluded that the process was very metric driven, and that investors would always ask and quiz them on these numbers.

She also stressed the need for founders to be passionate about their own idea. “No one should build a company just because a venture capitalist wants you to,” she advised. In addition, she gave the analogy: “We don’t want to invest in another vitamin, we want to invest in the painkiller.” She explained that she would rather founders draw from their own experiences to craft a solution, as it would then be a problem they really cared about.

Beyond passion, Miss. Yeung also touched on character. “It’s just so much better, and it shows you as a much more pragmatic and genuine person, if you say, ‘I don’t know’, than trying to say, ‘Yeah, I have it all figured out’.”

Having worked in corporate for 10 years herself before founding her own company, Miss. Yeung assured the audience that it’s alright to get a job upon graduation, and to consider it to be a part of the journey. However, she found the corporate mindset to be vastly different from a startup mindset. “I had a very hard time trying to first ask for help. I felt like I had to do everything myself,” she shared. “It took me at least a good half a year until I got to the point where I needed to ask for help.” She also shared her thoughts on the underrepresentation of women as venture capitalists and in founding companies, especially in the United States, adding “It’s good to see other people that look like you.”

Towards the end, aside from three key takeaways from the chat which were to provide a product demo, know your numbers, and know why customers should choose your product, Miss. Yeung also provided the audience with a slide deck on habits for pitching. Finally, Prof. Lau wrapped up the session by asking Miss. Yeung’s favourite movies, which were revealed to be The Last Dance, a documentary on Michael Jordan, and Something Ventured, a documentary on the history of Silicon Valley.

Watch the recording of this webinar here, read the transcript here, and read through the “7 Pitching Habits for Highly Effective Startups” slide deck by Edith Yeung here.

By student intern Chloe Chan

15/06/2020 Thumbnail Title Expand Horizons in Top-Notch Institute PhD Student Received Prestigious Fulbright-RGC Hong Kong Research Scholar Award Content Banner Park Byung Min will pursue his placement as a Fulbright-Lee Hysan Visiting Student Scholar at the California Institute of Technology. Park Byung Min will pursue his placement as a Fulbright-Lee Hysan Visiting Student Scholar at the California Institute of Technology. [Download Photo] Body PARK Byung Min, a PhD student under Bioengineering program, has garnered a Fulbright-RGC Hong Kong Research Scholar Award 2020/21.

Byung Min works on the research area in protein engineering and soft material engineering. His thesis aims to explore the potential of engineered proteins as bioimaging contrasts through the development of bioacoustic and photoacoustic tools and materials for safe, precise, and specific detection of various cancers. He will pursue his placement as a Fulbright-Lee Hysan Visiting Student Scholar at the California Institute of Technology from January to August 2021. His advisor is Prof. SUN Fei, Chemical and Biological Engineering, and he received his BSc in Biology from HKUST in 2015.

“I am honored and grateful to receive the prestigious ‘Fulbright-Lee Hysan Visiting Student Scholar’ award to further my goals to develop accessible biomedical diagnostic platforms. I hope to live up to the expectations that come with the award. I express my explicit gratitude to my advisor Prof. Sun Fei for his extensive mentorship and everyone who has supported my foray into bioengineering thus far,” said Byung Min.

The Fulbright-RGC Hong Kong Research Scholar Award Program is a collaborative program between the US Consulate General in Hong Kong & Macau (USCG) and the Research Grants Council (RGC) of the Hong Kong government. It supports young Hong Kong scholars to undertake research activities at American universities and research institutes. Eight awardees are selected each year.

Over the past 10 years, seven PhD students from the School of Engineering have been awarded the prestigious honors and had their attachment programs in world-class universities such as Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University and California Institute of Technology.

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05/06/2020 Thumbnail Title Celebrating Students’ Success PhD Research Excellence Recognized in SENG Award Content Banner (From left) Head of CBE Department Prof. Hsing I-Ming, Chair of Engineering Research Committee Prof. Nevin Zhang, awardee Dr. Zhu Shangqian, Dean of Engineering Prof. Tim Cheng, Associate Dean of Engineering (Research & Graduate Studies) Prof. Richard So, and Prof. Minhua Shao, advisor of Dr. Zhu (From left) Head of CBE Department Prof. Hsing I-Ming, Chair of Engineering Research Committee Prof. Nevin Zhang, awardee Dr. Zhu Shangqian, Dean of Engineering Prof. Tim Cheng, Associate Dean of Engineering (Research & Graduate Studies) Prof. Richard So, and Prof. Minhua Shao, advisor of Dr. Zhu [Download Photo] Body Dr. ZHU Shangqian, a 2020 PhD graduate from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE), won the School of Engineering (SENG) PhD Research Excellence Award 2019-20. Dr. LIU Dongyu from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and Dr. LIN Yuanjing from the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, both 2019 graduates, were named finalists.

Dr. Zhu’s research mainly focuses on electrochemical energy conversion and storage technologies, which aim to solve the global climate change and energy depletion issues nowadays. He has made significant contributions to the design of advanced electrocatalysts for fuel cell and CO2 electrochemical reduction reactions, and the fundamental understanding of such reactions’ mechanisms by using advanced in situ spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques. These works have led to 11 publications in top journals, including Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), Advanced Energy Materials, and ACS Energy Letters. One of his publications has been selected as ACS Editors’ Choice, and a cover article as well as one of the most read articles of ACS Energy Letters in 2019. Notably, his works have been cited over 470 times during the past four years.

Besides a remarkable publication record, Dr. Zhu also had presented his works at five international conferences, including three times at The Electrochemical Society Biannual Meetings, which are regarded as the most important conferences in the electrochemistry community. These achievements are a clear recognition of his high-quality research.

Established in 2011, the SENG PhD Research Excellence Award recognizes PhD students and recent graduates who have made influential contributions to their discipline during PhD studies at HKUST.

Dr. Zhu is currently a postdoctoral fellow at HKUST. Joining HKUST in 2014 as an MPhil student in the same department, he earned his MPhil degree in 2016 and subsequently started his PhD studies.

NEWS TAGS News Tags Chemical and Biological Engineering Research and Technology Student Innovation Energy Climate Change Award Postgraduate SHARE

(From left) Prof. Nevin Zhang, Dr. Zhu Shangqian, and Prof. Tim Cheng

26/08/2020 Thumbnail Title Bridge between Sea and Sky Aerospace Engineering Student Advances Take-Off Dynamics of Amphibious Aircraft Content Banner James with an airplane engine at GE Aviation, Shanghai. James with an airplane engine at GE Aviation, Shanghai. [Download Photo] Body “My childhood dream is to make airplanes more efficient and comfortable so everybody can afford a pleasant air journey in the future,” says James SHIHUA, a Year 3 HKUST Aerospace Engineering student.

This dream started to become a reality in his second year at HKUST, when he first embarked on an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) project on amphibious aircraft, which are aircraft that can take-off and land on both land and water.

For the project, James focused on a way to standardize testing for amphibious aircraft, which is one of the biggest design challenges in the industry. With the support of UROP Collaboration Fund, he spent one month at Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s laboratory to conduct towing tests in water tanks in summer 2019.

James continued his research at HKUST after a semester-long exchange at the University of Michigan in USA in Fall 2019. With the previously collected data and that of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, he generated a surrogate model of amphibious aircrafts, and further a standardized equation specifically designed to evaluate their take-off performance.

“It is surprising to me that the findings could be published in the recent American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Aviation 2020 Forum,” James says. His outstanding academic performance and leadership potential in the field also made him one of the two awardees of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) Aviation Scholarship for Outstanding Engineering Students 2019.

He is also excited about his upcoming Co-op Program with General Electric (GE) Aviation Research Centre in Shanghai, China in February 2021. “I think I will continue research on aviation in graduate school,” he adds.

James’ project, “Designing Novel Efficient and Quiet Amphibious Aircraft for General Aviation”, supervised by Prof. Rhea LIEM from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, won the championship among 22 nominations and 10 finalists in the 2020 Mr. Armin and Mrs. Lillian Kitchell Undergraduate Research Award by HKUST UROP.

“I am very excited and honored to receive the award. I hope more students can join UROP because it is unique and is one of the best ways for undergraduates to acquire knowledge,” says James.

Prof. Liem says, “I started this UROP project three years ago and along the way found that it might be too difficult for undergraduate students until I got James on board. Aircraft is a complex system, so for an aircraft that can take off and land on water – its complexity doubles. What’s more, past studies and references are scarce and limited, which makes the whole research even more challenging (and exciting!). We hope now we are a step closer to advancing amphibious aircraft design research.”

Check out the other winning projects here: https://urop.ust.hk/awardee_2020

Student Reporter: Engineering Student Intern Chloe Chan

NEWS TAGS News Tags Undergraduate Research Achievements Student Exchange Aircraft and Aeronautical Engineering Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering SHARE

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of an aircraft hull, which has the advantage of being more affordable and scalable. James presenting his research during the Mr. Armin and Mrs. Lillian Kitchell Undergraduate Research Award Presentation Ceremony via Zoom. Towing test of an aircraft hull in a water tank, which was conducted repeatedly over the course of a month to obtain data.

15/05/2020 Thumbnail Title Young Entrepreneurs Recognized Two Alumni Named in Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2020 List Content Banner Angus Luk (left) and Winston Wong were chosen from 3,500 nominations to join this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list of changemakers. Angus Luk (left) and Winston Wong were chosen from 3,500 nominations to join this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list of changemakers. [Download Photo] Body Two School of Engineering alumni have separately gained places on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2020 list of young entrepreneurs and changemakers. The list comprises 300 young leaders under 30 years of age, chosen from 3,500 nominations in 10 different categories.

EventXtra’s Angus LUK Kai-Chit (2012 BEng in Computer Science) was included in the enterprise technology category. He co-founded the event management software company with WONG Cheuk-Sum (2013 BEng in Computer Science). Winston WONG (2014 BEng in Computer Engineering) was listed in the finance and venture capital category for co-founding Qupital, a trade finance platform for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The alumni were selected after vetting by a panel of judges comprising accomplished entrepreneurs in each category. Criteria for the list included demonstrated leadership and potential of success in their industry, with innovation and disruption also taken into account in final decision-making. Both start-ups are members of the Cyberport Incubation Programme in Hong Kong.

Related link:

HKUST Alumni Newsletter (Summer 2020)