News & Stories

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) held its first presentation of the School of Engineering PhD Research Excellence Award today to recognize the outstanding research achievements of its engineering PhD students and recent graduates. The award is granted to those who have made significant and influential contributions to knowledge in the discipline during their PhD studies at HKUST. The three award recipients are Dr Weiping Wang from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Dr Huanfeng Duan from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Dr Yu Zhang from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. The Honorable Mention went to Dr Yinshi Li at the Department of Mechanical Engineering. All of them are 2011 PhD graduates.

Prof Nancy Ip, Dean of Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has been bestowed Knight of l'Ordre National du Mérite by Mr Arnaud Barthélémy, Consul-General of France in Hong Kong and Macau. Prof Ip is one of a handful of people who have received this decoration in Hong Kong. Knight of l'Ordre National du Mérite was established in 1963 by Charles de Gaulle who was then French President. The French President Nicolas Sarkozy decided to present Prof Ip the title and rank this year in recognition of her scientific contribution to the community, her constant efforts to establish collaborations among France, Hong Kong and Mainland China in the field of science and higher education, and her commitment to their further development.

The Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA (EMBA) program remains the world's No. 1 EMBA program, according to the Financial Times 2011 EMBA global rankings released today. This is the third year in a row that it has achieved top status. Jointly offered by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's School of Business and Management (HKUST Business School) and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, the Kellogg-HKUST EMBA program has been in the top 3 since 2005 and was also ranked world's No. 1 in 2007, in addition to its current streak which began in 2009. The Financial Times 2011 EMBA global rankings tracked the performance of students who graduated in 2008 to take into account their career advancement three years after attaining the EMBA qualification. The success of the Kellogg-HKUST EMBA program is largely attributed to the impressive career track records of the graduates, their diversity and working experience.

According to the just released (2011) prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings in Engineering and Technology, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has continued to shine and has landed the No. 1 spot in Greater China. The exceptional achievements and impacts of HKUST Engineering School have been very widely recognized by not only the respected THE Rankings but also all other prestigious worldwide university rankings, including QS and ARWU. HKUST Engineering has been consistently ranked within the top 30 in the world in Engineering. Ranked 28th globally in Engineering and Technology, HKUST is ahead of Tsinghua University (31st), University of California, Davis (32nd), University of Hong Kong (37th), Purdue University (39th) and McGill University (47th). The top 3 universities are California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Princeton University, respectively.

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

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

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

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is delighted that the highly reputable Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asian University Rankings has rated HKUST the top university in Asia for the first time since the University was established 20 years ago. According to the QS Asian University Rankings released today (23 May 2011), HKUST's ranking in Asia has risen to first place in 2011 while the University ranked second last year. An announcement from QS released today states that "The dynamism of the (Asian) region is confirmed by the fact that 20% of the top 50 universities are less than 50 years old, including HKUST which has just celebrated its twentieth anniversary." Ben Sowter, Head of QS Intelligence Unit, says that HKUST is strong across most of the indicators, with its truly international character setting it apart. HKUST has the edge in research productivity, where the gap has widened in 2011.