News & Stories

Prof Nancy Ip, Dean of Science, The Morningside Professor of Life Science and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), has been elected as a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The NAS is the oldest and most prestigious scientific organization in the United States that represents all disciplines of science. Membership is a mark of excellence as it is by election only, and based on distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. It is one of the highest honors bestowed by a US scientific organization.

Smartphones are getting more powerful every year and many people are treating their phones as a replacement of their computers. Extensive usage brings a severe drain to the phone’s battery life, making it almost mandatory to keep a mobile charger ready at all times. Keeping the mobile charger fully charged, however, can be a cumbersome practice, as one requires another set of cables and a power outlet to do so. In the future, one may be able to charge its phone anywhere with daylight. HKUST’s Chemistry Professor Henry He Yan and his research team recently discovered a material design motif for polymer solar cells that produces electricity with record efficiencies; this new discovery can greatly accelerate the commercialization of portable chargers powered by solar energy.

Noga Raviv Participant at hackUST   A fast finish took on fresh meaning at the University’s second hackUST in March 2015 when students from all over Hong Kong took part in the exciting computer coding event to turn ideas into prototypes in just 24 hours. Non-HKUST exchange student organizer Noga Raviv relates her awesome experience “HKUST was not even my university, but it was the place that I felt the innovation and entrepreneurship community thrived most and felt most comfortable” At the end of March, some HKUST friends and I organized a 24-hour hackathon for roughly 250 students on campus. As an exchange student, I was looking for a community where I could connect with local students, do something interesting, and see new places. How did I get involved?

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology held the second inauguration ceremony of named professorships today to honor 4 outstanding faculty members and their donors. “I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to the donors and for their generosity in creating the named professorships,” President Prof Tony F Chan said. “The named professorship appointments ensure the University will maintain excellence in education and research by giving due recognition to our exceptional faculty. HKUST will continue its relentless pursuit for innovation in education and research, in addition to garnering support from society and recruiting talents for the good of the University and the community.”

Coinciding with Global Youth Service Day, HKUST Service Learning Day is a joint effort of all University members to engage with the community. Students, faculty, staff and alumni fan out into the local community over the weekend to engage in various meaningful community service opportunities. Ultimately, HKUST Service Learning Day is meant to be a door which opens up to many more exciting opportunities of community engagement for HKUST. Over the weekend of 16 – 19 April, 900 HKUST volunteers attended to the needs of different communities through 47 projects that involved food collection, family visits, English and science workshop, organ donation promotion, community outreach, etc. A wide variety of recipients were served – from the elderly to young immigrant children from East Asia or the Mainland, from the physically challenged to mentally challenged people, and from organizations specializing in caring for abandoned animals to the food bank in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed the first visual analytic system for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), which provides interactive, in-depth, and user-friendly analysis of e-learning behavior, promising improvement in teaching quality and more demand-focus MOOC programs that could further boost the development of online education.The system Visual Analysis of MOOC (VisMOOC), developed by a team led by Prof Huamin Qu from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, has received the Best Innovation (Innovative Technology) Silver Award at The Hong Kong ICT Awards this year.

Prof Tom Hiu Tung Cheung and Prof Kam Tuen Law from Division of Life Science and Department of Physics respectively were honored the prestigious Croucher Innovation Awards 2015 by the Croucher Foundation for their distinguished scientific research achievements. Click here for further details.

Dr Tom Hiu Tung Cheung, Assistant Professor of the Division of Life Science, and Dr Kam Tuen Law, Assistant Professor of the Department of Physics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) were honored the prestigious Croucher Innovation Awards 2015 by the Croucher Foundation for their distinguished scientific research achievements. Each award carries a value of up to HK$5 million over five years. The presentation ceremony held today was officiated by Mr John Tsang Chun-wah, GBM, JP, Financial Secretary of the HKSAR Government.