A memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with Huizhou Municipal People's Government will enhance academic and research collaboration with CityU. The Project echoes calls by the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the HKSAR Government to develop the Bay Area around Hong Kong by establishing a new model for deepening collaboration with the mainland in areas of technology, research and education.

In a world’s first, an international research team led by CityU has discovered that diamonds at nanoscale can undergo ultra-large, fully reversible elastic deformation, findings that could have a profound impact on the nanotechnology and biomedical fields, and even quantum information technologies. The research, funded by the Research Grants Council and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, was led by Dr Lu Yang (far left), Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering. The discovery was published in the prestigious journal Science in April.

A HK$3 million donation from the Tin Ka Ping Foundation will fund three programmes aimed at promoting Chinese culture. The donation is part of a generous gift from the Foundation to nine local higher education institutions in celebration of Dr Tin Ka-ping’s 100th birthday.

Innovative green technology developed by Dr Carol Lin Sze-ki, Associate Professor from the School of Energy and Environment, and her research team won a Gold Medal at the 46th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva. The new technology makes use of textile waste for the sustainable production of value-added products such as glucose, synthetic fibre, bioplastics, bio-chemicals and bio-surfactants.

Mr Harsh Agrawal (centre), a 2017 graduate of the Bachelor of Science programme in the School of Creative Media, was part of the animation team for the film Coco, which won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature this year. He contributed to visual effects in the movie by texturing and shading characters. The film was a huge box-office hit.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at nurturing talent for Hong Kong was signed with Microsoft Hong Kong Limited in March. The document lists possible collaboration areas such as supporting faculty members and researchers in R&D projects with Microsoft Research Asia Collaborative Research programmes; working with CityU entrepreneur programmes to nominate mature startups for Microsoft’s start-up programmes; and extending opportunities to CityU students to take up student and education programmes at Microsoft.

Two exemplary faculty members were honoured with the Teaching Excellence Awards 2018 in recognition of their innovative and influential work. The winners were Professor Henry Chung Shu-hung (right) from the Department of Electronic Engineering and Dr Lam Miu-ling (left), Assistant Professor in the School of Creative Media.

In March, the annual Discovery Festival showcasing excellence in discovery, innovation and creativity presented around 20 outstanding projects for applying technology to society. A major event for the University, the Discovery Festival promotes how our unique Discovery-enriched Curriculum (DEC) encourages students to innovate and integrate their ideas for society.

Professor Way Kuo, President, led a team of more than 1,000 athletes drawn from across the CityU community, including students, staff members and alumni, at the annual Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon in January. It was the tenth time that Professor Kuo had run the 10-kilometre race. In addition, CityU staff and students ran with students with mild intellectual disabilities from Mary Rose School in Kowloon Tong as a way to promote social integration.

Dr Haywood Cheung (second from right), President of the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society, received the 5th Distinguished Alumni Award in March. Dr Cheung has made significant contributions to Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre. In appreciation of Dr Cheung’s contributions to CityU’s development, he was named Honorary Fellow of CityU in 2016.

The Employers’ Luncheon in March helped to raise awareness among major local employers about CityU’s educational philosophy and showcased the talents of our students and their outstanding achievements. More than 500 participants attended the Luncheon, including over 300 employers from about 170 companies in a range of industries, plus 200 faculty members and students.

A record number of alumni from mainland China joined a reunion dinner in Shanghai last December. Over 200 participants, including guests and alumni mostly from Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai and Shenzhen, as well as CityU representatives, participated in the “CityU Alumni Dinner @ Shanghai”, setting a record for alumni events on the mainland. The dinner was organised by the Alumni Relations Office to further consolidate the country-wide mainland alumni network.

Frontline social workers usually uphold the values that they think essential for their profession. However, are they thinking the same as what their service users expect from them as a “good social worker”?

Jointly written by Dr Kam Ping-kwong and his students, this book is the first in Hong Kong that discusses the quality required of social workers from the perspective of service users. Instead of a detailed discussion of theories, the book focuses on interactions and experience between service users and social workers. Through 24 interview reports and service users’ comments, the book leads readers to reflect on the personal quality, professional knowledge and interactive skills with service users required of social workers. After reading their candid sharing, readers can have a deeper understanding of the nature of social work and know that it is not simply a job.

Many professional service sectors in Hong Kong have become well-established and entered the “bottleneck stage” in recent years. In view of this, the Research Centre for Sustainable Hong Kong at CityU aims to provide an interdisciplinary and innovative platform for applied research that will promote sustainable development and collaboration. The accounting sector is the first target for case studies. Through in-depth interviews, questionnaires, focus groups and seminars, the team has collected views from industry practitioners. Based on the data, the research team analyses the current situation and future prospects for the accounting sector in Hong Kong. In addition, the team has invited newcomers from the sector, middle management and industry leaders to write about the difficulties currently encountered in the field and to offer suggestions for practical solutions.