Academic 2
Academic 2 (AC2) will contribute enormously to the development of the University. The building provides an additional 20,900 square metres of floor space, 12 new lecture theatres, 45 classrooms, 11 computer rooms, a canteen, a number of multi-function rooms, and a multitude of learning resources and common areas.

To celebrate the completion of the building, an opening ceremony will be held on 17 February. The officiating officials will be Dr Norman Leung Nai-pang, Pro-Chancellor of CityU, Mr Raymond Or Ching-fai, Acting Council Chairman, Mr Vincent Chow Wing-shing, Treasurer of the University, Mr Chan Ka-kui, Council Member and Chairman of the Campus Development Project Steering Group, and Professor Way Kuo, President.

President's lecture series
Professor Lee Chin-chuan, Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Media and Communication, will deliver a lecture in the next President's Lecture Series on 2 March titled “Local Experience, Global Theories: Cultural Relevance in International Communication Research”. Professor Lee is an expert in global communication, the political economy of the media, and social theories of media studies.

Student Ambassadors Programme
Launched by Student Development Services in 1997 to foster the whole-person development of students, the Student Ambassadors Programme develops a pool of ambassadors to help promote CityU’s image, community relations and a sense of belonging among members of the University. Twenty-six student ambassadors selected this year will be appointed at an Inauguration Ceremony on 10 February at Wei Hing Theatre. The officiating guests will be Professor Paul Lam Kwan-sing, Vice President (Student Affairs), Dr Cheung Chor-yung, Dean of Students, and Mr Joseph Chan Kai-nin, Director of the Student Development Services. Certificates of Appreciation will be presented to the senior Student Ambassadors who made valuable contributions to the University last year.

Gallery 360
The Asian premiere of There Is Still Time..Brother, a panoramic interactive ‘war’ film made by the world-famous Wooster Group theatre company from New York, is the opening exhibition for Gallery 360, a technological advanced facility in the Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre (CMC). The gallery features the groundbreaking visualisation techniques of AVIE (Advanced Visualization and Interaction Environment), a unique 360-degree immersive 3D projection experience first developed by Professor Jeffrey Shaw, Dean of CityU’s School of Creative Media, and his associates at the UNSW iCinema Research Centre in Sydney. Gallery 360, located on the 8th floor of the CMC, opened on 4 February, and the exhibition runs until 3 March.

Landscape painting exhibition
The Chinese Civilisation Centre (CCIV) will hold an exhibition titled “Inspired by Antiquity: In the Style of the Song and Yuan Masters” featuring the landscape paintings of Mr Peng Ximing, at CityU Gallery from 11 February to 18 March. There will be an opening ceremony in the evening of 10 February and the officiating guests will be Mr Chan Hou-seng, Director of the Macao Museum of Art, Professor Roderick Wong Sue-cheun, Vice-President (Development and External Relations), and Professor Cheng Pei-kai, Director of CCIV.

Kudos
Professor Philippe Ciarlet, University Distinguished Professor, has been elevated to Officier in the Order of the Legion d'Honneur by the President of France. The Order of the Legion d'Honneur is the highest civilian honour in France and has been bestowed upon Professor Ciarlet in recognition of his contributions to France, especially in the area of enhancing links with academic communities in Hong Kong. Professor Ciarlet has been Chevalier since 1999, and Officier is a rare promotion in the rank of distinctions.

Professor Lu Jian, Dean of the College of Science and Engineering and Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has been elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Technologies of France (NATF) in recognition of his contributions to the fields of materials science and engineering, mechanical engineering and mechanics. Professor Lu stands at the forefront of innovation in the study of the behaviour of mechanical structures. He is mainly engaged in areas such as material mechanics, experimental mechanics, residual stress, surface engineering and computational simulation. His work focuses on both scientific advancements and applications.

Dr Wang Jianping, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science, has been granted a Google Research Award worth US$ 32,000. Dr Wang, will use the funding to conduct research on “Disaster Resilience and Availability Prediction (DRAP) for Clouds”.

CityU students won four of the six awards at the 2011 CMA Young Post Green Manufacturing Competition. The event aims to minimise waste and pollution created in the manufacturing process. The winning teams comprised Prabu Rajan from the Department of Accountancy (AC) and Remus Yu from the Department of Marketing (MKT) in the team Duo; Mary Tang Hoi-ching, Jessica Cheung Wing-lam, Kammy Lee Ka-ki and Atticus Cheung Chung-shan, all from MKT, in the team ECOhesion; Lucy Zhu Yixuan from MKT, Eli Xu Zhe from AC, Bill Du Lingxuan from the Department of Economics and Finance (EF) and Saya Wu Suyang from the Department of Mathematics in the team Green Transformer; Elaine Ng Yee-ling and Maggie Ng Yee-man, both from MKT, Sisi Wong Sze-ming from AC and Janet Au Wing-lam from EF, all of whom represented the team Planet Savers. The winning teams will go on an eco-field trip to Taiwan to see a waste treatment plant next month.