Sports Hall incident
The Investigation Committee set up by Professor Way Kuo, University President, to initiate an investigation on the causal factors behind the collapse of the Sports Hall roof on 20 May has met several times, analysing documentation and materials, arranging site visits, and meeting with key personnel. A report was issued on 6 June to the President for assessment and follow-up. Some campus facilities affected by the incident have already re-opened but the Sports Centre and swimming pool will remain inaccessible for some time. A Cross-departmental Contingency Planning Working Group chaired by the Director of Student Development Services has been working to identify temporary relief on space constraints. The University would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding during this challenging period.
New appointments
Professor Stella Pang has been appointed as the Head of the Department of Electronic Engineering. She takes up her three-year position on 1 July 2016. Professor Pang obtained her PhD and master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University, and her bachelor’s degree from Brown University, US.
Professor Mark Thompson has been appointed as Head of the Department of Asian and International Studies (AIS), from 10 June 2016 to 31 August 2019. Professor Thompson received a master’s degree in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge and a master’s degree and PhD in Political Science from Yale University. He joined CityU in 2010 and has been serving as Acting Head of AIS since January 2015.
Professor Christian Wagner, Acting Chief Information Officer since 1 October 2015, has been appointed as Chief Information Officer with effect from 1 June 2016. He holds a substantive position as Chair Professor of Social Media and is also the Associate Provost (Quality Assurance) and Acting University Librarian.
Discovery and Innovation Gala 2016
More than 100 innovative research projects developed in the College of Science and Engineering (CSE) will be showcased at an exhibition at the University Concourse from 22 to 23 June. Among the exhibits are solar-powered vehicles, robotics and mobile games. In addition, to help students develop their perspectives and knowledge about science and engineering, CSE will invite speakers from industry to talk about career development and the latest market trends. For more information, visit here.
Computer Science Challenge 2016
The inaugural Computer Science Challenge 2016, which was successfully held by the Department of Computer Science on 21 May at CityU, received keen attention from both primary and secondary schools, with the participation of over 170 students from 50 schools. Ying Wa Primary School won in the primary schools division and HKSYC & IA Wong Tai Shan Memorial College won in the secondary school section. Teams were assigned three tasks – Algebra Game Challenge; Save the Animals Programming Challenge; and Dash and Dot A-maze-ing Challenge – which they had to complete in the morning of the event. For more information, please visit here.
Kudos
Professor Michael Reichel, Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine, has been awarded a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Fellowship for his work on “Selected infectious causes of reproductive failures in cattle”. The Fellowship is awarded in recognition of outstanding contributions to the veterinary profession in terms of original discovery or innovative application of knowledge.
Four outstanding CityU scientists have won the Second Class Award in the Natural Science category at the 2015 Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards (Science and Technology) from the Ministry of Education: Professor Michael Yang Mengsu, Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Biomedical Sciences; Professor Wang Lusheng in the Department of Computer Science; Professor Lawrence Wu Chi-man in the Department of Physics and Materials Science; and Dr So Hing-cheung, Associate Professor in the Department of Electronic Engineering. The Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards (Science and Technology), which were set up by the Ministry of Education, are presented annually to recognise outstanding achievements in fundamental and applied research of natural science conducted by scientists.
Graduates of the School of Creative Media performed strongly in the 2016 Incubator for Film and Visual media in Asia (IFVA). Mr Wong Wai-nap, a 2009 graduate, won a Gold Award in the Open Category with a short film titled The Sea Within, while Mr Lam Ho-tak, Mr Kwok Man-ho and Mr Ng Kai-chung, all 2013 graduates, won Silver Awards in the Animation Category with an animation titled Shear Marks. In addition, Ms Beatrice Wong Suet-ling’s documentary From Beavis (M) to Beatrice (F) (Oct 2015 Edit) received the Special Mention in the Open Category; Mr Yip Kai-chun’s installation voice from the root, reclaiming received the Special Mention in the Media Art Category; Mr Siu Wai-hang’s installation The Elusive won the Emerging Talent Award in the Media Art Category.
Lyu Mengxuan and Panda Sourav, both BSc Computer Science (CS) students in the Department of Computer Science, together with Jiang Zhuoran, an undergraduate in the Department of Information Systems, were awarded the Second Runner-Up placing in the ISACA Student Group Annual Case Competition 2016 for their project concerning wearable computing devices. Competing against 65 teams from local universities, the CityU team presented its ideas to a panel of industry experts as part of IT Fest 2016. Dr Gerhard Hancke, Assistant Professor in CS, acted as supervisor for the CityU team.