Congregation 2010
More than 9,500 awards ranging from PhDs to associate degrees will be conferred on CityU students at the 2010 Congregation from 9–18 November at Chan Tai Ho Multi-purpose Hall. Five distinguished persons will receive honorary doctoral degrees on 11 November in recognition of their significant contributions to education and the well-being of society. They are Mr Chung Shui-ming, Director-General of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong; Dr Barry Lam, Founder and Chairman of Quanta Computer; Dr Lee Kai-Fu, Innovation Works Chairman and CEO; Professor Jean-Marie Lehn, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry; and The Hon Andrew Li Kwok-nang, Hong Kong's first Chief Justice.

In addition, three recipients of our honorary doctorates will deliver CityU Distinguished Lectures. Professor Lehn will give a talk titled "From Matter to Life: Chemistry? Chemistry!" on 8 November; Dr Lam will discuss how "Cloud Computing Enables Digital Knowledge Economy" on 10 November; and Dr Lee will give a talk titled "The Chinese Internet: A Reflection of China" on 12 November.

New task force
A core mission at CityU is to provide a high-quality educational experience for students. To this end, the University has set up a Task Force on Teaching and Learning Enhancement. Chaired by Professor Paul Lam Kwan-sing, Vice-President for Student Affairs, the task force will review and recommend strategic measures to strengthen CityU in four broad areas: teaching evaluation policy and mechanism; incentive schemes and reward systems for innovation and scholarship in professional education; academic advising and mentoring of first year students under the 3-3-4 structure; and the integration of research into the undergraduate curriculum.

The President's Lecture Series
Professor Gregory Lee, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, will be the inaugural speaker on 29 November at a new series called The President's Lecture Series: Excellence in Academia. In his talk "Rethinking Our Future: Old Boundaries, New Horizons," Professor Lee will discuss the need for collaborative and cross-disciplinary responses to the complex problems facing the world today. The new series will act as a platform for senior scholars at CityU to share key trends and developments in their fields of expertise with the wider campus community.

China Hi-Tech Fair 2010
Around 30 CityU research projects from the College of Science and Engineering and CityU Shenzhen Research Institute will be showcased at the 12th China Hi-Tech Fair from 16–21 November at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Centre. It is the largest and most influential exhibition on science and technology in China and regarded as the foremost Chinese exhibition within the industry. It attracts around 3,000 exhibitors from around the world.

World civilisation conference
The Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics (CTL) will hold the International Conference on Globalised Knowledge: World Literature and World Civilisation from 29 November–1 December. The aim is to explore ways of teaching world civilisation in the context of Hong Kong and mainland China. The conference will be opened on 29 November by Professor Gregory Lee, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Professor Jonathan Webster, Head of CTL; and Professor Zhang Longxi, Chair Professor of Comparative Literature and Translation.

Welcoming secondary schools
More than 140 secondary school teachers and students will enhance their understanding of the University at the "Life as a City University Student: An Early Learning Experience for Secondary School Students" programme on 15 November. In addition to visiting research and teaching facilities at CityU, they will attend one of the Congregation sessions and meet The Hon Leung Chun-ying, Council Chairman, and Professor Way Kuo, University President.

Virtual robot contest
Five hundred students from 65 local secondary schools will compete in the CityU-CS Robocode Contest 2010 organised by the Department of Computer Science. The aim is to help students learn more about programming by creating their own games. The final will be on 20 November at CityU.

Kudos
Xu Xuyuan, a PhD student in the Department of Electronic Engineering (EE), won the Best of Tertiary Student Projects at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) in Malaysia on 15 October. His award-winning technology— Stereoscopic Video Generation from Monoscopic Video—converts monoscopic (2D) into stereoscopic (3D) video. His project won the first runner-up award in the Hong Kong round and the Gold Award in the finals of the 2010 Amway Pan-Pearl River Delta Region Universities IT Project Competition over the summer. Xuyuan's supervisor is Dr Po Lai-man, Associate Professor in EE.

CityU's aquatic teams have clinched their first overall championship in the in-collegiate competition organised by the University Sports Federation of Hong Kong, China. The women's and men's teams finished first and third, respectively, in their divisions.