New VP for Research and Technology
Professor Gregory Raupp will take up his new position as Vice-President (Research and Technology) and Dean of Graduate Studies on 14 February. Professor Raupp is currently Director, Strategic Materials Research Initiative, Office of the Vice-President for Research and Academic Affairs at Arizona State University. His technology expertise and professional experience span many technical disciplines, from engineering and materials science to the chemistry of sustainable green processes. Professor Raupp's appointment was based on the unanimous recommendation of the University's Search Committee and Selection Committee after a vigorous global search process, a series of interviews and a forum.

President’s Lecture Series
Professor Way Kuo, University President, will deliver the next in the President’s Lecture Series: Excellence in Academia. The talk is called “Reliability Challenges Using Nano Technologies” and will focus on issues related to reliability in products and processes in the wake of the proliferation of technologies-based products such as iPhones, PDAs, HDTV, TFT-LCD, hybrid automobiles and medical instruments. The talk takes place on 4 March. Please go to http://www.cityu.edu.hk/cpro/enroll/cpro_enroll.html for registration.

Shanghai Liaison Office
The Shanghai Liaison Office will further strengthen CityU’s links with the government on the mainland, universities, students and alumni in Shanghai. It will also assist advancement in areas of academic exchange, student recruitment, alumni relations and others. Professor Way Kuo, University President, and presidents of other well-known universities on the mainland will share their experiences through the “Discover and Innovate” forum at the Shanghai Liaison Office Opening Ceremony cum Alumni Reunion on 26 February, which will be followed by an alumni reunion dinner for former CityU students in Shanghai and nearby cities.

Social responsibility
Social Responsibility Day on 12 February at Noah’s Ark in Ma Wan will demonstrate the University’s commitment to engaging in activities that benefit society. The Hon Leung Chun-ying, Council Chairman, and Professor Way Kuo, President, will join about 200 Council members, staff, students, alumni and children from social service organisations at the event.

Chamber visit
A nine-member delegation from the Hong Kong Chiu Chow Chamber of Commerce visited the University on 19 January. The visitors were led by the Chamber’s President, Dr Ian Chan Yau-nam, and included its Honorary General Committee Member, Mr Chan Tai-ho, who is an Honorary Fellow of CityU. They were received by Professor Way Kuo, President, Professor Roderick Wong Sue-cheun, Vice-President (Development and External Relations), Professor Julia Tao Lai Po-wah, Chief-of-Staff, and other CityU representatives. The delegation visited the Run Run Shaw Library and the Chinese Civilisation Centre.

EDGE lecture series
A new series of talks called the [CHANGE, infectiously inspirational] Lectures organised by the Office of Education Development and General Education (EDGE) will be held on March 2. Each of the speakers tackles the issue of “change” from his or her perspective/subject area/experience/vision. The lectures will help to promote a culture of inter-disciplinarity and innovation and discovery as well as the synergy between research, teaching and learning.

Wellness March
On 18 February, Student Development Services will hold an opening ceremony to mark the start of Wellness March 2011 and a special presentation for CityU runners participating in this year’s Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. Wellness March comprises a series of activities including lectures, workshops, outdoor activities and sports, all aimed at encouraging colleagues to enjoy a healthier and happier lifestyle.

Chinese New Year Staff Party
This year’s celebration of the Year of the Rabbit for the campus community will take place at the Chinese New Year Staff Party on 11 February. There will be a buffet lunch, celebratory programmes and handicraft stalls. The events are being organised by the Human Resources Office.

Kudos
Professor Johnny Chan Chung-leung, Chair Professor of Applied Physics (Atmospheric Science), Dean of the School of Energy and Environment at CityU and the Director of the Guy Carpenter Asia-Pacific Climate Impact Centre, has been elected as Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the first scholar in Hong Kong to earn this highly prestigious honour. The award is recognition of Professor Chan’s outstanding contributions to atmospheric or related oceanic or hydrologic sciences, or their applications. Only an elite group of the 14,000-strong AMS body is elected to Fellow status.

The co-authors of a paper on an education development course for teaching assistants at CityU jointly organised by the Office of Education Development and General Education (EDGE) and the School of Graduate Studies won the Distinguished Paper Award at the 2011 International Conference on e-Commerce, e-Administration, e-Society, e-Education, and e-Technology (e-CASE & e-Tech 2011) in Tokyo. The title of the paper was “In-service Development for Teaching Assistants: An e-Learning Approach” and the authors were Mr David Santandreu (EDGE), Dr Kevin Downing, (Office of the Provost), Mr Mark Kai-pan (Department of Information Systems (IS)/EDGE), and Ms Dimple Thadani (IS/EDGE). Another Distinguished Paper Award was granted to the paper “An Empirical Investigation into the Effect of Information Usefulness on Information Adoption from Wikipedia” co-authored by Dr Christy Cheung Mei-kwan of Hong Kong Baptist University, and Dr Aaron Shen Xiaoliang and Professor Matthew Lee Kwok-on of CityU’s Department of Information Systems.

Mr Lam Chi-chung, a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Media 2010 graduate, won three prizes (Grand Award, Best Animation and Best Story) at the 4th Hong Kong Mobile Film Festival. The aims of the festival include establishing a global platform for players in the mobile film industry to exchange ideas and insight, and recognising the excellence of mobile filmmakers for their creativity.

Seven students from the Department of Building and Construction studying for the Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies, all of whom graduated from CityU’s Division of Building Science and Technology (BST), performed strongly at the 2nd National Student Architectural Design Competition. “My City, My Dream” was the theme and the competition received 746 entries from more than 100 universities in mainland China and Hong Kong. Under the supervision of Mr John Cheng and Dr Charlie Xue Qiuli of BST, Lo Ka-kei, Yu Oi-to and Samson Ko Kwai-sum won Third Prize with their project “Of the Youth, for the Youth, by the Youth”. Chiaki Chan Sau-kuen, Kwan Lai-ping, Wu Yat-hang and Leung Lok-man, supervised by Ms Helen Ho and Dr Xue, earned the Excellent Award with their entry “Rooftop House”. The aim of the competition, which was organised by the Architectural Society of China and China United Engineering Corporation, is to encourage students to solve housing and youth problems in contemporary urban environments.