Focus

E-learning is far from unknown or unpracticed at CUHK. We have developed tools like Blackboard, Veriguard, KEEP and UReply, to name a few, which facilitate and ensure the delivery of quality education, enabled and empowered by a solid infrastructure and innovative personnel, to a generation of students tech-savvy and mobile-happy.

To provide insights into the epidemic control in Hong Kong, the Faculty of Medicine has been working on several studies on COVID-19, including community studies and online survey on the public's risk perception and psycho-behavioural responses.

Eleven professors from the Faculty of Engineering have been named in the AI 2000 Most Influential Scholar Annual List for their contributions in the realm of artificial intelligence.

A research team from CUHK's Centre for Genomic Studies on Plant-Environment Interaction for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security found that some non-coding RNA can produce very short proteins (small peptides) that play an important role in regulating organismal development and stress resistances.

A research group led by Prof. Zhang Li of the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering has developed a strategy that selects the optimized bio-inspired microrobotic swarms in different bio-fluids. The swarms reported may have great potential in medical applications, and this work is an important intermediate step from a fundamental understanding of microrobotic swarms to their clinic applications.

To prevent the spread of novel coronavirus, all staff, except for those who provide essential services, are not required to return to the office but to continue to work from home. Though the hands may be running a little slow, the clock ticks on, thanks to CUHK members who have been working hard behind the scenes to keep it going while holding the outbreak in check.

Way back when western capitalism rose to be order of the day, business and commerce were purely profit-driven. It was common for corporations to exploit their employees and be profligate with energy to cut production costs, of which a whole set of social and ecological problems was a natural and unseemly corollary.

A team of 12 undergraduates from disciplines of life sciences, biomedical engineering and biomedical sciences took gold at the International Genetically Engineered Machine 2019 Giant Jamboree with the invention of a rapid test for a nascent banana disease.

In the recently held Green Building Award 2019, hosted jointly by the Hong Kong Green Building Council and the Professional Green Building Council, CUHK fetched the Green Building Leadership Pioneer Award in the category of government and non-governmental organizations, cum two Grand Awards, one Special Citation on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and four Finalists with its building projects.

A study by Departments of Paediatrics and Chemical Pathology, together with researchers from Germany, Finland and mainland China reveals the benefits of farm exposure to children for asthma prevention and treatment.

Prof. Xing Guoliang (left) and Prof. Angela Zhang (right) of the Department of Information Engineering were just elected Fellows of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

A study by Prof. Lee Shing-yip, marine ecologist cum director of Simon F.S. Li Marine Science Laboratory and Dr. Ouyang Xiaoguang, postdoctoral fellow discovered that mangroves and other marine wetlands—referred to by scientists as 'blue carbon'—stored 23% more carbon from the atmosphere than previously estimated, pointing to the importance of conserving tidal wetlands in mitigating human carbon emission and countering warming and sea level rise.

The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care launched a three-year pain relief project for the seniors last January. Interviewing close to 400 elderlies who participated in the project, the team found that nearly 90% of them suffered chronic pain in at least two sites, mostly commonly knee (38%), back (21%) and shoulder (15%).

The Faculty of Medicine received a sum of US$2.5 million (about HK$19.5 million) from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to research how mother's health, environment and diet shape babies' gut microbiota.

The Gaobu Book House, a children's library built by Prof. Peter W. Ferretto of the School of Architecture and his team Condition_Lab in collaboration with the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Guangzhou University and local villagers in rural Hunan, won the 'Completed Buildings—Civic and Community' category award at the World Architecture Festival 2019.

Research groups led by Prof. Goh Swee-kuan and Prof. Yang Sen of the Department of Physics have developed an observation technique for quantum materials based on nano-diamonds.

Prof. Dennis Lo Yuk-ming (left) and Prof. Rossa Chiu Wai-kwun (right) of the Faculty of Medicine are named two of the top 20 translational researchers of 2018 by the world-renowned scientific journal Nature Biotechnology. They are the only Hong Kong researchers on the list, and this is the third consecutive year for Professor Lo to receive this honour.

The Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change celebrated its sixth anniversary on 14 December last year. Since its inception, the museum has attracted more than 800,000 visitors. In his address, Vice-Chancellor and President Prof. Rocky S. Tuan said that CUHK has put extensive effort into developing a culture of sustainability on campus and through such projects as those initiated by the museum.

Anxiety over dying battery is a syndrome of our times. The fast dwindling life juice in that tiny battery icon on our smartphones fuels our fears, and it is only when we have managed to charge them our peace of mind is restored.

Vice-Chancellor Prof. Rocky S. Tuan was named a Fellow of the American Association of Anatomists (AAA) 2019 in recognition of his contributions to anatomical sciences, particularly in the field of tissue engineering and regeneration.

Four CUHK scholars were presented with prestigious awards from the Croucher Foundation for their excellent research achievements.

Prof. Zhou Bolei of the Department of Information Engineering was named by the MIT Technology Review as one of the top innovators under the age of 35 in the Asia-Pacific region in 2020.

A research team led by Prof. Chen Shih-chi, Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, collaborated with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the US and developed the Femtosecond Projection Two-photon Lithography (FP-TPL) printing technology.

Co-organized by CUHK Li Dak Sum Yip Yio Chin R & D Centre for Chinese Medicine, Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Pharmacist Association, Guangdong Pharmaceutical Association and Association of Pharmacists of Chinese Medicine of Macau, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area study tour was held from 5 to 9 December 2019.

Director of University Safety Ralph Lee and Director of the University Health Service Dr. Scotty Luk comment on campus environment safety issues.

CUHK held its 87^th Congregation for the Conferment of Degrees on 7 November, awarding 4,410 Bachelor's degrees and 6,363 Master's degrees.

To increase public awareness of gender issues in the legal profession, the Faculty of Law presented its first Female Legal Leaders Seminar on 4 November.

Two teams of Mechanical and Automation Engineering students achieved excellent results at the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Undergraduate Engineering Training Integration Ability Competition 2019.

To live is to embark on all sorts of journeys, willingly or not. For the unfortunates, one of these journeys is that of fighting cancer. Adopting the title of a song by The Beatles, Prof. Tony Mok, Chairman of the Department of Clinical Oncology and the Li Shu Fun Medical Foundation Professor of Clinical Oncology, gave the talk 'The Long and Winding Road to Conquer Cancer' on 14 October.

The results of this year's Ten Outstanding Young Persons Selection were out on 21 October. Among the eight honourees on the bill, four were from CUHK.

The Greater China Legal History Seminar Series offered by the Faculty of Law, built upon the success of the Chinese Customary Law Seminar Series in 2014–16, has been extremely popular and impactful.

The CUHK Distinguished Alumni-in-Residence Programme 2019 welcomed alumnus Norman Chan Tak-lam back to his alma mater for a series of interactive activities with students, staff and alumni soon after his retirement from the position of Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

How can we attain happiness? It is a question asked by philosophers, poets and theologians since time immemorial. In the seventh instalment of 'The Pursuit of Wisdom' Public Lecture Series held on 23 September, Dean of Social Science Prof. Chiu Chi-yue also tried to weigh in: It is through growth mindset that we can attain happiness in different aspects of life.

Prof. Darwin Lau of the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering was awarded the 2019 UGC Teaching Award (Early Career Faculty Members) on 10 October in recognition of his dedication and achievements in his learner-centred and experience-based learning ideology.

Body check-ups routinely include blood tests, a key component of which is an inspection of the white blood cells. Traditional blood tests involve staining and labelling, which are time-consuming and labour-intensive.

Filial piety is a key Confucian virtue but its discussions mostly centre around its moral content and ideological functions. With the historian's eagle eye, Prof. David Faure saw its close ties to the economy in the Ming-Qing period.

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Faculty of Medicine pioneered fetal DNA sequencing at genome-wide resolution for prenatal invasive genetic diagnosis.

Geography and Resource Management graduand Natalie Chung won the Esther Yewpick Lee Millennium Scholarship totalling around HK$1 million to read a master's in environmental change and management at the University of Oxford.

For many, high school marks some of the best years of their lives. Many a lifelong friendship sprouts from these days. Sage teachers inspire their protégés to realize their own intellectual and moral fibre.

The University welcomed about 4,000 freshmen to its campus for the new academic year. Over 500 local talents and around 620 non-local students have been admitted through the Non-JUPAS admissions scheme.