PolyU scholar received award for anti-cancer drug research

Dr Tao Ye, Associate Professor of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU)'s Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology was recently awarded the 2014 Xiaoyu Hu Memorial Award at the 13th Chinese International Peptide Symposium (CPS) held in Datong, China, from 30 June – 4 July 2014. The award was presented to Dr Ye in recognition of his outstanding achievements in the peptide science field, contributing to the research in synthesis of natural products and exploration of natural-products-based anti-cancer drugs. His research resulted in discovery of novel anti-cancer agents based on marine natural products largazole, burkholdacs and computational-aided drug design. These anticancer agents have been proven effective in controlling cancer proliferation via inhibition of histone deacetylases and histone demethylases. The CPS was founded in 1990 by world leading scholars in the peptide field, including Nobel Laureate Bruce Merrifield. It is one of the most important events in the field of peptide science, on par with the American Peptide Symposium, European Peptide Symposium and Japanese Peptide Symposium etc. The Xiaoyu Hu Memorial Award was established by the CPS in commemoration of Professor Xiaoyu Hu, a pioneer and leader in the development peptide science in the Chinese mainland. The award honors biennially one Chinese and one international scientist with outstanding contribution in the peptide science field. The other winner of the 2014 Xiaoyu Hu Memorial Award was Professor Paul Alewood, Chairman of Australian Peptide Association. As a leading scientist in the field of synthetic chemistry and chemical biology, Dr Ye's research focuses on the total synthesis of biological active natural products and chemical proteomics. His laboratory is particularly devoted to the research in synthesis and biological evaluation of natural products, especially in the exploration of natural-products-based novel anti-tumor agents. Dr Tao Ye also received the WuXi PharmaTech Life Science and Chemistry Award in 2012. His anti-cancer drug discovery program was supported by generous donation from both Fong Shu Fook Tong Foundation and Joyce M. Kuok Foundation.

Prof. Michael Kwong awarded the Rising Star at the 41st International Conference on Coordination Chemistry

Prof. Fuk-yee Kwong is honoured the Rising Star at the 41st International Conference on Coordination Chemistry (41st ICCC), held in Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre, Singapore from 21 to 25 July 2014. This year, a total of 21 young researchers are awarded the Rising Stars at the conference for their continuous effort at promoting Coordination Chemistry and acting role models for junior researchers in the field. The awardees come from worldwide institutions, including those from Stanford University (USA), California Institute of Technology (USA), Harvard University (USA), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), Yale University (USA), University of Cambridge (UK), and University of Oxford (UK). Being the only representative from Hong Kong, Prof. Kwong presented a well-received lecture on "A New Series of Tunable Phosphine Ligands for Sterically Hindered Coupling: Tetra-Ortho-Substituted Biaryl Synthesis from Aryl Chlorides and Aryl Trifluoroborate Salts" on 23 July. The 5-day conference has attracted over 1000 delegates from 45 countries. By covering a diverse range of topics, including those in traditional areas (such as computational and theoretical chemistry, transition metal catalysis, etc.) and advanced emerging topics (such as molecular electronics, nanotechnology, biomimetics, etc.), the conference has successfully achieved its three goals, namely, (a) spanning from fundamental to applied coordination chemistry; (b) connecting the world through coordination chemistry, and (c) recognizing the pioneers and unearthing the next generation of stars. Let us congratulate Prof. Kwong on receiving the honour!

Special Merit Award and Gold Medal Awarded at 42nd International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva

Our University continues to excel in the 42nd International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, held from 2nd to 6th of April 2014 at Geneva, Switzerland. With 45 countries represented by 790 exhibitors and over 1,000 inventions, the exhibition is found extremely successful. Seven Polytechnic University projects won a total of eleven prizes at the event this year, and the winning projects were presented at a press conference hosted by Mr Nicholas W. Yang, Executive Vice President of the University on 5 May 2014. A team from our department, led by Dr Yi Wang and Dr Ka-hing Wong, has been awarded a gold medal and a special merit award for the project "Preparation of Food Grade Capsules with Targeted Drug Delivery". The brilliant team has developed a new food-grade, plant-based capsule coating which is made from zein (a protein derived from corn) and pectin (from citrus fruits). Coatings are typically made with synthetic polymers or animal-derived gelatin. Zein acts as a water barrier to protect pectin from swelling while pectin protects zein from intestinal digestion. By varying the ratio of these two materials and modifying the capsule design, targeted drug delivery either to the stomach, the small intestine or the colon can be achieved. These two awards are a testimony to the exemplary knowledge and education developed at ABCT. Let us congratulate Dr. Wang and Dr. Wong on receiving these awards.

Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards (Science and Technology) from the Ministry of Education 2013

It is a great honor that our research teams just won two prestige Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards (Science and Technology) from the Ministry of Education. The research team led by Prof. KY Wong, Prof. Thomas Leung and Dr. PH Chan was awarded the Second Class Prize in Natural Science Award (自然科学二等奖) with the award-winning project "螢光生物傳感及探針技術". Dr. MS Wong together with her inter-institutional research team received the Second Class Prize in Scientific and Technological Progress Award (科技进步奖) with the award-winning project "抗骨質疏鬆傳統中藥現代化研究及其應用". The Award Presentation Ceremony took place in The University of Hong Kong on 26 March 2014. The winning teams received the awards bestowed by the Science and Technology Development Centre under the aegis of the Ministry of Education. Let us congratulate the award recipients and their research teams again on receiving these prestigious awards.

PolyU won the 2nd Runner-up at the 25th Hong Kong Chemistry Olympiad

Our PolyU Chemistry team won the 2nd Runner-up at the 25th Hong Kong Chemistry Olympiad for tertiary institutions taken place on 22 February 2014 at the University of Hong Kong. Our presentation team of three B.Sc. CT students HO Ping Luen, KO Chiu In and LAI Chun Him delivered a vivacious presentation on "Chemistry And Aircraft Development". This presentation was prepared by a dedicated production crew: LO Shun Yin, CHOI Pak San, LING Cho Hon, LI Chun Kit, LAI Kin Ho, LAM Ning Fung, CHAN Kwan Shing, LAI Chau Kin, XIAN Quan, YU Xingjian, WANG Dan, XU Yang and CHENG Nga Man. The team had worked day and night for 2 days and their hard work finally won the recognition from the judge panel. Let us take this opportunity to congratulate our PolyU Chemistry team for the success! Hong Kong Chemistry Olympiad is an annual event jointly organized by Hong Kong Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) aiming to promote interest in Chemistry via a competition amongst the chemistry undergraduate representatives from all local universities for the best solution in given chemistry problems. The theme this year is "Chemistry for the Betterments of Life".

Winner of the Highest Growth Award in PTeC’s Outstanding Achievements in Knowledge Transfer Activities 2013

It is a great honor of the Department to be Winner of the Highest Growth Award in the recent Outstanding Professional Services Awards Presentation Ceremony 2013. Representative of the Department received the Award from Executive Vice President of PolyU on 14 February 2014. This Award showcased the determination of the Department on the provision of services to the community with cutting edge technologies. It also recognizes the significant contribution of our experts in diversified fields on transferring quality and innovativeness of projects to actualization through consultancy work. We thank colleagues for the enormous efforts in providing distinguished consultancy services and knowledge transfer achievements to industry and the community.

ABCT members honoured with the Faculty Award 2012/13

PolyU pays tribute to dedicated staff members for their outstanding achievements in teaching, research and scholarly activities and services annually. This year, our Dr. Larry Ming-cheung Chow, Prof. Bill Tak-hang Chan, Dr. Kin-fai Chan, and Dr. Iris L.K. Wong were honoured with the Faculty Award for Excellence Performance and Achievement in Research and Scholarly Activities for their remarkable performance. The award was presented by our Faulty Dean, Prof. Kwok-yin Wong, on 22 January 2014 on PolyU Campus.

Asian Core Programme Lectureship Awards from Korea and Japan

Dr. Fuk-yee Kwong and Dr. Wing-yiu Yu both received the ACP Lectureship awards in The 8th International Conference on Cutting-Edge Organic Chemistry in Asia (ICCEOCA-8), held in International Convention Centre in Osaka, Japan from 25 to 28 November, 2013. Based on the principle of equal partnership, this annual international programme aims to nurture close relationship among active researchers in the field of organic chemistry and related disciplines among the participating Asian countries. This conference programme offers an international research hub for leading scientists to exchange and collaborate in high-quality organic chemistry research. Moreover, this conference has become a platform for the next generation organic chemists in the East and Southeast Asian region to showcase their research accomplishment. The scope of this programme covers multiple facets of organic chemistry, including novel chemical reactions, organic synthesis, nano-chemistry, bioorganic chemistry, green chemistry, structural and material sciences, and environmental chemistry. This year, Dr. Kwong has gained the recognition from the Korean representatives with his presentation entitled "A New Series of Tunable Phosphine Ligands for Sterically Hindered Coupling: Tetra-ortho-Substituted Biaryl Synthesis from Aryl Chlorides and Aryl Trifluoroborate Salts". On the other hand, Dr. Yu's presentation on "Catalytic C-H Bond Cross Coupling Reactions for C-C and C-N Bond Formations" has attracted the recognition from the representatives of Japan. Both awardees would be invited to undertake a one-week lecture tour in Korea and Japan in 2014 respectively.

Dr. Ka-hing Wong awarded in World Inventor Award Festival 2013

Dr. Ka-hing Wong has achieved two awards from the 2nd World Inventor Award Festival 2013. The Award Ceremony was taken place earlier in Seoul of Korea on 14 Dec 2013. This year, inventors from more than 50 countries have been attracted to the event, while our Dr. Wong was awarded merits under the category of Food Order and Material Invention Order. The World Inventor Award Festival aims to serve as a platform for rewarding the world's best individuals, groups, companies and associates in various fields and businesses – relative occupations and professions dealing with creative invention, innovation, technology transfer and so on. The programme has set its goal towards discovering those who deserves to be recognized for their success and higher achievements, contributions towards society, national competitiveness and for the development of numerous industries. Congratulations to Dr. Wong on receiving the awards!

Three ABCT members bestowed in the IFT13 in Chicago

Our Dr. Man-sau Wong and Dr. Ka-sing Leung have recently received the Certified Food Scientist (CFS) credential. The presentation ceremony was held at the 2013 Annual Meeting and Food Expo of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT13) in Chicago this July. Dr. Wong and Dr. Leung are part of the CFS credential's inaugural class. The Certified Food Scientist SM (CFS) credential is a formal global certification programme administered by the International Food Science Certification Commission, which recognizes the practical, applied scientific knowledge and skills possessed by food science professionals. CFS credential holders must demonstrate their core professional competencies of being a food scientist and their ability to apply knowledge and skills in reality. On the other hand, Miss. Cheung Yi-ching, Anna, a PhD student under the supervision of Dr. Jian-yong Wu, received the Graduate Student Poster Award, and won the 3rd place of the International Individual Division Competition with her presentation entitled "Optimization and kinetic modeling of polysaccharide extraction by ultrasonic disruption of a medicinal fungal mycelia in fermentation broth". The International Division Research Paper Competition was inaugurated as part of IFT's 50th Anniversary Celebration in 1989. It aims to encourage graduate students entering the International Research Paper Competition to think on global food science and technology issues and the needs of all people in the world. It also aims at promoting the diversity of opportunities and needs in a shrinking world, and recognizing the diverse and rich research skills of IFT's international members. Congratulations to Dr. MS Wong, Dr. KS Leung and Miss. Anna Cheung on receiving the honours!