Donor
The Sze-yuen Chung Fund
The late Sir Sze-yuen Chung, GBM, GBE, JP, was an outstanding professional engineer and a successful entrepreneur who had made tremendous contributions to society. He dedicated four decades of his life to Hong Kong’s political, economic, educational and social development. In 1972, he was actively involved in the establishment of the then Hong Kong Polytechnic, the predecessor of PolyU, and was the Founding Council Chairman from 1972 to 1986. He was also named an Honorary Doctor of Engineering by PolyU in 1989.
Born in Hong Kong in 1917, Sir Sze-yuen received most of his secondary education at King’s College and later at St Paul’s College. He studied at St. John’s University in Shanghai for one year before he was transferred to the University of Hong Kong, where he met his wife, Lady Nancy. He graduated in 1941 with a First Class Honours Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering. He later earned his doctorate degree in engineering at Sheffield University in 1950.
During the Japanese invasion in 1941, Sir Sze-yuen joined the Auxiliary Transport Services to assist the defence effort. He then spent a few years on the Mainland, taking up pivotal roles in factories and returned to Hong Kong in 1946. In 1953, he started his own engineering consultancy business and helped Mr V K Song found V K Song Ltd, which produced flashlights using Sir Sze-yuen’s patented technology. V K Song Ltd was later acquired by the American Eveready Company and renamed as Sonca Industries Ltd. Under Sir Sze-yuen’s leadership, Sonca went on to become the world’s biggest flashlight manufacturer.
Sir Sze-yuen began his endeavour of public services that spans across four decades with his role as a working committee member for the establishment of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries in 1958. Later on, he served as a Legislative Council member, and then an Executive Council member. He was a Senior Unofficial Member of the Executive Council from 1980 to 1988. Originally retiring in late 1980s, Sir Sze-yuen was persuaded by the then-Governor Sir David Wilson to come out of retirement in 1990, to helm the formation of the Hospital Authority. He went on to assume different roles in preparation of the establishment of HKSAR. In 1997, he was the Convener of the first Executive Council of the HKSAR. He postponed his retirement until 1999 at the age of 82.
Equally devoted to the development of higher education, Sir Sze-yuen was actively involved in the establishment of the Hong Kong Polytechnic in 1972, he was also a key player in founding the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong in 1984, and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 1991.
Sir Sze-yuen passed away in 2018 at the age of 101. In his will, a part of his residuary estate was designated to PolyU for the establishment of The Sze-yuen Chung Fund, exclusively for the promotion and furtherance of higher education. In recognition of Sir Sze-yuen’s staunch contribution to PolyU, two Endowed Professorships, in Precision Engineering and Renewable Energy respectively, were set up.
Appointee
Ir Professor Yung Kai-leung, BBS
Ir Professor Yung Kai-leung, Chair Professor of Precision Engineering and Associate Head of PolyU’s Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, earned his PhD in Microprocessor for Process Control at Plymouth University, U.K. in 1985. Upon graduation, Professor Yung worked in the U.K. for several companies before returning to Hong Kong in 1986 to join the Hong Kong Productivity Council as a consultant and subsequently, switching to the academia. He was qualified as a Chartered Engineer and Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (now Institution of Engineering and Technology) in 1982. He is at present Fellow of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers and Fellow of Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences.
An expert in precision engineering, Professor Yung found the ultimate challenge in the research and development for deep space explorations. Time and time again, his state-of-the-art instruments fulfilled the harshest conditions in outer space, including Mars Rock Corer in the European Space Agency (ESA) Mars Express Mission (2003), Soil Preparation System in the Sino-Russian Phobos-Grunt Mission (2011), Camera Pointing System in the Chinese Lunar Soft-landing Missions Chang’e 3 and 4, and Surface Sampling and Packing System in Lunar Sample Return Missions Chang’e 5 and 6. His inventions are also successfully adopted for civilian uses, including a micro injection moulding machine, and an internally motorised non-invasive Surgery Robotic System, garnering numerous innovation awards in Hong Kong and abroad. Recently, Professor Yung has completed a Mars Surveillance Camera for China’s first Mars mission (2020) and collaborated with others on instruments for ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (2023).
