Media Releases

PolyU honours two distinguished personalities at the 25th Congregation

Presided over by the PolyU Council Chairman Dr LAM Tai-fai and PolyU President Professor Jing-Guang TENG, the 25th Congregation of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University held today saw the conferment of Honorary Doctorates upon two prominent figures and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees on 326 graduates. The ceremony was held in the Jockey Club Auditorium on the University campus. The two honorary degree recipients this year were (in alphabetical order of last name): Mr Winfried ENGELBRECHT-BRESGES, GBS, JP, Chief Executive Officer of The Hong Kong Jockey Club; and Professor QIU Yong, President of Tsinghua University (in absentia). (Please refer to the Appendix for the biodata of the recipients.) In extending his congratulations to the honorary doctorates and doctoral graduates, Prof. Teng encouraged the pursuit of life-long learning with a spirit of openness to face and tackle the many issues and challenges in our rapidly changing world. It is PolyU’s core belief that education should instill not only professional competences but also positive values that ensure graduates care about our community. He expressed the hope that the graduates would pursue happiness by helping others in a spirit of empathy and compassion. Prof. Teng stated that while the results of the international university rankings testify to PolyU’s academic excellence, the University will further develop its eminence as an institution that excels in education, research and innovation in areas that push technological frontiers. “PolyU has a firm foundation from which to advance its education and research in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, data science, robotics, additive manufacturing, new materials and biotechnology. We will also develop new interdisciplinary research institutes not only to embrace new technologies, but also to respond to global needs.” “Strength in these areas will help Hong Kong develop into an innovation and technology hub. It will also enable PolyU and Hong Kong to play an important role in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, which holds numerous opportunities through its wide market and wealth of technology transfer openings for the younger generation,” added Prof. Teng. The University confers academic awards on a total of 10,069 students this year, including 326 PhD graduates, 119 professional doctoral graduates, 37 Master of Philosophy degree graduates , 3,954 graduates with taught master's degree, 5,068 graduates with bachelor's degree, 37 with postgraduate diplomas and certificates, and 526 with sub-degree awards.  *****END*****

PolyU and Red Cross join hands to promote blood donation among university students

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in support of the Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service (BTS) recently launched a 10-day long blood donation campaign on campus as part of the University’s Social Responsibility Month. A brand-new 16-tonne blood donation vehicle made its debut at PolyU last Thursday and is now parked on the podium level of the campus until 25 October. At the launch ceremony, the Under Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Chui Tak-yi, the Chief Executive and Medical Director of the BTS, Dr C K Lee, and the Executive Vice President of PolyU, Dr Miranda Lou urged the PolyU community to continue its noble tradition in blood donation. Dr Chui recognised PolyU’s sustainable efforts in driving blood donation. He said, “PolyU has been a role model for promoting blood donation for years”.  Dr Lee expressed his gratitude to PolyU and said, “PolyU has had a long-standing partnership with Red Cross BTS that could be traced back three decades to 1983. PolyU was also the first university to set up an on-campus blood donor centre in 2014. We are very pleased to have PolyU’s tremendous effort in promoting blood donation to the young generation.” In addition to donating blood, PolyU students are very enthusiastic in support of the Red Cross BTS. For instance, some students studying on the PolyU nursing programme have chosen to do their primary health care practicum at the on-campus blood donor centre. Students from the School of Design also took part in designing souvenirs for Red Cross BTS. Dr Lou stated in her speech, “PolyU is the first tertiary institution in Hong Kong to receive the Special Merit Award (non-commercial category) from the BTS in recognition of PolyU's support for stable blood supply. Through our joint efforts, over 44,000 people have donated blood on our campus. We are glad that our efforts could support Red Cross BTS and promote blood donation in different ways.” To appeal to more students and teaching colleagues to join this meaningful cause, the University invited students from different countries, including Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Rwanda and those from the Chinese mainland, to use their mother languages to spread the message of “One blood donation saves three lives”. Free blood pressure checks and Haemoglobin tests are also offered during the campaign to engage more PolyU members to give blood. Over the last few days, the campaign has attracted hundreds of students to give blood, representing a six-fold increase of blood donors in average per day compared with the daily figure in the campus blood donor centre. PolyU is honoured to be the first stop for the new blood donation vehicle, the vehicle will later visit other universities in Hong Kong to promote the culture of blood giving. A daily turnout of 1,100 donors is required Territory-wide to ensure sufficient supplies of safe blood are available for clinical transfusions in all hospitals.   *****END*****

Three research papers published in Nature series journals

Department of Applied Physics of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) contributed three research papers that were recently published in the Nature series journals, which are among the most authoritative and recognised scientific journals in the world that publish high-quality research in all fields of science and technology. Optoelectronic resistive random-access memory (ORRAM) for neuromorphic vision sensors – “Nature Nanotechnology” Dr. CHAI Yang, Associate Professor, Department of Applied Physics, and his team developed an optoelectronic device that mimics the functions of human retina in image sensing, memorization, and pre-processing, with image recognition rate and efficiency exceeding existing artificial visual systems. Experimental findings demonstrate the innovation’s great potential in enhancing neuromorphic visual system by simplifying the circuitry, efficiently processing overwhelming amount of dynamic visual information, and greatly reducing power consumption. It thus offers promising contribution towards the development of applications in edge computing and Internet of Things. Continuous artificial synthesis of glucose precursor using enzyme-immobilised microfluidic reactors – “Nature Communications” Dr. ZHANG Xuming, Associate Professor, Department of Applied Physics, and his team discovered technology to replicate the opto-fluidic system of leave vein to create micro-reactors for conducting the first phase reaction of CO2 fixation in natural photosynthesis. Experimental findings indicate that the micro-reactors requires only very small amount of RuBisCO (the enzyme involved in the first major step of photosynthesis) for continuous synthesis of glucose (the basic food material). The innovation contributes to artificial photosynthesis developments and will help relieve food crisis and produce biofuel. Enhanced sieving from exfoliated MoS2 membranes via covalent funcationalisation – “Nature Materials” Dr. Nicolas ONOFRIO, Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Physics, and his team developed a nanolaminate membrane based on covalently functionalised molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanosheets. Nanolaminate membranes made of two-dimensional (2D) materials such as graphene oxide are promising candidates for molecular sieving via size-limited diffusion in the two-dimensional capillaries, but high hydrophilicity makes these membranes unstable in water. The covalent functionalisation of exfoliated nanosheets can solve this problem by efficiently control the interlayer spacing to enhance the sieving performance of nanolaminate membranes. They demonstrate remarkable performance towards water purification and desalination, with high rejection of micropollutants and sodium chloride (NaCl) (over 90% and 87% respectively), compared to the current state of the art. The novel strategy paves the way for the preparation of membranes with tuneable sieving behaviour. The control of the surface chemistry of exfoliated 2D materials allows further exploration of the nanofluidic phenomena inside nanolaminate membranes at fundamental and practical levels for water purification or osmotic energy. Prof. Daniel LAU, Head of the Department of Applied Physics, takes pride in the contributions of the three researchers and said, “the Department will continue to devote its efforts in the pursuit of excellence in teaching and research”. “PolyU has been undertaking cutting-edge research that delivers real impact to the academia and to the world. We are committed to nurturing our academics and researchers to collaborate locally and internationally in fundamental and translational research, and encouraging them to contribute their research findings in prestigious and world-renowned journals,” said Prof. Alex WAI, Vice President (Research Development), PolyU. Note: Please refer to the appendix for details of the three papers: [URL]   ******END******

理大就香港專上學院於十月八日發生之事件的回應

理大就香港專上學院於十月八日發生之事件的回應 (Only Chinese version)

Rescheduling of the PolyU Education Info Day

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) announces that the Education Info Day to be held tomorrow (5 October) will be rescheduled. Further updates will soon be uploaded to PolyU website.

PolyU Education Info Day offers prospective students first-hand information on application tactics

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) will hold its Education Info Day on 5 October 2019 (Saturday) on its campus, from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm, to provide students with the most updated information of its full-time undergraduate and higher diploma programmes. A series of seminars, facility visits, sharing and consultation sessions will be arranged on the day to help the prospective students plan ahead for their further studies. Further elaboration on PolyU’s revised mechanism in converting points for results at Level 5**, 5* and 5 of DSE subjects starting from the 2020/21 admission exercise will also be provided for those interested. PolyU attained a remarkable admissions profile for the 2019/20 academic year. Among the undergraduates admitted, 253 scored at least 5** in one subject, with both Chinese and English at level 3 or above, in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) Examination. For students admitted by PolyU via the Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS) this year, the average score for the Best five DSE subjects is 23.1. Two top achievers, who scored 34, are now studying Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Physiotherapy. (For details of the average DSE score of PolyU’s 2019/20 admittees, please visit: http://www51.polyu.edu.hk/eprospectus/ug/jupas/programme-requirements or www.polyu.edu.hk/study) In 2019/20, among the 44 full-time public-funded undergraduate programmes of PolyU, “Hotel Management” was the most popular one, being chosen by 641 JUPAS applicants as their first choice. “Scheme in Design” and “Nursing” placed second and third, attracting 604 and 467 applicants respectively. More than 91% of PolyU admittees this year placed the University’s programmes as their Band A choices. PolyU Education Info Day to be held on 5 October, highlights of the PolyU Education Info Day include:- two JUPAS admissions talks for Secondary Six students; two admissions talks for non-JUPAS applicants; around 100 information seminars organised by various academic faculties, schools and departments; a number of guided visits to research centres, laboratories, studios, workshops and hostels; showcase of PolyU’s award-winning research projects at the House of Innovation; and Entry Scholarship Presentation Ceremony 2019/20 for newly admitted student-athletes, sharing of student-athletes admitted by PolyU’s Outstanding Sportsmen Recommendation Scheme, performances by PolyU Sports Teams, sports games. For details, please visit: www.polyu.edu.hk/infoday. PolyU’s academic staff and student ambassadors will station onsite to provide advices on admissions and programme details for prospective applicants. The student ambassadors will also share their campus life experiences with participants.   End

PolyU develops a new class of antibiotic candidates for fighting against superbugs

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has developed a new class of antibiotic drug candidates which has high potential to be developed into a new generation of antibiotics fighting against multi-drug resistant superbugs including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The novel small molecules, based on new target, new chemical structure and new antimicrobial mechanism, are different from those of existing antibiotics. The new drug candidates demonstrate much effective abilities of inhibiting bacterial growth than commonly used antibiotics, yet with no toxicity to human cells.

PolyU announces appointment of Ir Professor Alexander Wai Ping-kong as Deputy President and Provost

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is pleased to announce today the appointment of Ir Professor Alexander WAI Ping-kong as Deputy President and Provost for five years, effective 1 March 2020. Professor Wai will take over the post from Professor Philip C. H. CHAN upon his retirement at the end of February 2020. The appointment was approved at the Council meeting today. Professor Wai has served as Vice President (Research Development) of PolyU since 1 July 2010. An outstanding scholar in fiber optic communication, he joined PolyU as an Assistant Professor in 1996. Professor Wai became Chair Professor of Optical Communications and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering in 2005. From 2008 to 2010, he also served as Associate Vice President. “Professor Wai has made great contributions to research and education in PolyU over the past two decades. We are confident that Professor Wai will continue to contribute to PolyU’s development in his new capacity,” said Dr LAM Tai-fai, Chairman of Council, PolyU. President Professor Jin-Guang TENG congratulates Professor Wai on his new appointment.  He also registered a vote of thanks to Professor Chan for his outstanding contributions to PolyU over the past decade. Professor Wai received a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree in Physics with first-class honours from The University of Hong Kong in 1981 and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Maryland, the United States, in 1988. He started his career as a Research Physicist with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in McLean, Virginia, the United States, and then as Research Associate in the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Maryland in 1990. Since joining PolyU in 1996, Professor Wai has established the University’s Photonics Research Center and state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure for research in optical fiber communications, fiber-optics sensors and gallium nitride technology. He is an active contributor to his technical field and has published over 200 refereed international journal publications.  In recognition of his contributions to optical communication and optical networks, Professor Wai was elected Fellow of the Optical Society of America in 2009, as well as Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences, both in 2012.   (End)

PolyU School of Hotel and Tourism Management celebrates its splendid 40 years

The School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) celebrated its “Splendid 40 Years” by hosting a gala dinner at Hotel ICON, the SHTM’s world-class teaching and research hotel, on 20 September 2019. Close to 400 guests from around the world attended the occasion in celebration of the School’s 40th anniversary. Addressing at the gala dinner, Professor Philip C. H. CHAN, Deputy President and Provost of PolyU said, “The year 2019 is a special year for the SHTM as the School celebrates a significant milestone. For everyone at the SHTM and PolyU, the key thing to celebrate is not the mere passage of time, but the vision and scale of achievement that have gone into creating a world-leading centre of education and research excellence, which continues to set new standards in advancing knowledge and serving the industry. I have full confidence that the School will achieve even greater global excellence and lead the development in the field in the years to come.” The SHTM was founded 40 years ago in 1979. From humble beginnings as a diploma-conferring department, it has now risen to become a leading hospitality and tourism school not only in Asia, but also in the world. The SHTM lives by and fulfils its motto of “Leading Hospitality and Tourism” and sets itself apart from other hospitality and tourism educational institutions by consistently being ranked No. 1 in the world. In its pursuit of excellence, the SHTM places great importance on innovative research and encourages a robust research culture amongst its international faculty of more than 70 academics from 21 countries and regions globally. The School offers programmes at levels ranging from undergraduate to doctoral degrees to more than 1,400 students from around the world each year. The upscale Hotel ICON, which opened in 2011, provides the centrepiece of the SHTM’s educational and research model. The unique purpose-built and purpose-driven hotel not only supports the School in nurturing a new generation of passionate, pioneering professionals who will become future leaders in the industry, but also enables SHTM faculty members to conduct in-depth research for the advancement of the global industry. At the heart of its success is the partnership the SHTM values. The School continues to forge strong synergies among the University, the industry, its students and staff members, and takes pride in its strong connections with the community, business and academia. The celebration culminated in the announcement of the prestigious 2019 SHTM Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr P. R. S. OBEROI, Executive Chairman of EIH Limited, the flagship company of The Oberoi Group, was honoured with the accolade. The award was presented to Mr Oberoi, now 90 years old, at a ceremony held in Delhi, India in August by Dr K. P. HO, Immediate Past Chairman of the SHTM Advisory Committee and Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings. Mr P. R. S. Oberoi was represented at the ceremony by his son Mr Vikram Oberoi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, EIH Limited. Over the years, Mr P. R. S. Oberoi has made immense contributions to the international hotel sector, and is continuously redefining the standard of hospitality and luxury. In addition to leading the management of luxury hotels in several countries, he has been instrumental in pioneering the development of the new Oberoi hotels and resorts. Under his leadership, the “Oberoi” brand has come to represent fine luxury hotels. Mr P. R. S. Oberoi said, “I am grateful and honoured to be receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award and would like to thank the entire team at the SHTM for this prestigious accolade.” Extending heartfelt congratulations to Mr Oberoi on receiving the well-deserved award, Professor Kaye CHON, SHTM Dean, Chair Professor and Walter Kwok Foundation Professor in International Hospitality Management, said, “With 40 years of impressive developments, the SHTM has successfully established itself as a world-class centre of hospitality and tourism education and research. Our commitment to excellence is well supported by distinguished individuals such as Mr Oberoi. Looking ahead, we will further contribute to extend the frontier of knowledge in hospitality and tourism, and continue to play a leading role in nurturing talents for the advancement of the entire industry.” The SHTM Lifetime Achievement Award was established in 2016 by the SHTM to honour outstanding persons who have contributed substantially to the development of hospitality and tourism in Hong Kong, the region and around the world. In bestowing the award, the SHTM seeks to recognise true leaders who help define the global hospitality landscape and advance the industry.   (End)

PolyU adopts a new score point conversion system for HKDSE subjects

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today announced that it will revise the conversion points for subjects taken at the Hong Kong Diploma of Seconday Education (HKDSE) starting from the 2020/21 admission exercise. The conversion points to be applied are: HKDSE Subject Level Attainments New Score Conversion in 2020/21 Existing Score Conversion 5** 8.5 7 5* 7 6 5 5.5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 “PolyU changes the conversion scores for HKDSE subject results at Level 5 or above for admission of applicants via Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS) with a view to attracting high achievers to our degree programmes,” said Prof. S. L. Ho, Associate Vice President (Academic Support) and Registrar, PolyU . Detailed information is now available at the University’s e-propectus (http://www51.polyu.edu.hk/eprospectus/ug/jupas/admission-selection#Q04).   *****