Stephen AU Ling-ming

Managing Director, MTECH Engineering Co., Ltd.

I am honoured and excited to receive the Outstanding PolyU Alumni Award 2017. I would first like to thank Professor Daniel Lau, Head of the Department of Applied Physics, for nominating me for the award. The origins of my success lie in my study for the Higher Diploma in Applied Science at Hong Kong Polytechnic (the former name of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University). This course provided a wide range of basic physics and engineering knowledge, which has aided my career and professional development over the last 35 years.

I still remember my final-year project on the strength and durability of a composite bamboo/resin material as a substitute for wood, a topic on which few studies had been conducted at that time. My project supervisor, Professor Frankie Shin Dingguo, gave me plenty of freedom and support. He even helped me to send the material to a professional British laboratory to view the molecular structure of the bamboo fibre under an electronic microscope. My final-year project undoubtedly cultivated my willingness and ability to innovate, overcome boundaries and embrace new things.

I firmly believe that technology can make our lives better. In 1995, I founded the information-technology company MTECH Engineering, which provides Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions and consulting services for the construction and manufacturing industries in Hong Kong and China. The company helped the local manufacturing industry to migrate from 2D design and manufacturing to 3D design and numerical-control machining. We also cooperated with PolyU's Department of Mechanical Engineering to set up the Product Design and Analysis Centre and help the electrical home appliance and watch industry to develop a modular and knowledge-based methodology for engineering and product design. The company later extended its activities to the construction industry, working with PolyU's Department of Building and Real Estate to set up the Virtual Construction Laboratory. In cooperation with Swire Properties and Gammon Construction, MTECH completed Hong Kong's first BIM project, a high-rise, grade-A commercial building named One Inland East. In 2003, MTECH and Dassault Systems donated a number of high-end PLM system software packages to PolyU.

The company has developed rapidly over the last two decades, during which it has contributed to a number of large projects, such as the construction of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Bird's Nest National Stadium, the Guangzhou Nanfeng International Convention and Exhibition Centre and the Shenyang New World International Convention and Exhibition Centre, along with several large-scale real estate projects run by Sun Hung Kai Properties. Last year, MTECH won the award for Hong Kong's Most Valuable Company from the prestigious magazine Mediazone in recognition of its provision of 3D technology for the construction and manufacturing industries.

From my perspective, if this award stands for anything, it stands for the union of or alliance among academia, industry and technology. I will continue to support PolyU's development by linking research with technology and application, fostering talent and promoting continuous innovation and development in the information-technology, construction and manufacturing industries to help Hong Kong become a knowledge-based society.