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.
Born in Hong Kong in 1917, Sir Sze-yuen graduated with a First Class Honours Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering from the University of Hong Kong in 1941 and a Doctorate in Engineering from the University of Sheffield in 1948. He was named an Honorary Doctor of Engineering by PolyU in 1989.
In 1953, Sir Sze-yuen started his engineering consultancy business and co-founded V K Song Ltd. The company was later renamed Sonca Industries and became the world’s biggest flashlight manufacturer.
Sir Sze-yuen had devoted his life to the welfare of Hong Kong. His active involvement in public services spanned over four decades. He was a Legislative Council Member, then an Executive Council Member, and he served as a Senior Unofficial Member of the Executive Council from 1980 to 1988. He came out of retirement to helm the formation of the Hospital Authority in 1990. He was appointed to different roles in preparation for the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 1997.
Equally devoted to the development of higher education, Sir Sze-yuen played a pivotal role in the establishment of the then Hong Kong Polytechnic in 1972, and was the Founding Council Chairman from 1972 to 1986. 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. 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 his staunch contribution to PolyU, the fund was used to set up two Endowed Professorships, in Precision Engineering and Renewable Energy, respectively.
Appointee
Professor Li Gang
Professor Li Gang is the Chair Professor of Energy Conversion Technology in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at PolyU. He earned his BSc degree in Space Physics from Wuhan University in 1994, and his PhD degree in Condensed Matter Physics from Iowa State University, U.S., in 2003. A pioneer in the field of organic polymer photovoltaic (OPV) technology, he has made seminal contributions to device physics, device architecture, materials development, and the printing technology of OPV. Currently, he takes interest in research on organic polymer and hybrid perovskite advanced materials, devices and physics for solar cell applications, and flexible and printable electronics.
Having published more than 260 papers in world-renowned peer-reviewed journals, including Nature Materials, Nature Photonics, Science, Nature Review Materials, Chemical Reviews, and Nature Communications, Professor Li has also edited one book and contributed to seven book chapters. His research output on printable solar energy has earned him global recognition from numerous prestigious professional bodies, and he was named one of the Highly Cited Researchers by Thomson Reuters (now Clarivate Analytics) continuously from 2014 to 2023. His papers have been quoted more than 80,000 times. He has also been awarded fellowships by The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) UK and The International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE), and Optica.
Professor Li is equally well-versed in academic research and business operation. His experience as a research professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, proved instrumental to his endeavours before he joined PolyU in 2016. As the Vice President of the California-based start-up Solarmer Energy Inc., he turned the new venture into a world leader in solar energy, breaking several world records.
