The School of Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) today presented prizes to the winners in its first-ever photography contest entitled "Engineered Life in Your Eyes".

The contest drew enthusiastic response with a total of 775 entries received. The judging panel finally selected 46 winning photos.

The contest, which ran from 20 May to 2 June 2010 on the Engineering School's Facebook page, aims to raise students' awareness on the close association between engineering and their daily lives. The contest has two categories: Tertiary Institutions and Secondary Schools. In the tertiary category a total 390 photos were received from 164 contestants and in the secondary category 385 photos were submitted by 215 contestants.

Prof Charles Ng, Associate Dean of Engineering, said at the prize giving ceremony, "The contest is a great success. The entries show that the photographers have all exercised their creativity and imagination in depicting the great works of the engineers."

The photos cover a variety of engineering elements ranging from skyscrapers, tower cranes and building structures to LED lighting, network cables and even spider web - a formidable building feat in the world of insects.

All the submitted photos went through the first round of judging through online polling on Facebook. As many as 7,238 votes were recorded in the Tertiary category and 5,139 votes in the Secondary category. Final judging was done by a judging panel comprising Ir Dr Andrew Chan Ka-Ching, President of The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers; Mr Ng Sui-Kou, Vice Chairman of Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools, and Mr Bobby Yip, former President of Hong Kong Press Photographers Association.

The champion of each category took home the hi-tech gadget iPad, the first runners-up received a digital camera, and the second runners-up got a 500GB external hard disc.

Ir Dr Andrew Chan, one of the judges, said the photos were of high standard. "I am happy to see that the students are able to explore the engineering elements in their daily lives and demonstrate them vividly through their cameras," he added.

Another judge Mr Ng Sui-Kou said: "From the photos, I can see that the students had thought about the components of a good photo, like the reflection of the engineering theme, the technical skills, the angles and the aesthetic value."

Results: 

* English translation