Two PhD students from the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Belsy Wai Tung Yuen and Edwin Chi Yan Tso, have been awarded the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowships 2013/14 (for Postgraduate Research Students).

Belsy’s research uses nonlinear acoustics as the material and energy efficient air filtration technique. She is deeply interested in improving living standards for residents in urban areas, focusing on enhancing air quality. Prior to her studies at HKUST, she completed her bachelor’s (BEng with first class honors) and master (MSc) degrees at the University of Bristol, UK. Her master thesis had led to the publication of a journal paper. Since joining HKUST, Belsy has published/submitted 3 conference and journal papers. Outside of her academic studies, Belsy is a keen sportswoman and she has participated and won numerous competitions in both rowing and rugby.

Edwin’s research interest lies in the engineering of thermal fluid, particularly, in the fields of sustainable environment, heat transfer, adsorption technology, nanofluids and energy related issues using numerical simulations as well as advanced experimental techniques. Before pursuing his PhD studies, he received a bachelor’s (BEng with first class honors) and MPhil degrees at HKUST. He has published 4 high quality papers in international journals. Besides, he has published 9 conference papers, 1 US patent (pending) and 3 Chinese patents (1 pending, 2 apply in progress). Apart from that, he has been awarded numerous prestigious awards, including Fulbright-RGC HK Research Scholar Award, Hong Kong PhD Fellowship and Ove Arup Research Prize Awards, to name but a few.

Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowships 2013/14 (for Postgraduate Research Students) is a very prestigious award. Awardees of the fellowships have to go through the nomination process of their own institutions and the interview session conducted by the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund Council. In 2013/14, there are only 10 awardees in Hong Kong, with 3 of them from HKUST, including 2 from School of Engineering.

Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowships (for Postgraduate Research Students) aim at encouraging and assisting full-time students pursuing postgraduate studies by research. Each successful candidate will receive a one-off grant of HK$30,000 and the awards presentation ceremony will be held on 23 March 2014.