HKUST Professor Won the UGC Teaching Award 2015
Prof Kam-Tim Woo, Associate Professor of the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), received the 2015 University Grants Committee (UGC) Teaching Award today in recognition of his outstanding teaching performance and achievements.
HKUST President Prof Tony F Chan congratulated Prof Woo on winning the award, ‘HKUST strives to achieve education and research excellence and we have many innovative and dedicated faculty members. It is very encouraging that our faculty member has been honored with the Award. It is an evidence of the University’s commitment in enhancing teaching and learning I am glad that Prof Woo has won the Award.’
Prof Woo said he was grateful for the recognition from the UGC. “This is a very special moment for me. The award recognizes my aspiration in cultivating student holistic development through experiential learning platform. ”
Prof Woo joined HKUST in 1997. He is the founding Director of the Center for Global & Community Engagement and the supervisor of HKUST Robotics team. He has been an innovator and leader in the development of students through project-work embedded in courses. He established a major program for experiential learning through robotics team competitions, a program that has touched scores of students year-after-year. Prof Woo’s courses have been welcomed by students, and he won the School of Engineering’s Teaching Excellence Appreciation Award in 2009.
Prof Woo encourages and mentors students to join various competitions, e.g. Robotics Competitions, Engineering Design Competitions and Business Plan Competitions, among others. Students have gained 115 prizes and awards for their work since 2007 under his supervision. He has had a tremendous impact on his own students and has been a major force for educational developments in the School of Engineering.
Most recently Prof Woo has drawn students and colleagues into community service, developing advanced applications to assist the hearing-impaired and partially sighted. This service to the community has been the vehicle for students’ achievement of a range of critical, career-relevant skills.
The UGC Teaching Award was launched in 2011 to honour academics in the UGC-funded institutions for their outstanding teaching performance and achievements, as well as their leadership and scholarly contribution to teaching and learning within and across institutions.
For more information about the UGC Teaching Award, please visit
http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201509/09/P201509090867.htm.