HKUST Celebrated 25th Anniversary in San Francisco
HKUST organized a highly-successful global alumni reunion in San Francisco on February 13, 2016, drawing over 150 alumni, friends, faculty and students to an inspiring seminar followed by an enjoyable dinner. The event was co-organized by the School of Engineering (SENG), with 70% of the participating alumni from engineering.
HKUST President Prof Tony F Chan kick-started the seminar with his opening remarks. He shared the latest developments of HKUST, including unique learning experiences such as tri-modal education, MOOCs and blended learning, new facilities such as the Water Sports Center, as well as the University’s continued rise in international rankings.
This was followed by an introduction by Prof Tim Cheng, Dean of Engineering Designate, updating the audience on SENG’s success stories, in particular the School’s milestones in the past five years.
A special speech was made by Dr Christopher Nguyen, Co-founder and CEO of Arimo on the topic of “Innovation: Silicon Valley vs China – What It Means for HKUST”.
The main part of the seminar, themed “The Role of HKUST in the East and West”, featured three well-received presentations. “Breaking New Ground: Aviation Education and Research at HKUST” by Prof Christopher Chao, Head and Chair Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; “Artificial Intelligence Meets Data Science at HKUST” by Prof Qiang Yang, New Bright Professor of Engineering and Head & Chair Professor of Computer Science and Engineering; and “Leading the Way for a New Robotic Industry in China” by Prof Zexiang Li, Electronic and Computer Engineering.The event concluded with a delightful dinner, during which three HKUST alumni gave a sharing and congratulated HKUST on its silver jubilee. Two of them were from SENG – Dr Junfeng Pan, 2008 PhD in Computer Science, and Mr Harry Kai Keung Chan, 1995 BEng in Electronic Engineering and 1997 MPhil in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Vice-President for Institutional Advancement Dr Eden Y Woon delivered a closing remark at the end of the dinner.
Guests who attended the gathering included Mr Bill Coughran, Partner of Sequoia Capital, Prof Cindy Fan, Vice Provost for International Studies and Global Engagement, University of California, Los Angeles, Prof Alecia A DeCoudreaux, President of Mills College, Prof Alec Scranton, Dean of the College of Engineering, University of Iowa, Prof Mos Kaveh, Associate Dean for Research and Planning, University of Minnesota, and Prof Hsiu-Zu Ho, Associate Dean of the University of California Education Abroad Program.
In addition to Dr Christopher Nguyen, one of the seminar speakers and a former SENG faculty, there were a number of engineering ex-faculty members joining us. They were Drs Emily Au, Aaron Buchwald, Paul Chang, Yang Leng, Curtis Ling and K C Smith. The reunion provided a valuable opportunity for former and current faculty, alumni and students to catch up, share experiences and strengthen ties.
The celebration in San Francisco is one of the four worldwide gatherings held by the University to share its 25th birthday with alumni and friends in different parts of the world. The inaugural one was successfully held in London in Nov 2015, with upcoming ones in Beijing, Singapore, and the grand Gala Banquet will be held in Hong Kong on June 19, 2016.
The School also made use of the opportunity to visit alumni who are working or studying in San Francisco. These included visiting 16 alumni at Google Inc, five at Apple Inc, one each at Facebook and University of California, San Francisco, and two who are pursuing PhD at Stanford. They showed gratefulness to HKUST for offering them fruitful learning experiences and a multi-cultural environment while reminisced about the old days in such a stunning campus.
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