Prof. Andrew HORNER Claimed Top Prize and Prof. Hnin Yin Yin NYEIN Won Honorable Mention

Demonstrating the teaching excellence of the School of Engineering’s faculty members, Prof. Andrew HORNER is named the winner of the University-wide Common Core Teaching Excellence Award 2025 while Prof. Hnin Yin Yin NYEIN is the Honorary Mention awardee. In addition, three engineering students—CHEUNG Man-Ching, LAM Chak-Hin and WONG Cheuk-Hei—are among the seven awardees across HKUST to receive the Common Core Student Recognition Award 2025. All awards were presented at the Common Core Awards Presentation Ceremony on May 15, 2026.

The Common Core Teaching Excellence Award is established to recognize outstanding common core course instructors who have made substantial contributions to the design and/or the teaching of exemplary common core courses, and to promote these courses to the students in the University community. The Common Core Student Recognition Award, now in its second year, aims to honor students’ outstanding achievements in common core studies. It acknowledges their growth and learning experiences in their learning portfolios, highlighting their success in meeting the goals of the common core Program.

Recipients of 2025 Common Core Awards in the School of Engineering:

Common Core Teaching Excellence Award

Prof. Andrew Horner
Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Course Taught: COMP 1943 Creative Sound and Video Design

Through an immersive, experiential approach to creative media production, Prof. Horner delights in unleashing students’ creativity by immersion in the realm of music videos and trailers. In COMP 1943, students remix, recut, and leverage effects, serving as sound designers, editors, and directors and productively incorporating GenAI to maximize the “wow factor” in a spellbinding and transformative learning adventure.

Previously, Prof. Horner received an Honorary Mention for the same course in the Common Core Teaching Excellence Award 2020.

Honorary Mention

Prof. Hnin Yin Yin Nyein
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Course Taught: CENG 1500 A First Course on Materials Science and Applications

In her inspiring course CENG 1500, Prof. Nyein admirably addresses the challenge of making materials science engaging and accessible. She captivates learners through her dynamic teaching philosophy, which seeks to relate theory to lived experience, enabling each student to recognize material principles not by memorization but connections with everyday technology and their own fields of future work.

Common Core Student Recognition Award

Cheung Man-Ching
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Year 4

Lam Chak-Hin
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Year 2

Wong Cheuk-Hei
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Year 3