Katie Yee Ki

“Tomorrow, the weather will be 23 °C to 28 °C. Mainly cloudy. Sunny intervals during the day.” I believe most of us have heard this, as it always appears in weather forecasting. Before leaving home, we must check the weather and know what to wear or an umbrella in the rainy season. But how? How does the Hong Kong Observatory know the exact weather? Why does the Observatory have a high satisfactory level? These questions are always in my mind.

Some people might think that you can copy the data from a google search and find the future prediction by pasting the data into an excel and plotting graphs. Although I tried this in weather forecasting, this was the cutest but most ignorant way to make the prediction. Due to a lack ofe techniques with data analytics, we might randomly get the “correct” weather forecasting for the next day but the insight might be missing. After studying physics, information and communication technology in high school, I understood more about the importance of data and mathematical models which made me seek a deeper understanding of the data science field and use data to get insight.

HKUST provides a Data Science and Technology program with a combination of computer science and mathematics, which allows students to get insight from data analysis. Using mathematical modeling and programming skills, we can use machine learning to analyze the trend from the data and provide more accurate predictive information. Apart from the knowledge taught in lessons, HKUST also values the application of the knowledge. Final year projects, capstone projects, and the student team give us the opportunities to apply the knowledge in real-life problems.

I can’t wait to see you in HKUST and study engineering together!