IN FOCUS 6 CUS 6 The satisfaction in inventing a product is beyond words. Edwin Chi Yan Tso Hong Kong PhD, Mechanical Engineering Research areas: composite adsorbents, nanofluids Jan Vosecky Czech Republic PhD, Computer Science and Engineering Research area: information retrieval in social media My story is still ongoing but thinking about my life today, I am proud to have followed my heart in pursuing my interest in research rather than looking for a job just to earn a high salary. When still a secondary student, I loved building experimental unmanned machines and through this developed a deep interest in engineering, particularly Mechanical Engineering. When it came to university choices, the Mechanical Engineering bachelor program at HKUST had an excellent reputation and top international ranking, making it the first choice on my list. After graduating with first class honors, I became an engineering trainee, but missed hands-on work and the challenge of discovery. So after thinking hard about my future, I decided to resign. In 2010, I became an MPhil student in Prof Christopher Chao’s research team at HKUST and started to develop a composite adsorbent for adsorption cooling systems. This seemed meaningful as refrigerants and compressors could be dispensed with in such cooling systems, generating cost savings of around 30% and helping to make our planet greener. The research won several awards, including the HKUST One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition, a businessoriented contest that also taught me more about commercializing technology. The satisfaction in inventing a new product is immense, a feeling beyond words. So I decided to push my research one step further. I undertook my PhD at HKUST due to the University’s ongoing development and supportive learning environment, and the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme. Staying with Prof Chao’s group, my focus moved to nanofluids and I have now successfully established a nanofluid that can be used as an adsorbate in adsorption cooling systems. This has been really exciting as nobody has previously discovered that a nanofluid could be used in this way, and my new technology should make a huge contribution to society. I still have plenty of dreams: to go on exchange to a top US university; to become a faculty member; and to use my knowledge to improve living standards in Hong Kong. But I definitely feel to be on my way. Here’s hoping all of you can follow your dreams too! both the buzzing cosmopolitan city and breathtaking countryside at hand. Such a combination is rare to find in the UK. After completing my Master’s degree, I really wanted to return to Hong Kong to pursue a PhD in Computer Science and Engineering and was fortunate to be supported in this ambition by becoming a Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme awardee. With HKUST’s wonderful location, world-class reputation and my contacts among the faculty, the School of Engineering was a natural choice. My PhD concerns the increasingly highprofile area of information retrieval, with a focus on social media. Given the huge and often overwhelming amount of material produced daily, the goal is to improve the way a user can find high-quality and interesting social content. I am also working on methods to extract global insights from social data, for example, summarizing the main topics being discussed in microblogs. Such research is highly enjoyable, enabling me to study how technology influences the way we communicate. Another great aspect of research student life here is the opportunity to get involved in many contrasting activities. As a member of the Professional Development Committee for research postgraduate students, I can help to shape events and professional workshops. Then in my free time, I can chill out by playing lead guitar in our PhD student band. Here there is the opportunity to get involved in contrasting activities. As a teenager, I was really interested in Eastern philosophy and Chinese tea culture and always wanted to visit Asia. But it was only in 2008, at the age of 22, a chance opened up through the HKUST exchange program. As a student on a four-year integrated Master’s program in Computer Science at the University of Warwick in the UK, I was able to spend the whole of my third year at HKUST. This proved a real eye-opener, in terms of different approaches and viewpoints, both academically and socially. It also set my future direction. During my exchange, I worked on a research-oriented final year project where the core theory concerned analysis and integration of social networks. The project inspired me to take up a summer internship at HKUST after my exchange had finished. Living in lively Hong Kong was another amazing experience, with Jan
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