School of Engineering (SENG) faculty members and their innovative research drew global attention at the prestigious World Economic Forum annual conference in Davos, Switzerland, in January. Led by HKUST President Prof Tony Chan, four of the School’s academics hosted an IdeasLab, a unique Forum format in which the world’s leading minds present ideas to change lives for the better. HKUST was the only university from Asia to be part of the IdeasLab series at this year’s conference. The six other universities were Oxford, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon. At the HKUST IdeasLab, the SENG academics shared their insights on the integration of the physical and cyber worlds and the impact on society. Dean of Engineering Prof Khaled Ben Letaief discussed the game-changing effect of 5G technology and Head of Computer Science and Engineering and New Bright Professor of Engineering Prof Qiang Yang looked at the new environment being ushered in by big data and artificial intelligence. Human-machine communications expert Prof Pascale Fung, Electronic and Computer Engineering, spoke on the development of empathetic robots and Prof Pedro Sander, Computer Science and Engineering, examined advances in capturing and rendering images to provide a more detailed visual record of the world. Prof Fung also co-hosted a lively dinner discussion on “Evolution of Human Knowledge in the 21st Century”, where politicians, business leaders, artists and writers debated how machines could be taught language and arts appreciation. Among the 2,500 global leaders attending the World Economic Forum were China’s Premier Li Keqiang and US Secretary of State John Kerry, Alibaba’s Jack Ma and Microsoft’s Bill Gates. The School of Engineering received further recognition of its worldclass standing when HKUST was ranked first in Greater China and 21st globally in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings of Top 100 Universities for Engineering and Technology 2014-15. It marks the fourth year in a row that HKUST has garnered the No. 1 spot in engineering and technology in Greater China. The rankings are based on teaching, research, citations, industry income and international outlook. Dean of Engineering Prof Khaled Ben Letaief said he was delighted with the result, which was a testament to the School’s strong belief in academic excellence and the global impact of its distinguished faculty and graduates. “We will continue to bring together the best researchers across disciplines,” he said, “to accelerate the transformation of discoveries into innovative technologies and solutions.” In the QS World University Rankings by Faculty 2014 – Engineering and Technology, released earlier, HKUST was ranked No. 15, its highest position yet in these tables. It jumped four places from No. 19 in 2013, and was placed No. 1 in Hong Kong for the fifth straight year. The University’s graduates also continued to show the strength of their appeal to employers. In the high-profile annual Global Employability University Survey and Ranking, HKUST rose to No. 16 in the world, up two places from the previous year. The University remained No. 1 in Greater China. The survey is conducted by Emerging, a French human resources consultancy, and Trendence, a leading German research institute. It covered 4,500 recruiters and executives from 20 countries and regions, including the US, Europe, and Asia, with over half from the leading 1,000 companies. * No. 1 in Greater China ^ No. 1 in Hong Kong SENG Faculty Look to the Future at World Economic Forum Rankings Add to HKUST’s Global Presence Times Higher Education World University Rankings of Top 100 Universities for Engineering and Technology 2014-15 No. 21* QS World University Rankings by Faculty 2014 – Engineering and Technology No. 15^ Global Employability University Survey and Ranking 2014 No. 16* In Focus 2
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