University Review
Eminent achievers
Widely recognised academic and research excellence
Professor Christy Cheung (Department of Finance and Decision Sciences) was conferred the title of RGC Senior Research Fellow by the Research Grants Council (RGC). Six other HKBU researchers were also recognised by various University Grants Committee (UGC) and RGC funding schemes, including Professor John Erni (Department of Humanities and Creative Writing), Dr Huang Xin (Department of Computer Science), Dr Kang Weirong (School of Chinese Medicine), Dr Kenny Ng (Academy of Film), Dr Rashmi Supriya (Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health) and Dr Zhu Yujiao (Department of Chemistry).
A team headed by Professor Lyu Aiping (School of Chinese Medicine) was presented with the first prize of the 2020 National Award for Outstanding Contribution to Innovation in Standardisation by the State Administration for Market Regulation. They were recognised for having established six international and three national standards pertaining to the coding system and rules for Chinese medicines, Chinese medicinal formulae and Chinese medicines in supply chain management. Another project led by Professor Lyu, titled "Aptamer: Molecular Insight & Translational Theranostics", has been awarded a grant of HK$50 million from the Theme-based Research Scheme 2020/21 of the RGC to develop novel strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer.
A research project led by Professor Gary Wong (Department of Chemistry) won a second-class award in the Natural Sciences category at the Ministry of Education's Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards 2020 (Science and Technology). The project is titled "The design, fundamental research and biological applications of fluorescent small molecules".
Professor Ekkehard Altenburger (Academy of Visual Arts) was chosen as the winner of the sixth e-Learning Excellence Awards at the "European Conference on e-Learning 2020" in recognition of his creative e-learning initiative "Lab/Skill based learning under COVID-19".
The School of Business has been reaccredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) for the maximum five-year term. It is currently the only school in Hong Kong to hold the triple accreditation from the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS), AACSB and The Association of MBAs (AMBA). The full AACSB reaccreditation process evaluated the School against a range of rigorous quality assurance standards, and it demonstrated the School's excellence and innovation in all areas.
Outstanding performance in the arts and sciences
Four HKBU scholars and alumni were recognised at the 15th Hong Kong Arts Development Awards. Dr Chu Siu-cheung (Language Centre) was named Artist of the Year (Arts Criticism); Dr Austin Yip (Department of Music) received the Award for Young Artist (Music); Dr Lau Wai-shing (Department of Humanities and Creative Writing) was named Artist of the Year (Literary Arts); while graduate Norris Wong (Academy of Film) clinched the Award for Young Artist (Film).
Two graduates of the Academy of Film's Animation and Media Arts concentration scooped awards at "Art Exchange 2020: 'Imagine' Artistic Dialects: Thinking into Doing", an art exhibition and competition in Thailand. Ho Kam-san won the top prize in the student category with his multimedia project The Forgotten Childhood, while Leung Wing-yan secured the third prize in the same category for her 2D short animation Last Wish.
Alumnus Kargo Chen, a 2019 graduate of the Academy of Film, garnered eight awards with his honours project CHEN CHEN at eight international and local film festivals. The awards include Best International Short Film at the San Diego International Film Festival in the US; Best Student Director at the Sapporo International Short Film Festival & Market in Japan; and Best Narrative Short Film at the New Era Film Festival in mainland China. Another 2019 graduate, Wong Wing-fung, received the Best Director award in the Asian Short Film Competition at the Shanghai Queer Film Festival with his work I Love You, Sorry, Thank You, Please Forgive Me.
Stoma, a new film by Mr Kit Hung (Academy of Film), was shortlisted for a Firebird Award in the Young Cinema Competition (Chinese Language) category of the 44th Hong Kong International Film Festival. Two alumni, Yip Yuk-ying and Sophie Yang, were selected as the joint winners of the Higher Education Institution Group of the 6th First Feature Film Initiative (FFFI) with their film proposals titled The Wonder and Gamer Girls, respectively.
Three graduates of the Academy of Visual Arts won awards at the "Fresh Trend 2020 Art Graduates Joint Exhibition" organised by the Hong Kong Art Network. Maggie Wong Mei-ki won the Karin Weber Award for her mixed-media installation Decision Laboratory, Yeung Tsz-king's ceramic installation The Sea won the Affordable Art Award, and Tam Man-ho's mixed-media installation Brave Monument won the Fresh Trend Art Award 2020.
A student team from the School of Communication and Film won the first prize in the Third Communication Data Mining Competition by creating machine learning algorithms that can identify suspicious "social bots". The team members are Hu Wenli, Luo Yifeng, Fu Ziru, Shi Xinrui and Liang Zixin.
Notable alumni
The seventh annual Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to Mr Albert Au Sui-keung (Department of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist College), Dr Cathy Lui Nga-ping (Department of Biology), Mr Louis Yan Chak-kuen (Division of Business, HKBU College of International Education) and Mr William Yeung Chu-kwong (Department of History) in recognition of their outstanding business, professional and scholarly achievements, as well as their service and contributions to the University and society. The Award also aims to motivate current students to learn from the awardees' valuable experience and success.