students to interact with the community and analyze
social problems. Examples included a stakeholder
analysis on the Baroque on Lamma development
project, providing recommendations on environmental
sustainability to the developer, and a project on the
revitalization of a fresh food market in Sha Tin, involving
student-organized focus group meetings with Sha Tin
residents and submission of a proposal to The Link REIT
for follow-up investigation. Students also looked into
food waste problems of supermarkets.
In projects with companies, Risk Management and
Business Intelligence Program students developed
prototypes for financial risk management systems, audit
risk identification systems, and social media market
analysis systems. Dual Degree Program in Technology
and Management students designed innovative
promotional strategies for portable speakers in a project
sponsored by HARMAN.
HARNESSING THE POWER OF
MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
The Air Quality Research Supersite facility completed
its real-time measurements and physical and chemical
characterization of particulate matters (PM) and volatile
organic compounds (VOC) at HKUST and at Mong Kok
Environmental Protection Department station. The team
subsequently used the data for advanced air quality
modeling and source apportionments. The Supersite
team also helped develop the Air Quality Health Index,
in collaboration with The Chinese University of Hong
Kong. The index replaced the Air Pollution Index at the
end of 2013.
Cross-institutional collaborations included a project
for cardiac cell sensing and drug screening with
electrochemical transistor array, led by Division of
Biomedical Engineering faculty and colleagues from the
University of Hong Kong.
CROSS-CULTURAL LEARNING
For the eighth year, the Dual Degree Program and the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign co-organized
the Technology and Management International
Business Plan Competition in Germany. The two-
week study trip brought together students from the
organizing universities along with students from the
University of Bayreuth and the University of São Paulo.
The students competed in a challenging case study on
“Emerging Technology of Sustainable Vehicles for the
Local Economy and Ecosystem”.
The Division of Environment co-organized the Global
Citizenship Program with Taipei University, Xi’an
Jiaotong University and Yulin College in summer 2014
after a pilot run in 2013. Over 65 students from the
partner institutions traveled to Hong Kong, Taipei, Xi’an
and Yulin to attend lectures and site visits, and work in
teams to develop a sustainable development plan for
the city of Xi’an.
As a coherent unit, IPO will continue to promote a
vibrant, collaborative and interdisciplinary culture and
strive to serve the community, both locally and globally,
to achieve “Excellence for Public”.
35
HKUST 2013-2014 Annual Report
