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HKUST 2015-2016 Annual Report
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total funding of $1.4 million. Technologies included medical
devices, environmental technology, and a high-throughput
screening system.
The HKUST-MIT Research Alliance Consortium also
received 11 new proposals from local universities and
MIT. The Consortium aims to build R&D collaboration
between world-class universities and technology
companies through industry-driven pre-competitive
research. Clusters currently focus on data science and
e-learning, internet-of-things for intelligent buildings
and transportation. Three highly recommended
proposals were submitted to the Innovation and
Technology Commission.
As of 30 June 2016, HKUST R and D Corporation
was managing a total of 64 active patent and software
licensing agreements generating $2.7 million. By June
2016, 23 Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
developed by HKUST were available on major global
platforms Coursera and edX through licensing
arrangements and over 750,000 learners had registered
for HKUST MOOCs. Through this and other copyright
licensing, MOOC courseware contributed $2.2 million.
ENERGIZING ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The HKUST Entrepreneurship Program, which assists
faculty, students and alumni in establishing technology-
related start-ups, has 35 active companies, with the
latest 10 at work in campus incubation premises and
the other 25 graduating and relocating to external
premises. In addition, start-ups are now being housed
at HKUST Fok Ying Tung Research Institute in Nansha,
Guangzhou, with two companies admitted to the
Entrepreneurship Program and stationed there. The
Shenzhen Research Institute has hosted 15 start-ups
related to HKUST.
The Technology Start-up Support Scheme for
Universities (TSSSU) was launched by the Innovation and
Technology Commission in 2014-15. HKUST students’
and alumni’s growing enthusiasm for entrepreneurial
ventures was indicated by the large number of TSSSU
applications for 2015-16, with 50 applications received
in January 2016. The vetting committee recommended
10 fundable start-ups, bringing the total number of
HKUST-related start-ups to 21.
Business initiative is being encouraged from students’
earliest days on campus, through endeavors such
as the student-centric BASE facility and round-the-
clock Engineering Experiential Learning Lab. A Build
Your Own Business seminar series was organized
throughout the year, and an Entrepreneurship Week
held in the Fall and Spring semesters, featuring talks
and start-up displays. The University’s One-Million
Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition 2016 in Hong
Kong added to the vibrant atmosphere, with 100
teams, mostly from the HKUST community, taking part
and the concept expanded to four regional contests
in other cities in China and a Grand Final competition.
An Innovation & Entrepreneurship Training Camp
in July 2015, provided practical knowledge on moving
business ideas into fundable business plans and
drew participants from Hong Kong, China, Russia,
Taiwan and Macau.
STRENGTHENING INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS
Alongside efforts to embed an entrepreneurial culture
at HKUST and beyond, significant partnerships with
major national and international companies were
formed in 2015-16. Such ventures demonstrate the
University’s contribution to social and economic
development and show the relevance and esteem
attached to HKUST research.
In Mainland collaborations, the year brought the
opening of the WeChat-HKUST Joint Laboratory on
Artificial Intelligence Technology (WHAT LAB) to take
forward intelligent robotic systems, natural language
processing and speech recognition and understanding,
among other areas, and an agreement with Mainland
integrated IT services giant Digital China to foster
smart city development. The Advanced Aircraft Noise
Technology Center was established with the Aviation
Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) to drive forward
world-class research in the area of low-noise technology,
operation and perceptions. Over the year, HKUST
continued to work on multiple joint projects with
civilian drone world leader DJI, a company with deep
connections to the University. DJI is also collaborating
with the University on license and IP protection for
research and development related to multi-sensor
image and inertia sensing for unmanned aerial vehicle
(UAV) positioning. Meanwhile, the University’s new
Robotics Institute set upan Industrial PartnershipProgram
to build cooperative projects, technology transfer and
entrepreneurship with more companies.
Large-scale co-operative ventures supported by
the Innovation and Technology Fund saw French
company Thales, a global technology leader in
aerospace, transport, defense and security, team up
with HKUST to develop a big data platform to explore
smart transportation applications while Gammon
Construction Ltd and the Hong Kong Geotechnical
Engineering Office worked with University researchers
on another big data project centered on real-time
landslide monitoring and an early warning system.
MSc students in the School of Engineering benefited
from the on-going Ford-HKUST Conservation and
Environmental Research Grants program, established
with Ford Motor Company. Twenty recipients gained
funding support for innovative green technology and
transportation research projects in 2015-16. A similar
partnership is underway with Mainland enterprise
TCL Corporation in 5G wireless technology, internet
services and big data.
In addition, HKUST faculty members and researchers
offered research and consultancy services to the private
sector in biotechnology, traditional Chinese medicine,
advanced materials, information technology, wireless
communication, civil and geotechnical engineering,
aerospace engineering and environmental science. There
were 148 contract research cases worth $69.1 million
in 2015-16 and 24 consultancy projects totaling $6.9
million. Analytical and testing services using University
facilities were made available to companies, with 475 jobs
undertaken and total earnings of $3 million.
BOOSTING IDEA EXCHANGE
To widen the spirit of enterprise and initiative in all
its forms within the wider community, the University
propelled forward numerous events and initiatives,
covering a spectrum of fields from hosting the Asian
Physics Olympiad in Hong Kong for the first time
to spurring artistic creativity through a Chinese creative
writing program and the world-renowned “Intimacy
of Creativity” composer workshops and concerts.
Executive education helped keep managers and
executives up to date with the latest business thinking
through a number of open and company programs
that attracted more than 1,500 participants in total.
In the Tanoto Center for Asian Family Business and
Entrepreneurship Studies’ inaugural open program,
the focus was succession issues for ethnic Chinese
family businesses. Sixteen founders and next-
generation members of family businesses in Hong
Kong, Mainland China, Malaysia, and South Korea
attended the bilingual course.
University academic forums and conferences included
the ASPIRE Forum, featuring a symposium on “Smart
Green Cities” and a one-week student workshop
on innovation and entrepreneurship, and the
NSFC-HKUST Joint Workshop on Engineering and
Sustainable Development with the National Natural
Science Foundation of China and Beijing-Hong Kong
Academic Exchange Center.
To generate further discussion and interaction with
peers globally, the Office of the Vice-President
for Research and Graduate Studies published
RESEARCH@HKUST, the first in a series of publications
showcasing the University’s research excellence.
