HKUST Annual Report 2017-18

35 MAINLAND OPPORTUNITIES Building Academic Links HKUST and Peking University jointly initiated the Beijing-Hong Kong Universities Alliance. The Alliance was launched at a ceremony in April 2018. Over 80 guests attended, including Minister CHEN Baosheng, Ministry of Education, Prof. TAN Tieniu, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR, Dr. LIU Yuhui, Director-General of Beijing Municipal Education Commission, and Mr. Kevin YEUNG, Secretary for Education of the HKSAR, together with members of the alliance. The Vice President for Institutional Advancement was invited to attend the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2018 cum Asian Universities Alliance Summit 2018 in Hainan. In addition, HKUST students participated in workshops and summer programs hosted by Nazarbayev University and University of Malaya, Chulalongkorn University, Universitas Indonesia, and Seoul National University. HKUST, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Beijing-Hong Kong Academic Exchange Center jointly organized their annual forum and workshops to foster sharing of experience and research collaboration between Mainland and Hong Kong scientists. The “2017 International Symposium on Genomics and Regenerative Medicine” was held at HKUST by the Department of Life Science. The symposium covered genomics, stem cells, and regeneration, among other topics. Over 100 faculty and students joined the event, during which they discussed their research findings and insights with Mainland and local scholars. Nearly 600 faculty and students took part in cultural exchanges, community service, and academic programs through a collaborative scheme administered by the Ministry of Education. With the support of the Mingxi Charity Foundation and Hong Kong Beijing Association, 20 students from Tsinghua University visited HKUST for a six-day program as part of the on-going strengthening of cultural links between the two cities. The University hosted nearly 140 high-level Mainland delegations in 2017-18, involving more than 1,200 delegates from industry, government and academia. Among those visiting were: Prof. HUANG Wei, Vice Minister of Science and Technology; Mr. HUANG Liuquan, Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council; Prof. ZHONG Zhihua, President of Tongji University, Prof. ZHONG Denghua, President of Tianjin University, Prof. ZHANG Jie, Party Secretary, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Prof. LIN Jinhua, President of Peking University, and Prof. LIN Zhongqin, President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The delegations shared the latest developments in higher education in the Mainland and explored further collaboration with HKUST. Senior management and faculty were also invited to discuss how the University could contribute to the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Lok Ma Chau Loop Innovation and Technology. Industry Interaction HKUST extended its interaction with major Mainland enterprises through the development of research collaborations, job placements, student internships, and executive training opportunities. Two joint research laboratories on artificial intelligence and computer vision, and smart transportation systems, were established in December 2017 and April 2018 with Face++ and Didi Chuxing respectively. The University also entered discussions with Cisco on collaboration and various projects in Mainland China.