HKUST Annual Report 2017-18

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 7 - 1 8 47 HKUST ACROSS BORDERS AND BOUNDARIES The Interdisciplinary Programs Office (IPO) is always keen to break traditional boundaries to broaden students’ perspectives and opportunities. This enterprising outlook led to the signing of an exchange agreement with Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany, the first European university to develop a program similar to IPO’s Individualized Interdisciplinary Major, in which selected students together with faculty advisors can design their own degree curricula. Working with Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany and Rochester Institute of Technology, US, IPO is now planning to establish a tripartite program for students keen to create their own major across borders. The Division of Public Policy, established the previous year, launched the first interdisciplinary two-year full-time Master of Public Policy program in Hong Kong, using real-world cases to provide professional training in the development, analysis, and evaluation of public policy interventions on a range of social issues. The Division of Environment and Sustainability took the lead in establishing the Sustainability Education Advisory Group under the HKUST 2020 Sustainability Challenge to evaluate coverage of sustainability education across all curricula and advise on strategies to bring sustainability ideas into students’ learning, including the launch of a School- Sponsored Common Core Course, “Introduction to Sustainability”, in Fall 2018. IPO’s undergraduate programs sought to provide more pragmatic knowledge in addition to theory-based lectures. The Risk Management and Business Intelligence program invited a senior partner from a private investment firm to deliver a course involving case studies and practical issues in risk management to equip students with up-to-date industry knowledge and the latest market developments. The Dual Degree Program in Technology and Management provided a case study analysis course to develop students’ problem-solving skills and design thinking methodology to improve product design concepts. The summer program “How to Change the World”, was jointly organized with University College London. Students from the UK institution formed multidisciplinary teams with local students to offer a creative, technically robust solution to a specific societal challenge. ENTREPRENEURIAL EXCELLENCE A Year 3 Environmental Management and Technology student founded a start-up focused on sensor networks, logistics blockchain, and organic agriculture to alleviate poverty in rural China, together with engineering and business students. The start-up signed an advisory contract with a Stanford alumni fund investor from Silicon Valley, US. A Year 4 Risk Management and Business Intelligence student won the Exhibition and Student Team awards at the HKUST-Sino One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition 2018. The project proposed a self-help app based on meditation, hypnosis, and psychotherapy to release stress, improve quality of sleep, boost concentration, and improve mental health. RESEARCH IMPACT ON DAILY LIFE Walkability is now a policy priority in Hong Kong and a core element for smart city development. An expert multidisciplinary team, led by Prof. LO Hong-Kam, Civil and Environmental Engineering, in collaboration with Prof. Alexis LAU Kai-Hon, Division of Environment and Sustainability, Prof. WU Xun, Division of Public Policy, and other professors from the fields of environment, infrastructure and transportation, is developing an integrated building information modeling-3D geographic information system (BIM-3DGIS) platform for network walkability analysis and 3D visualization. The project has received funding from the Strategic Public Policy Research Funding Scheme. In addition, the Division of Environment and Sustainability worked with the University of Manchester on a collaborative framework for improved detection and impact quantification of airborne biological particles. The study seeks to advance primary biological aerosol characterization in complex urban areas and foster knowledge exchange on wider aerosol research capabilities at both universities.