Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2005

C U H K Researchers H o n o u r e d w i t h Young Scientist A w a r d Researchers f r o m the De p a r t me nt of Physiology a nd the D e p a r t me nt of Electroni c E n g i n e e r i n g were awa r d e d the Young Scientist A w a r d by the H o n g K o n g I n s t i t u t i on o f Science ( HK I S) i n recognition o f their outstanding achievement s i n their respective fields. The Yo u n g Scientist A w a r d wa s established b y HK IS to give r e c o g n i t i o n to y o u n g scientist s d emo n s t r a t i n g great promise i n the areas of life science, e n g i n e e r i n g science, a n d p h y s i c a l / m a t h e m a t i c a l science. The a i m is to enhance scientific developmen t i n H o n g Kong, encourage knowledge discovery, and i mp r o ve quality of life. Dr. Petti Pan g and Dr. Liang Tak-keun g of C U H K were respectively w i n n e rs of th e life science and e n g i n e e r i ng scienc e categories. Dr. York Ch ow , Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, officiated at the awa r d presentation ceremony w h i c h t o ok place o n 29th October 2005. Dr. Petti Pang D r . P a n g ' s a w a r d - w i n n i n g r e s e a r c h 'Regulation of Late-phase Long-term Potentiation i n H i p p o c a m p u s ' , was a collaboration p r o j e c t w i t h t h e N a t i o n al I n s t i t u t es of He a l t h of the US. She i d e n t i f i ed the v e r y key molecular p l a y e r s i n l a t e - p h a s e l o n g - t e r m p o t e n t i a t i o n , t h e candidate for long - t e r m m e m o r y f o r m a t i o n i n t h e b r a i n . T he r e s u l t s p r o v i de th e answer to a l o n g - s t a n d i n g p r o b l em in neuroscience and also f o r m the basis for further e x p l o r a t i on i n t o the n a t u re o f l e a r n i ng a n d memory. Dr . Pang, w h o received her Ph.D. f r o m the D e p a r t m e nt o f P h y s i o l o g y i n 2004, has w o r k e d at the N a t i o n al Institutes of H e a l th i n U SA as a p o s t d o c t o r al f e l l o w . She j o i n e d the research t e am o f Prof. Su s umu Tonegawa, No b el laureate i n physiolog y or medicine, i n No v emb e r 2005. Dr. Petti Pang (right) with her supervisor Prof. W.H. Yung Dr. Liang Tak Keung Dr. L i a n g Tak K e u n g is an e x p e r t r e s e a r c h er at t h e Na t i o n a l Institute of I n f o r m a t i o n a n d C o m m u n i c a t i o n s T e c h n o l o g y . H i s research o n 'Optical A m p l i f i e r s a n d Nonlinear Switching De v i c es o n S i l i c on Waveguides', conducted under the supervision of Prof. H . K. Tsang , d e v e l o p e d n o v e l f u n c t i o n a l elements for silicon-based photonic devices. This breakthrough i n understanding th e importance of n o n l i n e ar a b s o r p t i on losse s has a l l o w e d the realization of the w o r l d ' s first optical amp l i f i e r using silicon as the optical gain me d i um, resultin g i n the creation o f an ultrafast picosecond optica l switch on submicron size silicon w i r e waveguides. H o n o u r s for Two Ph.D. Students M r . Chen H o n Fai, a Ph.D. student of the D e p a r t me nt of Sociology, has w o n the f i r s t p r i z e i n t he Journal of Classical Sociology (JCS) 2 0 05 P r i z e E s s ay Comp e t i t i o n. The p r i z e - w i n n i n g article 'Self-reference, M u t u al Identification and Affect: The Parsonsian Problem of Orde r Reconsidered' was previousl y published i n JCS. This marks the first time the prize is awa r d e d to a Chinese student. M r. Wa ng Junqi , a Ph.D. student i n the D e p a r t m e n t o f B i o l o g y u n d er th e s u p e r v i s i o n of Prof. Jiang L i w e n , w a s a w a r d e d t h e ' B e s t S t u d e n t O r a l P r e s e n t a t i o n' at th e 8 t h I n t e r n a t i o n a l Workshop o n Seeds, held f r om 8t h to 13th M a y 2005 i n B r i s b a n e, A u s t r a l i a. H i s p r e s e n t a t i o n w a s o n ' M o l e c u l a r M e c h a n i sm of P r o t e in M o b i l i z a t i on i n Germinating Seeds: The Roles of Vacuolar S o r t i n g R e c e p t o r P r o t e i n s a n d Mu l t i v e s i c u l ar Bodies'. News in Brief 6 3