Newsletter No. 149

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS OF CUHK STUDENT S • Second Rhodes Scholar in Two Years Da n i el T.Y . Hu i , a graduate student of the University, ha s bee n chosen a s thi s year' s Rhodes Schola r fro m H o n g K o n g . H e comp l e t ed hi s M A studies i n Genera l Linguistics i n June and w i ll b e leaving for th e UK t o start his M.Phil . in General Linguistic s and C o m p a r a t i v e Philology a t Ox f o r d University i n October 1999 . Daniel ha s met the scholarship' s criteri a o f 'outstanding personality ' an d 'strong intellectua l ability'. H e ha s maintaine d consistentl y outstanding academic performanc e throughou t hi s academic career, graduating with first class honours in his BA studie s in English at CUHK. He is also an outgoing young man of great integrity. The Rhode s Scholarships , establishe d i n 1902, were originally allocate d to student s fro m the Commonwealt h countries , th e US , an d Germany. Abou t 9 5 scholarship s ar e awarde d each year i n 1 8 jurisdictions aroun d the world . Since the inclusion o f Hong Kon g t o the lis t i n 1985, on e studen t ha s been honoured wit h th e award eac h year. Danie l i s th e secon d CUH K student t o have won the award in two years . • Computer Programming Champion Engineering student s fro m th e Universit y wo n the eighth Association for Computing Machiner y ( ACM) Hon g Kon g Scholasti c Programmin g Contest an d the Compute r Chines e Checker s Competition hel d in June. The members of the programming team who captured th e championshi p wer e compute r science an d engineering student s Justin e Wan , Kwok Chi-leong , and Wong Ho-yin. The y wer e required t o writ e programs o n the spo t to solv e as many problems as they could within three and a half hours. The team will represent Hong Kon g to participat e i n th e A CM Fa r Eas t regiona l programming contes t this November . Kenny Lam , a Ph.D. system s engineerin g and engineering management student , won firs t prize for the third time in three consecutive years in the Computer Chinese Checkers Competition . He ha d t o writ e a program whic h wa s playe d against othe r programs i n the competition . • Winning Student Investors A CUHK student from the MBA Programme won the Universit y Elit e Investo r Competitio n organized by the Hong Kong Economic Journal while two BBA student s won outstanding prizes. The three students, respectively Emil K.Y. Wong, Lai Chi-ho, and Yuen Chi-lok, were awarded their prizes a t the award presentation ceremony hel d on 30th June at the Furama Kempinski Hotel . Part o f th e educatio n programm e o f th e Hong Kong Economic Journal, th e competitio n aims a t encouragin g universit y student s t o acquire financial knowledge and think creativel y through writing investment portfolios, securitie s analysis reports , an d corporate busines s plans . The panel of judges include academics, bankers, and journalists. Dist inguished Researche r i n Plant Taxonom y Awarded Honorar y Professorshi p Dr. Hu Shiu-yin g was appointe d honorary professo r o f Chinese medicine o n 19t h August 1999 . Dr. H u i s a distinguished researc h scientis t i n the fiel d o f plant taxonomy . Sh e received he r undergraduate educatio n i n mainland Chin a an d obtained her Ph.D . fro m Harvar d University i n 1949. In the 50 years that followed, she played a leading role in plant taxonomy research at Harvard's Arnold Arboretum. Currentl y sh e is an Emeritus Senio r Research Fellow a t Harvard University an d Honorary Senio r Research Fellow a t the CUHK Departmen t o f Biology . A t th e ag e of 92 , Dr . Hu remain s a n active researcher , travelling extensivel y t o stud y plant s and herbs and continuing with research writing. Sh e has been influential in shaping the developmen t of Chinese medicinal research at CUHK, contributin g to the establishment of the Chinese Medicina l Material Researc h Centre in the 1970s . She has also been instrumental i n the setting up o f the new School o f Chinese Medicine a t the University . Among Dr . Hu' s recen t publication s ar e An Enumeration of Chinese Materia Medica (2nd Edition) an d Food Plants of China. Increased Co ll aboration w i t h Mainland I ns t i t u t i on s * F r om Ep i t he l i al Cells to Diseases The Universit y ha s establishe d th e Epithelia l Cel l Biolog y Researc h Centre j o i n t l y w i t h th e Academ y o f M i l i t a r y Med i ca l Science s i n mainland China . The epithelium , th e uppermos t laye r o f ski n cells , protect s bod y cavities an d exocrine glands , includin g th e respiratory , gastrointestina l and reproductive tracts . Disturbance o f epithelial cel l functions ma y lea d to a wide spectru m o f common disorder s fro m diarrhoe a t o cancer . Th e study o n the mechanisms underlyin g epithelia-relate d disease s can lea d to better treatments an d drugs . The first integrated research institution in China devoted to epithelia l cell biolog y research , the centr e wa s officiall y opene d on 5t h July a t a ceremony hel d at the University. Guest s attending included Prof. Arthu r K.C. Li , vice-chancellor o f the University, Major Genera l Zhao Dasheng , president o f th e academ y o f Militar y Medica l Sciences , Prof . Zhan g Xinshi, vice-president of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and academicia n o f th e Chines e Academ y o f Sciences , an d Mr . Ch u Zhinong, Hea d of the Department o f Education, Scienc e and Technology, Xinhua News Agency (Hon g Kong Branch) . * B i omed i cal Eng i nee r i ng to P r omo te He a l th The Universit y an d Zhejian g Universit y hav e establishe d th e Join t Research Centre for Biomedical Engineering to promote interdisciplinar y collaboration amon g researchers i n engineering , medicine , an d science . The centr e i s staffe d by ove r 5 0 research fellows an d 11 0 postgraduat e students. Biomedical engineerin g i s a n evolvin g fiel d o f engineerin g tha t applies innovativ e engineerin g technologies t o solv e medical an d health care problems. Biomedica l engineer s ar e involved in the development o f innovative method s fo r reliabl e an d non-invasive diagnosis , monitoring , and treatment o f disease s an d injuries. Join t researc h projects betwee n the two universitie s cove r biomedica l informatio n engineerin g suc h as telemedicine an d cyber-hospital, bio-electronics, engineerin g i n Chines e medicine, medica l visualization , medica l instrumentatio n an d dru g delivery devices , neural engineering, and the development of biomaterials. Officiating a t the opening ceremony o f the centre held on 4th August were Prof . Zhang Junsheng, chancello r o f Zhejiang University, Dr . E.K . Yeoh, chief executive o f the Hospital Authority, an d Prof. Arthur K.C . Li , vice-chancellor o f the University .