Newsletter No. 211

Tas k Forc e t oAdvis e o n Institutiona l Integratio n Establishe d A task force ha s been established t o advise th e Un i ve r s i ty o n i ns t i t u t i onal integration. Th e membership of the task force i s as follows: • Dr. Lee Hon-chiu, chairman o f the Council ( Ch a i r ma n ) • Dr. Edgar W.K. Cheng, Council Member • Mr. Roger K.H. Luk, Council Member • Mr. Anthony Neoh, Council Member • Prof. Kenneth Young, Pro-Vice-Chancellor • Prof. L iu Pak-wai, Pro-Vice-Chancellor • Prof. Jack C.Y. Cheng, Pro-Vice-Chancellor • Prof. Rance P.L. Lee, Head, Chung Chi College (representing the colleges) • Prof. P.C. Ching, Dean, Faculty of Engineering (representing the faculties) • Prof. Richard M.W. Ho, Registrar • Mr. Jacob S.K. Leung, Secretary of the University (Membe rand Secretary) • Mr. Terence C.W, Chan, Bursar • Ms. Yan Hau-yee, Lina, chairman of the Convocation ‧ Prof. Kwan Hoi Shan, president of The Chinese University o f Hong Kong Teachers' Association • Mr. L i Wing-yuen, Aaron, president of The Chinese University of Hong Kong Staff Association • Mr. Cheung Yiu Kuen, president of The Chinese University o f Hong Kong Students Union • A second student representative of The Chinese University o f Hong Kong Students Union • A representative o f the postgraduate students nominated b y the Dean of the Graduate School after due consultation (In their o fficial capacities as indicated) The terms of reference of the task force are as follows: (a) T o evaluate th e benefits an d consequences o f institutional integration t o CUHK; (b) To identify the issues concerning CUHK arising from and i n connection with institutional integration; (c) Having regard t o (a ) above, t o advise on ways t o deal with the issues identified i n (b) above; (d) T o conduct a feasibility study o n an integration o f CUHK and HKUST as currently being considered (w i th a n overall appraisal o f the educational, organizational, constitutional, operational, financial, and technical aspects o f such a n institutional integration) and it s impact on CUHK as a whole; t o enable a concrete proposal t o b e formulated an d presented for consideration by the University Council whether o r no t t o proceed with a n integration o f CUHK and HKUST; (e) To receive representations on institutional integration from the individuals, units, and groups concerned; (f) To undertake any other related assignments given t o the task force b y the chairman of the Council; and (g) To complete the final report of the task force the latest by 31st December 2003. 58th l Congregation : Prof . Ambros e Kin g t oB e Installe d a sVC , Fou r Distinguishe d Person s t oB eAwarde d Honorar y Doctorate s The University will install Prof. Ambrose Y.C. King as the new Vice-Chancellor and confer honorary doctorates on four distinguished persons a t its 58th Congregation on 5th December 2002. Prof. King was appointed b y the Council o f the University as the fifth Vice-Chancellor o f The Chinese University o f Hong Kong from 11th September 2002. He w i ll deliver his inaugural speech a t the installation ceremony. The four honorary graduands this year are Prof. J i Xianlin, eminent scholar i n oriental studies and world-acclaimed expert i n Eastern literature and languages; Prof. Ferid Mu r ad, Nobel laureate i n phy s i o l ogy /med i c i ne 199 8 an d cha i rman o f th e Department o f Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, University o f Texas-Houston Medical School; Ms. Le e Lai-shan, Gold Medallist i n Women's Mistral i n th e Olympic Games 1996 and in the Asian Games 2002; and Dr. L u i Che-woo, distinguished entrepreneur an d philanthropist, and chairman o f K. Wah Group, K . Wall International Holdings Ltd. , K . Wah Construction Materials Ltd., K . Wah Properties (Holdings) Ltd., and Stanford Hotels International. Prof. J i w i l l b e conferred th e degree o f Doctor o f Literature, honoris causa. Prof. Murad will receive the degree of Doctor o f Science, honoris causa. Ms. Lee and Dr. Lu i wi ll each be awarded the degree o f Doctor o f Social Science, honoris causa. Their citations w i ll be written and delivered by Prof. David Parker and Prof. Serena Jin. Details of special arrangements for congregation day can be found i n the 'Announcements' column on page 4 . CUHK Te ams Bag A l lMajo rAward s a t Microsof t Competitio n S tudents from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering won al l th e major prizes i n M i c r o s o f t 's We b Services Xce l l ence Awa rd Competition 2002, including HK$ 190,000 i n cash and research trips to Beijing. The award ceremony was held on 24th October 2002. The competition was organized b y Microsoft Hong Kong with I T leaders from the government and the Hong Kong Computer Society (HKCS) t o foster the development of the next wave of enterprise services and applications b y encouraging university students and professional developers to create cutting-edge web services on the Microsoft .NET platform. The CUHK team won tw o major prizes i n th e student category: the Best .NET Application of the Year Award and the Most Innovative Application Award. Their winning project is a system providing end-to-end solution from raw video input, information extraction, to video searching and streaming delivery. The winner of the first prize in the professional category was a 1996 graduate f r om th e University. Hi s project i s a n application for deployment i n film development shops in Hong Kong such as Kodak, Fuji, and Fotomax. I t allows customers to browse and mark their own digital photos for development at the counter. A l l the winners are from VIEW Technologies Laboratory, a laboratory jointly sponsored b y the University's Department o f Computer Science and Engineering, Department o f Information Engineering, and Department o f Systems Engineering and Engineering Management. The judging panel comprised representatives from the Information Technology Service Department, th e Hong Kong Computer Society, local universities, and Microsoft Hong Kong. Selection criteria included creativity, practicality, architecture, local market relevance, and technical excellence. CUHK winners posing with some of the organizers