Newsletter No. 235

Support for Five Projects T he following research projects undertaken by faculty members of the University have attracted funding support from different quarters: • A Study on Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) in Hong Kong (HK$400,000) Sponsor: The Hong Kong Society of Gastroenterology Principal investigator: Dr. Hui Yui (Department of Medicine and Therapeutics) • New Air-conditioning System Based on Ultrasonic Actuation and RMZ Heating (HK$4,050,000) Sponsor: Innovation and Technology Fund and Aoyagi (HK) Ltd. Principal investigator: Prof. Du Ruxu CU co-investigator: Prof. Xu Yangsheng • Prevalence of Respiratory Symptoms, Common Respiratory Disease, Atopy and Bronchial Hyperresponsiveness in Elderly Chinese Living in Hong Kong (HK$60,000) Sponsor. Hong Kong Lung Foundation Principal investigator: Dr. Fanny W.S. Ko (Department of Medicine and Therapeutics) • A Centre for the Study of Foetal Nucleic Acids in Maternal Plasma (HK$4,400,000) Sponsor: Research Grants Council — Central Allocation Principal coordinator. Prof. Dennis Lo (Department of Chemical Pathology) • Are VDR, Era and PTHR1 Genes Associated with the Occurrence as Well as Abnormality in Bone Growth and Sexual Maturation in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis? (US$70,800) Sponsor: Scoliosis Research Society Principal investigator: Prof. Jack Cheng (Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology) Forum Explores Ways to Boost Entrepreneurship in HK T he F a c u l t y o f B u s i n e ss Administration held a forum on 16th January at the Hong Ko ng Convention and Exhibition Centre to e x p l o r e wa ys o f e n c o u r a g i ng entrepreneurship in Hong Kong. The event was well attended by leading entrepreneurs, educators, business leaders, scientists, and government officials. Welcoming remarks were delivered by Prof. Lee Tien Sheng, dean of the CUHK Faculty of Business Adm i n i s t r a t i o n. M r . Cao Jiagen, director of the Shenzhen Bureau of Science and Technology, delivered an opening speech on 'Opportunities for Enabling Entrepreneurship Through Hong Kong-Shenzhen Cooperation'. The highlight of the forum was the release of the f u ll report on Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: Hong Kong and Shenzhen. T he G l o b a l Entrepreneurship Mo n i t or ( GEM) study for Hong Kong and Shenzhen was conducted by the Un i v e r s i ty jointly with the Shenzhen Academy of Social Science. This was followed by the delivery of GEM 2003 Global Findings. The study found that Hong Kong is among the least entrepreneurial in the world, with only 3.2 per cent of its population involved in recent startups, trailing well behind mainland China (11.6 per cent) and Shenzhen (10.5 per cent). The two contributing factors are inappropriate education and t r a i n i n g , and ineffective transfer of research from academia to industry. GEM is an international research consortium of some 150 researchers in more than 40 countries, led by the L o n d on School of Business and Babson College. It benchmarks and investigates entrepreneurship activity annually in 60 per cent of the world's population. In 2003, 31 economies participated in the study. Over 100,000 adults were polled and over 1,200 expe r ts i n t e r v i ewe d. The most entrepreneurial economies last year were Uganda, Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, and New Zealand. The re we re also t wo p a n el discussions addressing the low level of entrepreneurship in the territory. Speakers i nc l uded Mr. C.D. Tam, CEO of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Cooperation; Mr. H o w a r d Sou, c h i e f c u r r i c u l um development o f f i c er ( t echno l ogy educa t i on) of the Educa t i on and Manpower Bu r eau; Ms. M i c h e le C h e o w , d i r e c t o r o f J u n i o r Achievement Hong Kong; and Mr. Teddy Tang, p r i n c i p al of H K MA K.S. Lo College. Mr. Cao Jiagen (left 4) with CU faculty: (from left) Profs. Hugh Thomas, Kevin Au, Chua Bee-Leng, T.S. Lee, and Kwok Siu-tong Two Faculties Honour Outstanding Teachers and Students Social Science Faculty Prof. Tracey Lu (Anthropology), Prof. Vito Bertin (Architecture), and Prof. Eric Ma (Journalism and Commu n i c a t i o n) were honoured with the Exemplary Teaching Award of the Faculty of Social Science on 10th January 2004. The award presentation ceremony took place in the Ho Tim Building with Mr. Lo Foo- cheung (seated right), chairman and chief executive officer of FC Packaging (HK) Ltd., and Prof. Jack Cheng (seated left), pro-vice-chancellor, as guests of honour. The ceremony was hosted by Prof. Leung Yee (standing), dean of the faculty. On the same occasion, Dean's List certificates were presented to 141 undergraduate and 13 graduate students of the faculty's taught master's programmes who had demonstrated outstanding academic performance in 2002-3. Science Faculty Six teachers won the Exemplary Teachers' Award of the Faculty of Science and 143 students made it to the faculty's Dean's List this year. Both groups were honoured at a ceremony held on 17th January at L1 of the Science Centre. From left: Prof. Liu Kwok-leung (Physics), Prof. Tam Luen-fai (Mathematics), Prof. Wu Ka-ho (Statistics), Prof. Kwan Hoi-shan (associate dean), Prof. Leo Lau (dean), Prof. Ge Wei (Biology), Prof. Lee Hung-kay (Chemistry), and Prof. Leung Kwok-nam (Biochemistry). Executive Training for Tourism and Hospital ity Talent i n South China Prof. Sheryl E. Kimes F ifty-eight top executives from 27 organizations of the hospitality and tourism industry in Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen gathered at The Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel on 19th and 20th January for a workshop on Y i e ld Management. It was jointly organized by the Centre of Hospitality and Real Estate Research of the University's School of Hotel and Tourism Management, the Hotel Controllers and Accountants Association of Hong Kong, and SKAL International Hong Kong, and co- sponsored by The Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel and Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong. The workshop was conducted by Prof. Sheryl E. Kimes, professor of operations management at Cornell U n i v e r s i t y ' s S c h o ol o f H o t e l Administration. Participants learnt how to apply the strategic levers of revenue management, inventory control, and the pricing of guest rooms, meeting space, restaurants and spas. Through lectures, discussions, and hands-on exercises, they were also updated on new techniques and concepts for improving forecasts of length of stay, booking, and managing groups and prices. 3 No. 235 19th February 2004