Newsletter No. 281

Medical Deans Reunion A Silver Jubilee Dinner was held on 10th June at the Grand Hall of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Faculty ofMedicine. Over 1,500 guests graced the event with their presence including former deansof medicine: (from left) Prof. Sydney S.C. Chung, Prof. Arthur K.C. Li, Prof. JosephC.K. Lee, and Prof. Teik E. Oh, and the incumbent dean,Prof. T.F. Fok. Canadian Linguist on English Language Teaching in a Chinese Context T he International Conference on Tertiary/College English Language Teachin g (TCELT) 2006 jointly hosted by the CUHK English Language Teaching Unit (ELTU) and the Foreign Studies College of the Northeastern University took place in two locations: Shenyang (1st and 2nd June) and Hong Kong (5th and 6th June). The theme of TCELT 2006 was to enhance the quality of tertiary/college English teaching, particularly in the Chinese context, and to provide a forum for presenting research and exploring issues related to IT-enhanced English language teaching. Prof. Thomas Cobb, aprofessor of applied linguistics at the Universit é du Qu é bec a Montreal in Canada, gave aplenary speech on 'Building on the Vocabulary Learnin g Strengths o f the Chinese ESL Learner' on 5th June at The Chinese University. Prof. Cobb discussed the downside of unguided word learning, but also some computer-based ways to guide vocabulary acquisition. Government Policies Stimulate High-growth Startups, Study Finds T he University's Centre for Entrepreneurship examines the issues of stimulating high- growth startups and assesses the government's ongoing efforts to intervene effectively in the economy, in a comprehensive study entitled 'Innovation Policy and High Growth Startups'. The research is part of amulti-country study, undertaken by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Consortium — an international team of some 150 researchers in more than 40 countries who periodically poll entrepreneurship internationally. The research is led by Prof. Erkko Autio, director of the Institut Strat è ge of HEC Universit é de Lausanne in Switzerland to benchmark best practice in stimulating high growth startups. Using a combination of survey data from a half a million interviews worldwide and in-depth interviews with 16 Hong Kong policy-makers and implementers, the Hong Kong study finds that while Hong Kong has a low rate of startups, the rate of startups expected to achieve high growth is 0.7%, which is approximately equal to the world average of 0.8%. High-growth expectation entrepreneurship, and throughout the world, is dominated by wealthy, young males worldwide. But the research shows that, unlike the case in the rest of the world (including Shenzhen), high-growth-expectations startup entrepreneurs in Hong Kong are no better educated than low-growth-expectations entrepreneurs. The research team believes this suggests that the local education system does not train youth to spot and take advantage of entrepreneurial opportunities. The study believes that the long-standing examination-oriented education system discourages creativity, curiosity and independent thinking, and applauds the efforts of the recent education reforms to address these problems. The collaborating organization for the study was the Division of Social Science of HKUST. The study was supported by CUHK's Asia-Pacific Institute of Business. Findings of the research were released at a forum titled 'Innovation Policy and High Growth Startups' at JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong on 25th May 2006. The complete study is available at http://www. cuhk.edu.hk/centre/entrepreneurship. EYE ON CAMPUS Solar Energy 一 A n I n f i n i te Source of Power R enewable or sustainable energy sources such as the wind, the ocean and the sun provide an endless supply of energy without polluting the environment. The Chinese University is apioneer in using renewable energy, being the first university in Hong Kong to install a solar hot water system for shower facilities. In 2004, the first set of solar hot water heater was installed in Cheung Chuk Shan Amenities Building of United College and last year, another set was installed in the University Sports Centre. Both sets use evacuated tube heating collectors. The former is smaller with only 11 evacuated tube heating collectors and provides sufficient hot water for 160 showers per day. The latter, with 21 sets of evacuated tube solar heating collectors, has a capacity of 250 showers per day and benefits even the neighbouring Kwok Sports Building. Compared to the conventional flat-plate type solar heater, this kind of solar collector is more energy-efficient. Its transparent evacuated tubes act like a vacuum flask to minimize heat loss while maintaining the input of heat energy. On a sunny day, the system provides hot water of up to 90 °C. Besides its thermostatic outer layer reduces heat loss to ensure that hot water is available even at night. Solar energy can also be used for illumination. The Estates Management Office has installed photovoltaic panels on the roof of the Lady Shaw Building and bus stations. The solar energy is converted into electricity and stored in batteries to power up lights and mosquito lamps. Bridgetech-CUHK Agreement to Found Clinical Research Organization B ridgetech Holdings International Inc., a company focused on maximizing the potential o f emerging healthcare products and services in the US and Asian markets, and The Chinese University have set up Bridgetech Medical Technology Research and Development to manage clinical trials preformed in Hong Kong and China. This new entity w i ll oversee the State Food and Drug Administration application process and the requisite trials necessary to obtain this regulatory approval for Bridgetech's products. P r o f . B e n ny Zee, d i r ec t or o f the C U HK Centre for Clinical Trials, said, 'We are truly pleased to have finalized this relationship. We have spent several years establishing both our infrastructure and our relationships throughout China and we are eager to begin taking promising p r o d u c ts t h r o u gh the approval process.' Chairman and CEO of Bridgetech Mr. Michael Chermak(right) and director ofCUHK's Centre for Clinical Trial Prof. Benny Zee signing the agreement to set up a clinical researchorganization for studying new products ofcancer therapeutics 2 No. 281 19th June 2006