Newsletter No. 371

No. 371, 19.1.2011 5 CAMPUS NEWS 校 園 消 息 十教職員組織同賀聖誕 • Ten Staff Associations Join Hands to Celebrate Christmas 中 大的十個教職員組織，包括中大教職員會所及 四書院之教職員聯誼會、中大職員協會、中大教師 協會、中大員工總會、中大婦女會及中大友聲，於2010年 12月17日首次攜手合辦中文大學教職員聖誕聯歡晚宴，在 沙田賽馬會宴會廳舉行，逾一百六十人參加，場面熱鬧。 出席的賓客有沈祖堯校長伉儷、高錕爵士伉儷、崇基學院 院長梁元生教授伉儷、聯合書院院長馮國培教授伉儷、逸 夫書院院長陳志輝教授、晨興書院院長莫理斯教授伉儷 及伍宜孫書院候任院長李沛良教授等。 當晚先由晚宴籌辦委員會之代表成員祝酒，繼由中大教職 員協會資深古箏導師莫應基及中大校友鄭小珊表演古箏 鋼琴二重奏。當口琴三重奏組合Veloz演奏時，悠揚樂韻 縈迴會場每個角落，高錕伉儷更不禁隨着音樂翩翩起舞， 掀起晚宴的高潮。 O rganized jointly by ten staff associations, including Staff Common Room Club, the Staff Associations/Club of the four Colleges, the University’s Staff Association, Teacher’s Association, Employees General Union, Women’s Organization of CUHK, and the Campus Community News, the CUHK Staff Christmas Dinner 2010 was held on 17 December 2010 at the Jockey Club Box, Sha Tin Racecourse. An unprecedented collaboration of all staff organizations of the University, the event attracted over 160 colleagues and their families. Among the participants were the guests of honour: Prof. Joseph J.Y. Sung, Vice-Chancellor, and Mrs. Sung; Prof. Sir Charles K. Kao, Honorary Professor, and Lady Kao; Prof. Leung Yuen-sang, Head of Chung Chi College, and 中 大物理系系主任夏克青教授獲美國物理學會 推選為會士，以表揚他在瑞利—伯納德湍流 對流研究的傑出貢獻，以及對現今物理學界的相關 實驗知識和理論的深遠影響。夏教授對獲會士銜感 到十分榮幸：「這是一項很高的榮譽，代表了國際同 行對我們研究組及本人多年來工作的認同。」 夏克青教授為流體湍流領域的專家。湍流在日常生 活中幾乎無處不在，對物體於流體和空氣中的流動 起重要作用，並且影響熱能的傳輸。湍流熱對流研 究為近年備受關注的前沿科學課題，對許多複雜的 自然現象意義重大，如地球磁場對調、大氣環流及 海洋環流等。 夏教授的研究闡明了湍流熱對流中大尺度環流的起 源及其與熱羽流之間的關係，並解釋驅動大尺度環 流的動力學機制。這種環流與地幔及外地核的對流 有不少相同之處。他亦率先測量了大尺度環流面的 角向運動，並揭示其運動規律，發現大尺度環流反 轉的現象，與地磁場的反轉具有類似的統計特性，為 地球核心的湍流所產生的地磁場及地磁場調換提供 了新知識。 P rof. Xia Keqing, chairman of the Physics Department, was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society for his tremendous contributions to experimental knowledge and understanding of turbulent Rayleigh-Benard convection. Professor Xia said, ‘The fellowship is a great laurel. It signifies recognition of the hard work by our research team and myself by our professional peers.’ Professor Xia is an expert in the studies of fluid turbulence. Turbulence is everywhere around us, and plays a key role in motions involving fluids. It also influences the way heat is transferred. Turbulent thermal convection is an advanced scientific topic that provides insight into the understanding of complex natural phenomena, such as polarity reversal in geomagnetic field, atmospheric circulation and oceanic circulation. Professor Xia discovered that thermal plumes are responsible for the initiation and sustentation of large-scale circulation (LSC), and that LSC is driven by the buoyancy of plumes. LSC in turbulent convection also shares certain characteristics with convections in the mantle and the outer core of the Earth. Professor Xia’s group is the first to systematically study the azimuthal motion of LSC. Their study also reveals that the flow reversal of LSC shares some statistical properties with the polarity reversal of the geomagnetic field. As the Earth’s magnetic field is believed to be generated by the turbulent thermal convection of its liquid outer core, these results provide insight into the reversal phenomenon of the geomagnetic field. 成 就 ACHIEVEMENTS Mrs. Leung; Prof. Fung Kwok-pui, Head of United College, and Mrs. Fung; Prof. Andrew C.F. Chan, Head of Shaw College; Prof. Sir James A. Mirrlees, Master of Morningside College, and Lady Mirrlees; and, Prof. Rance P.L. Lee, Master-designate of Wu Yee Sun College. The dinner began with a welcome toast by the Christmas Dinner Organizing Committee representatives, followed by an impressive poetic guzheng and piano duo performance by Mr. Mok Ying-ki and Ms. Cheng Siu-shan. During the cheerful performance of the harmonica trio Veloz, everyone was amazed to see Prof. Sir Charles K. Kao and Lady Kao step on to the dance floor and was blown away by their simple and elegant dance moves. 夏克青教授膺美國物理學會會士 Prof. Xia Keqing Elected Fellow of American Physical Society