On November 1, headed by Professor Joseph Lee, Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), a delegation from HKUST visited several laboratories of the College of Engineering (COE) and talked with COE leaders and faculty to seek collaboration opportunities.

Other members of the HKUST delegation included Professor Tongxi Yu, Senior Advisor to Vice-President for Research and Graduate Studies, Professor Mohamed Ghidaoui, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Professor Jamal Deen, McMaster University, Canada, and Senior IAS Fellow, HKUST, Ms. Adelaine Lim, Director of Special Projects, Office of Vice-President for Research and Graduate Studies, and Dr. Huanfeng Duan, Assistant Professor, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Co-Investigator of HKUST's TBRS project.

HKUST was founded in 1991 with a goal of becoming a focused elite research university with a global reputation for excelling in science, technology and business, complemented by humanities and social science. HKUST has a collaborative venture with Peking University, ongoing since the 1990s and leading to the establishment of the Shenzhen Industry, Education and Research Base and Shenzhen PKU-HKUST Medical Center. As part of its strategy of building mainland China partnerships, it’s actively seeking to expand the collaboration with Peking University.

The delegation met with Professor Dongxiao Zhang, Dean of COE, Professor Steven Feng Chen, Associate Dean of COE, Professor Huiling Duan, Chair of the COE Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, and Associate Professors Yi Zheng and Jie Liu from the COE Department of Energy and Resources Engineering.

Dean Zhang made an overall introduction of the college, covering the history, vision, departments setup, student cultivation, faculty recruitment, research status and international cooperation. Yi Zheng delivered a presentation on the research projects carried out by the Center for Water Research, of which he is a key member.

Professor Joseph Lee introduced HKUST and their intention of this visit, followed by a presentation on the university’s water research, made by Professor Mohamed Ghidaoui.

After a detailed discussion, both sides agreed that the two universities have a good base for collaboration, especially in the areas of water research, graduate student education, technology transfer and medical studies. The meeting was believed to have laid a sound foundation for future discussions on cooperation.

Prior to the meeting, the delegation visited three COE laboratories, including Professor Xiaolei Wu’s Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Environmental Biotechnology, Groundwater Transport Lab and the Lab for Hydrologic Modeling and Visualization of the Center for Water Research, all of the Department of Energy and Resources Engineering, COE.