President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Xiang Zhang presented souvenir to Mrs May Tam
A Ceremony was held on December 28 (Tuesday) to mark the opening of the Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing Two (Innovation Wing Two), an important new facility under the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Hong Kong (HKU).
The establishment of Innovation Wing Two was made possible with a donation of HK$20 million from Mr and Mrs Tam Wing Fan for setting up the infrastructure and facilities, and for inaugurating the operation of the facility. The Faculty has also obtained HK$10 million in funding under the Government Research Matching Grant Scheme to match the donation amount. The additional funding from the government provides resources for research activities and initiatives. The infrastructure and the resources together will facilitate the realization of the aim of Innovation Wing Two.
Mr and Mrs Tam had donated HK$100 million to the University in 2020 for the establishment of the Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing One, and HK$20 million for launching the Tam Wing Fan Innovation Fund in support of the Innovation Academy under the Faculty of Engineering.
The Ceremony was officiated by Mrs May Tam and Professor Xiang Zhang, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKU; Professor David Srolovitz, Dean of HKU Engineering; Professor Norman C. Tien, Head of Innovation Academy, HKU; Professor T.H. Tse, Honorary Professor of Department of Computer Science, HKU; Mr Edward Ho, Former Chairman of the Wong & Tung Group, and other Faculty members who were invited to witness the Ceremony.
Addressing the audience at the Ceremony, Professor Xiang Zhang, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKU said: "Research, innovation and knowledge exchange are the pillars underpinning HKU's drive to become a world-leading University. HKU is expanding, stepping up strategic research partnerships, and attracting the world's top science and engineering talent."
"The Faculty of Engineering is an integral part of all our new platforms and initiatives under development. With the inauguration of the Innovation Wing Two, the University has a great opportunity to showcase our engineering research accomplishments to a wide audience," he added.
"Our vision is that the Innovation Wing Two will bring together a diverse set of academics and professionals from industry for future collaborations. We thank Mrs May Tam for her generous support and collaboration with Engineering, which provided both the physical platform and resources to establish this vibrant community," said Dean of Engineering Professor David Srolovitz.
"The collection of talent, faculty and students collaborating on new ideas, the research that is stimulated, the innovations that blossom, and the impact produced, will ultimately lead to a greater good for the world we live in," said Mrs May Tam at the Opening Ceremony.
Innovation Wing Two serves as an enabling platform for Engineering researchers to interact and collaborate synergistically with researchers across various disciplines to tackle grand challenges and deliver research outputs with significant impact to Hong Kong and global communities.
After the Opening Ceremony, the Managing Directors of two Health@InnoHK and AIR@InnoHK projects at the Faculty of Engineering, Professor Anderson Shum and Professor Norman C. Tien gave the Inaugural Tech Talk with the theme "Digitization" and introduced insightful research projects and their future development plan.
At Innovation Wing Two, a wide variety of research-related activities and initiatives including exhibitions and weekly research talks will be conducted by Faculty members and their PhD students. These activities will serve to enhance the engagement with the community and show the strength of the Faculty in research, and attract interested academics and industry professionals for in-depth communications and collaborations. The state-of-the-art facilities will allow the Faculty to advance its cutting-edge research fronts and expand its research network with academia and industry in the global context.
Innovation Wing Two is located at G/F of Run Run Shaw Building. It is connected with Innovation Wing One via a covered walkway. Innovation Wing One and Innovation Academy, which started operation in 2020, currently focus mainly on innovation education for Faculty students and others. With a new phase added to the Innovation Wing, a holistic platform will be formed to provide more opportunities in innovation education and research to researchers as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students from various disciplines.
