HKU Bulletin February 2004 (Vol. 5 No. 2)

Professor Wong Wing Tak Reader, Department of Chemistry P rofessor Wong’s major research interests include metal cluster chemist ry, X-ray crystal lography, lanthanide chemistry, and nanomaterials. In the past twelve years he has published more than 280 research papers in these areas. He was invited to serve on the editorial board of Journal of 13 RESEARCH AND TEACHING Outstanding Research Student Supervisor Award 12 Cluster Science in 1998, and was appointed to an editorship of Acta Crystallographica in 2001. He has made important contributions in the area of mixed-metal cluster chemistry, and has written several key review articles in this field. The University of Cambridge awarded him the degree of Doctor of Science in 2000, in recogni t ion of his research accompl ishment. He also won an Outstanding Young Researcher Award in 2001, and a Croucher Senior Research Fellowship in 2002. Professor Wong is very enthusiast ic in both undergraduate teaching and postgraduate supervision. He has successfully trained 20 PhD and 3 MPhil graduates in the past twelve years. Many of them now hold positions as associate professors, lecturers, professional chemists, and scientific officers; and are working in universities, the Government Laboratory, racing laboratories, and drug companies. Professor Wong believes that the distinctions he has received should really be shared with his research students. They, he says, are the ones who are really doing the work. wtwong@hku.hk http://chem.hku.h k/~chemhome/staff/wtwong/wtwong.htm Outstanding Young Researcher Award The Outstanding Young Researcher Award is given to researchers of promise who have attained excellence in their research performance within 10 years of receiving their PhD or equivalent. Dr Chau Kwok Tong Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering D r Chau is particularly interested in multidisciplinary electric vehicle technology (especially permanent magnet brushless motor drives, soft-switching power converters, battery management systems and vehicular system integration). In these areas, he has authored a book, published over 70 internat ional journal papers, and presented over 100 international conference papers. His book Modern Electric Vehicle Technology , published by the Oxford University Press in 2001, is the first monograph on comprehensive electric vehicle technology. He is also a co-editor of the Journal of Asian Electric Vehicles . Dr Chau is the Honorary Director of the International Research Centre for Electric Vehicles. Dr Chau believes that he is the catalyst of this research group, that the group is the fuel for the advancement of electric vehicles, and that elect r ic vehicles are the dr iving force for a bet ter environment. Basically, his research philosophy is to strive for a better environment. His ultimate dream is to see a world in which al l cars are electric vehicles with absolute-zero emissions. ktchau@eee.hku.hk http://www.eee.hku. hk/~ktchau