HKU Bulletin April 2010 (Vol. 11 No. 2)

28 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin 29 April 2010 06545"/%*/( 3&4&"3$) 456%&/5 461&37*403 "8"3% 5IJT BOOVBM "XBSE JT HSBOUFE JO SFDPHOJUJPO PG TVQFSWJTPST PG QPTUHSBEVBUF TUVEFOUT XIPTF HVJEBODF IBT CFFO QBSUJDVMBSMZ IFMQGVM 8JOOFST BSF BXBSEFE B NPOFUBSZ QSJ[F PG UP GVSUIFS UIFJS PXO SFTFBSDI BOE B 5ZQF # SFTFBSDI QPTUHSBEVBUF TUVEFOUTIJQ Professor Cecilia Chan Lai-wan Si Yuan Professor in Health and Social Work, Department of Social Work and Social Administration Professor Chan is a registered social worker, known as a pioneer of innovative social services for disadvantaged populations and people in need and an international expert on integrative body-mind-spirit social work practice. She uses a SMART model (Strength-focused, Meaning-based Approach to Resilience and Transformation) in her work on the empowerment of traumatized individuals such as cancer patients, women of divorce, bereaved persons, couples with infertility, suicide survivors and disaster victims. Her approach of integrating Chinese philosophies and Chinese medicine concepts into holistic behavioural health has been vigorously studied by randomized control trials with psychosocial-physiological markers. Her promotion of Eastern spirituality of forgiveness, appreciation and gratitude are fundamental to building a harmonious society. Of her students she says: “If they can all shine and become superstars I will be very happy to retire.” Honorary Clinical Associate, Alicia Pon Kwai- ling said: “She has left a huge imprint in my life. I have become a better person, a better student and definitely a better teacher.” Professor Lam Tak-wah Department of Computer Science Professor Lam joined the Department of Computer Science of the University of Hong Kong in 1988. From 2001 to 2006 he was an Associate Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and has received the Department’s teaching excellence award several times, as well as the Faculty’s best teacher award. His research is on the design and analysis of algorithms for different applications. Apart from proving mathematical theorems, he is also interested in building practical software. The indexing software produced by his team has recently been adopted by the Beijing Genome Institute as a core tool of genome re-sequencing. Assistant Professor in the Department, Chan Ho-leung says, “He is a top researcher in this area so he’s very good at finding problems and explaining this area to us.” His PhD student, Hon Wing-kai, adds, “I believe he is the most hardworking person in our Department.” Professor Lam explains that his challenge is “How to motivate the students and, in particular, how to set up a goal for their research and how to build up their confidence.” Professor Lam Tak-wah Professor Cecilia Chan Lai-wan Professor Victor Li On-kwok Dr Sham Mai-har Professor Victor Li On-kwok Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Professor Li regards research student training as an apprenticeship, where students learn by working with a teacher how to identify and formulate a research problem and develop innovative solutions. In Professor Li’s case, the students are learning from a master. Professor Li has received many awards over his distinguished career, such as the Croucher Foundation Senior Research Fellowship and the Bronze Bauhinia Star from the Hong Kong Government, and is Associate Dean (Research) of Engineering and Chair Professor of Information Engineering. He has developed innovative techniques for the management and performance evaluation of communication networks and multimedia systems. That expertise has provided students with opportunities to work at a very high level. Professor Li gives his students high priority, even when there are conflicts in his schedule, and he involves them in his work. With students, he has invented technologies for packet-switched networks, video-on-demand systems and resource allocation problems that have received or are being evaluated for patents. Dr Sham Mai-har Department of Biochemistry Dr Sham has deep passion for microphotography and the aesthetic appreciation of scientific images, a passion she shares with her research students. The experimental and data collection work they undertake is painstaking, but it is rewarded with the joy of seeing images that reflect the truth and beauty of the biological world. Dr Sham’s passion has carried her through years of study in Hong Kong and London and almost 20 years of teaching and research at HKU, where she is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry. Her area of interest is molecular genetics and developmental genetics, and she has pursued several research paths in this field. These include investigating the molecular mechanisms in mammalian development and human congenital disorders, where her work focuses on the roles of transcription factors including Hoxb and Sox10. Dr Sham is also working on neural stem cells and neural crest stem cells and looking into their therapeutic applications in human diseases. 5FBDIJOH "OE 3FTFBSDI "XBSET 5FBDIJOH "OE 3FTFBSDI "XBSET