HKU Bulletin May 2014 (Vol. 15 No.2)

Dr Wu Yik-chung Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Dr Wu works in one of the most exciting and fastest-moving fields of technology – that of wireless communications. 25 years ago, hardly anyone had a mobile phone. Today nearly everyone has a smartphone. The work of engineers such as Dr Wu to improve the way that communications travel to and from devices over networks has made a critical contribution to modern living. Dr Wu, who completed his Bachelor and Master degrees at HKU, focusses on modelling uncertainty in wireless systems and investigating optimal decisions under uncertainty. He has drawn on advanced mathematical tools to pioneer a number of techniques for transmitter and receiver designs that have made wireless communication more reliable and efficient. “My research requires me to extract the meanings behind mathematics and match it to the real world. When I find a good match, I see the beauty in it,” he said. His work has been published in top journals and also attracted interest from the wireless industry, including the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute and the communications giant Huawei Technology Limited. Dr Yao Wang Department of Physics Dr Yao likens research to hiking on an unknown hiking trail. “You don’t know where it will lead to, you just stake it step by step. Sometimes the sea is there, sometimes it is hidden in the fog. Perseverance is the key.” He has taken many steps in his young career. Dr Yao, who received his PhD in 2006 and joined HKU in 2008, was one of the first two recipients of the Croucher Innovation Award in 2013. He and his team focus on the degree of internal freedom in electrons, which has potential for providing new concepts in electronics and information processing. His theoretical predictions on valley pseudospin in particular have been observed by many experimental groups and are having a high impact internationally. Previously it was thought valley pseudospin would be unusable, but his work makes this possible in newly emerged two-dimensional materials. “Physics to me is to understand the laws of nature and make use of them to change our lives,” he said. “I hope our discovery can eventually lead to faster and more energy-efficient electronics for future information technologies.” Mr Thomas Cheng Kin-hon Department of Law Fair competition is very important to Mr Cheng, whether at play or at work. “In life we need rules so that we can operate on a level playing field,” he said. “In the economy, firms need rules and regulations so they can compete fairly with each other.” Further, he has long been drawn to areas where law and economics intersect. Given all these factors, competition law became an obvious choice of professional and academic focus. His particular research interest is competition law in developing countries. “One of the most common problems for developing countries is price-fixing by multinationals.” He tries to use his research to benefit Hong Kong and says the most exciting part of his academic career so far was being involved in developing Hong Kong’s newly introduced competition legislation, and now playing a role in enforcing the law as a member of the Competition Commission. “I hope it will provide a healthier and fairer competition environment for firms in Hong Kong,” he said. Dr Liu Zhonghui Department of Earth Sciences Dr Liu is not the first scientist to understand that studying the past is the key to knowing the future, but, given current fascination with anticipated anthropogenic climate change, his work is particularly valuable. His area of expertise is in reading hidden climate change information in rocks and sediment and recognising rhythms of natural climate variability beyond the historical period. “My interest is in climate change on different time scales – ranging from the last 1,000 years to much older times such as 40 or 50 million years ago,” he said. Dr Liu focusses on characteristic warm periods in the geological past, to understand the chain of climatic responses and potential driving mechanisms that would have maintained a warmer climate, including the role of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide) in global climate change. His work takes him around the world – collecting samples from places as different as deep in the north Atlantic Ocean, to remote parts of China. Smiling, he said the compounds he finds “are like diamonds to me”, and he sincerely hopes his research will itself stand the test of time. Dr Stephanie Ma Kwai-yee Department of Anatomy Since completing her PhD at HKU in 2007, Dr Ma’s work has focussed on cancer stem cells, using liver and esophageal cancer model systems as her primary research focus. Her work on liver cancer stem cells has been most fruitful in recent years, and it is her sincere hope that her findings can one day be translated from bench to bedside and contribute to the improvement of therapies for these diseases. Dr Ma has published more than 35 papers during her time at HKU, and is listed among the top one per cent of most cited scholars by the ISI’s Essential Science Indicators. She has also won many awards including the 2007 Li Ka Shing Prize for the Best PhD Thesis (HKU) and 2008 Hong Kong Young Scientist Award in Life Sciences from the Hong Kong Institution of Science. Looking upon cancer research not as a job but as an integral part of her life, Dr Ma believes that successful scientific pursuit should naturally be driven by curiosity, motivation, determination and the quest for knowledge. OUTSTANDING YOUNG RESEARCHER AWARD This award honours young scholars who are at Associate Professor rank or below and have produced high-quality, internationally recognised research. Recipients each receive HK$150,000 per year for two years and a research postgraduate studentship. 34 | 35 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin | May 2014 Teaching, Research and Knowledge Exchange Awards