Prof. Naubahar SHARIF, Professor and Acting Head of the Division of Public Policy (PPOL), has successfully obtained HK$2 million worth of funding from the HKSAR Government' s Mental Health Initiatives Funding Scheme for the 24-month project entitled “Preparing and Deploying Ethnic Minority Lay Leaders to Promote Mental Well-Being Among Hong Kong's Major Ethnic Minority Communities”.

This project will be among the first to address mental health challenges faced by Hong Kong's ethnic minority communities, as well as pioneer the "lay-leader" model in promoting awareness regarding mental health issues among often-overlooked ethnic minorities in Hong Kong.

The final presentation of TEMG4950I “Urban Retrofitting Strategies for Arup” was successfully held on 5 May 2022. It marks the end of another challenging student-consulting project offered by Dual Degree Program in Technology & Management (T&M-DDP).  Although more than half of the class do not have a degree in Civil Engineering, students learned a new domain of retrofitting for decarbonization and energy-efficiency, and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set up by the United Nations.

Prof. Jianzhen YU, Chair Professor from Division of Environment and Sustainability, received the Asian Aerosol Research Assembly (AARA) Fellow award at the 12th Asian Aerosol Conference in Taipei. The AARA has established AARA Fellows to recognize individuals with outstanding service to the AARA and significant contributions to the field aerosol science and technology and in Asian regions for more than 10 years. 

The IPO Best Research Award 2021/22 was contested by highly productive students of IPO, who have in all instances excelled in academic performance. For the PhD category, the first prize was awarded to Dr. Jinjian LI (PhD in Environmental Science, Policy and Management program, Class of 2021) in light of her numerous publications and her outstanding innovative work on an online Aerosol Nitrogen Analyzer. The runner-up prize was given to Mr. Tilman Leo HOHENBERGER (PhD in Atmospheric Environmental Science program, Year 5) for his substantial contribution to develop new data analysis and integration techniques to measure urban air quality. For the MPhil category, Ms Veronica Qin Ting LI was awarded the first prize to honor her policy research on using personal data and digital applications to improve information management on COVID-19.

Shanshan WANG from Dual Degree Program in Technology & Management (T&M-DDP, Class of 2012) received a Certificate of Merit at the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) Young Engineer of the Year Award 2022 in recognition of her effort and dedication to the engineering profession. The award honours the outstanding young engineers who have made commendable engineering achievements and valuable contributions to the continuous development of Hong Kong. 

Dual Degree Program in Technology & Management (T&M-DDP) Class of 2021 graduate, Log G CHENG and T&M-DDP Year 5 student, Laurence NG were awarded with the championship in AI & FinTech theme at Hong Kong Techathon 2022. Apart from cash prize HK$10,000, they are also admitted directly to a number of tech-related business competitions and have opened up many funding opportunities, the team is very excited to bring the business to the next stage. 

To promote exchange among faculty members and well-being at the Interdisciplinary Programs Office, a faculty get-together hiking event was held on 21 May 2022 from Quarry Bay to Repulse Bay. IPO staff, faculty and their family members followed the Quarry Bay to Repulse Bay hiking route via Tai Tam Reservoir of Tai Tam Country Park (Quarry Bay Extension). During the two-hour hike, IPO faculty and staff were able to mingle with each other and appreciate the natural scenery along the trail. They passed by the beautiful scenery of Tai Tam Reservoir, Tai Tam Waterworks Heritage Trail and Repulse Bay Beach.