With the coming of autumn, a small thatched cottage was built by the lawn next to Lake Ad Excellentiam. The humble cottage perfectly matches the forest. It gives off a refreshing earthiness, like a fragrance, that clears your mind on the autumn breeze.

The idea started when a renowned architect from Taiwan, Mr. Kris Yao, was invited to give a talk, titled ‘Making A Thatched Cottage Amongst the Throng of Men’, for the University Lecture on Civility on 7 November. Inspired by this topic, Prof. Thomas Chung from the School of Architecture came out with the idea and invited local experts on bamboo scaffolding to build a thatched cottage next to Lake Ad Excellentiam. Some students and professors also participated by lending a helping hand in the construction work in the past few weeks.

When you walk by, do come to pick out a piece of bamboo scroll and put your thoughts into words to join the “Dialogue in the Bamboo Fence” to get a free ticket for Kris Yao’s lecture. You can also enjoy the Exhibition of Kris Yao's Production at School of Architecture at An Integrated Teaching Building (AITB), which is just a few steps away.

Now, let’s watch a short video to see how the cottage was built.

CUHK will participate in the InnoCarnival 2014, from 1 to 9 November at the Hong Kong Science Park. Eighteen innovative projects developed by CUHK researchers and students will be showcased to inspire youngsters’ interest towards science and technology.

The projects from CUHK, covering different aspects of our lives, are results of the expertise and innovation of CUHK researchers and students. One of the projects is called ‘Material Transporter', which was designed and built by five undergraduates from the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering. The machine is able to solve the problem of carrying heavy granular material up the stairs in a limited space. It will be easily applicable to helping the elderly or physically inconvenienced people to transport heavy items in the crowded environment of Hong Kong.

Another project, the ‘Tree Guard Monitoring System’, is jointly developed by Prof. Chiu Siu Wai from School of Life Sciences and Prof. Cheng Chun Hung from Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management. The system allows round-the-clock surveillance against tree theft, as well as giving alerts to the possible collapse of tilted or sicken trees. The system can be adopted by country parks and property managements to maintain continuous control even with limited resources. Besides the demonstration of various innovative projects, interactive games are also available to let visitors understand more about how technology can help everyday lives.

Now, let’s take a look in advance, through the video, at how the two projects mentioned above work. Come and visit the InnoCarnival from 1 to 9 November to learn more about the other innovative projects.

On 21 October, Prof. Edward Ng gave his Inaugural Lecture of Yao Ling Sun Professorship in Architecture. During the lecture, which was titled ‘The Right is to be Done’, Prof. Ng took the audience down his path in finding ‘what should have been done and could be done’ by him to improve the lives of others in the past 15 years.

From altering how a window should be opened for fresher air to constructing a better house that will survive the next earthquake; from improving the environmental design of a city to building a bridge for village children to go to school; and from reducing the heat for our aging population to designing a playground for an ethnic minority, Prof. Ng’s mission is always to improve others’ lives.

Let’s review the lecture through the video and think about what is the ‘right thing’ that we should do.