The International Summer School of CUHK, which draws students from all over the world every year, is launching an inaugural ‘Chinese Art and Culture Month’ for the 400 foreign students attending the Summer School this year, thanks to the generous support of the Qin Jia Yuan Foundation Limited, co-founded by Dr. Philip Wong Yu-hong and Dr. Anita Leung Fung-yee. 

Organised by Lee Woo Sing College, the programme comprises a series of Chinese traditional art and cultural performances and seminars, such as a Chinese folk arts workshop, a music show, a movie night and the demonstration of different Chinese Operas. The performances are conducted by renowned artists to give students an in-depth and interactive experience of Chinese culture. It also includes an exciting tour of Guangzhou City to experience the local culture.

Let’s watch the video for the highlights of the opening ceremony, in which the audience was amazed by the Sichuan face-changing show and joined Prof. Joseph Sung, CUHK Vice-Chancellor in writing Chinese calligraphy.

Fourteen teams from CUHK have recently swept up top awards in the “Challenge Cup” National Competition Hong Kong Regional Final – Hong Kong University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition 2016, including the Grand Prize of the two categories, namely “Innovation” and “Entrepreneurship” as well as the Outstanding Organization Award. CUHK also received the highest number of awards from the competition amongst the participating tertiary institutions.

The project winning Grand Prize for innovation and also the First Award of Mechanical and Control System is a vacuum nanoimprinting system developed by Chen Jianwei, a PhD student from the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering. Presently, there is no practical way to fabricate patterns on nonplanar substrates. The system can generate a significant impact in the manufacturing industry by presenting a new nanomanufacturing platform for fabricating multi-layer 2D/3D precision structures on nonplanar substrates in a parallel and cost effective way.

An Anti-loss Solution by two CUHK graduates, Mr. Kuo Wai Keung from the Department of Information Engineering and Mr. Lau Pak Lam from the Department of Finance was awarded the Grand Prize in Entrepreneurship. Their project involves the installation of a Bluetooth device in handbags and wallets. With the tailor-made module in mobile applications, the device will alert users if their valuables are located beyond the designated distance. Furthermore, the anti-fake function of the system enables the users to easily check the authenticity of products. The project also won the First Award of Newly Established Enterprise.

Another First Award winning project is called the Continuous Blood Pressure Monitoring System from Face Recognition. It is by two students, Lo Po Wen, an MPhil student, and Wang Chaoqun, a PhD student, both from the Department of Electronic Engineering. The system aims at developing a novel physiological monitoring system based on optical recordings and face recognition technique. It facilitates real time contactless monitoring over a long distance and enables physicians to monitor the real-time situation of multiple patients.

During the 2016 Venice Biennale, the world’s most famous architectural exhibition, a one-storey wooden structure named Dou Pavilion by Prof. Zhu Jingxiang of the School of Architecture at CUHK became the spotlight. It is one of the few buildings in the exhibition that were built on a 1:1 scale to their original models.

Dou Pavilion originates in one of Prof. Zhu’s projects, a kindergarten model built in Gansu Province in China. In 2015, a number of these models, known also as Checkered Playrooms, were assembled by Professor Zhu’s team in remote villages in Gansu, in collaboration with the Western Sunshine Rural Development Foundation. The playful design makes these playrooms a hit with their users. Children enjoy hanging out in the playrooms even without toys. Different from the traditional classroom design, the ‘boxes’ on the walls and the floor are so kids-friendly that the children love to sit or lie in them, and explore their own different ways to occupy these spaces.

Prof. Zhu has been working on pre-fab light-weight constructions for a decade and has developed a group of prototypes, applied in various projects in mainland China and overseas. His playroom is a good example of adopting pre-fab building technology. The components of the structure were made so light and user-friendly that the assembling process created opportunities to involve and bring together different members of the local community. Prof. Zhu suggested that the light-weight building system can also be adapted to the complexity of the Hong Kong landscape. For example, it can be easily installed on top of an existing heavy structure to provide a temporary shelter or an additional function, without breaking or changing the original structure. It is more efficient in cost, safe in construction, and more environment-friendly.