Prof Limin Zhang (third from left) and his research team.

Prof Karl Tsim

Prof Qian Zhang

This year, on the research front, HKUST is getting multiple recognitions from the Ministry of Education in its annual Awards for Research Excellence in Natural Sciences. Five HKUST scientists in three separate projects were honored for their research discoveries.

Prof Limin Zhang and the recently deceased Prof Wilson Tang both of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering won First Class Award in Natural Sciences. In collaboration with their three former doctoral and post-doctoral fellows, they achieved breakthroughs in reducing the uncertainty of geotechnical analysis models and in developing a framework for effective engineering risk management. Their research outcomes have been applied to the design of large hydropower projects on the Mainland, as well as landslide risk mitigation in Hong Kong.

In a totally different field, traditional Chinese herbal remedies have always occupied an important part in the lives of Chinese people down the centuries. Their popularity has spread to the West where alternative medicine is gaining favor. Prof Karl Wah-Keung Tsim and Dr Tingxia Dong both of the Division of Life Science have been systematically subjecting such medicinal formulas to rigorous analysis. For their pains and gains they were given a Second Class Award in Natural Sciences, specifically for their study of the famous Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT), a formula widely used by herbal practitioners in the treatment of menopausal symptoms and internal injuries. This is a joint pharmacological study of DBT by a team under the research direction of Prof Tsim and Capital Medical University.

HKUST is regarded as a stronghold in Computer Science and Engineering research. So it is not surprising that this year Prof Qian Zhang and her collaborators from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Peking University and the Beijing Institute of Technology have been honored with a Second Class Award for discovering ways of overcoming the defects of existing statistic spectrum management. This results in reducing costs while improving its utilization efficiency. Given the unceasing demand for wireless multimedia communications in our global community, theirs is a development of good cheer.