Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you have all enjoyed a peaceful and joyful holiday season.
I personally am very pleased to be here today to welcome you all to the opening of Phase Two of the Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing. As many of you know, Phase One was opened last year, and already this state-of-the-art facility is inspiring students to dream big and shoot for the moon.
Research, innovation and knowledge exchange are the pillars underpinning HKU’s drive to become a world-leading University. HKU is expanding, stepping up strategic research partnerships, and attracting the world’s top science and engineering talent. We are engaging in deep fundamental research and taking on grand challenges for the benefit of humanity.
As the University grows, we are shifting our research from activity to value, from output to outcome, and from strength to international leadership.
Reaching the next level of excellence requires the development of physical platforms and facilities. Our planning and construction of such platforms are underway both on our Hong Kong campus as well as in the Greater Bay Area.
The Faculty of Engineering is an integral part of all our new platforms and initiatives under development. With the inauguration of the Innovation Wing Two, the University has a great opportunity to showcase our engineering research accomplishments to a wide audience.
This sharing will take place in the form of exhibits, such as what we see here today, and through a regular series of presentations delivered by our outstanding faculty and PhD students for the general public.
Finally, Innovation Wing Two provides a collaboration platform for interdisciplinary research and technology development. The Tam Wing Fan Innovation Wing One and Two, connected by a canopy across the walkway, allow us to link Hong Kong’s premier hands-on undergraduate engineering learning centre to our state-of-the-art research.
Mrs. Tam, in this season of celebration and appreciation, we would like to take this opportunity to express our deep gratitude again for your exceptional dedication to HKU. Your faithful partnership has endowed us with the capacity to accelerate our mission, and more importantly, your generosity will impact future engineers for generations to come. Thank you.