Prof. Christopher CHAO Yu-hang

Vice President (Research and Innovation) and Chair Professor of Thermal and Environmental Engineering,
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Former Member, Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund Council (2017 - 2023)
Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowships for Overseas Studies 1990/91

Prof Christopher CHAO Yu-hang It has been over 20 years since I submitted my application form for Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowships for Overseas Studies to embark my graduate study journey in the US. In those days there were only a few scholarship schemes that allowed students to study in the US. The interviews went well and I made use of the fellowship to study at the University of California at Berkeley and finished my Masters and Doctoral degrees there in Mechanical Engineering. The exposure has certainly opened up my eye sight as it was the first time I went to a place outside China in my whole life. Being a Sir Edward Youde Fellow has certainly changed my whole life with a bunch of exciting opportunities ahead of me.

After I finished my PhD study in 1994, I came back to Hong Kong and started my academic career, first at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (1995 to 1997), the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (1997 to May 2018) and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) (since June 2018). The research training at Berkeley is a strong one and at that time Hong Kong started to focus on building up research intensive universities. I think I caught the right timing, and since then my academic career has been a pretty smooth one. In recent years I have been embarking new journey on university administration serving as Associate Dean of Engineering at HKUST in charge of Research and Graduate Study for a few years and then took up the headship of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering since 2014. Since June 2018, I have been serving as Dean of Engineering and Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at HKU.

This journey is still going on, and I think as a Youde Fellow, we could never forget the support from the Fund that has shaped us in many different ways, and our commitment back to Hong Kong society. I am sure that many other Youders share the same visions, and I think this forms a strong force to move our society forward among the turmoil ahead.