SPOTLIGHTS ON WOMEN
Here’s a collection of stories about women associated with the University that are worth learning more from. They could be council member, faculty, staff, alumni or students who have great contribution and make an impact on their fields and areas to the society.
Faculty and Staff
Prof. Nancy IP
“The science and research we conduct today translate to the technology and advancement of tomorrow. Accumulating knowledge and pushing knowledge frontiers should be a collective goal for mankind.”
Prof. Irene LO
“Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students” by American Politician, Mr. Solomon Ortiz”
Prof. Jiewen HONG
Nisa LEUNG
“Women are now more equally represented in many fields, including technology and innovation. I am proud to work with many female entrepreneurs from our portfolio companies, who are breaking gender barriers and driving innovation across various sectors. They are bold and courageous in the business world, creating values for the society. Together, let’s strive to build a better world of greater health, openness, and inclusiveness.”
Nisa is Managing Partner of Qiming Venture Partners, leading its health care investments. Qiming Venture Partners is a leading investment firm in China which currently manages investment in over 400 companies. She currently sits on the board of Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB; HKSE:9688), CanSino Biologics (SSE:688185; HKSE:6185), Venus MedTech (HKSE:2500), New Horizon Health (HKSE:6606), dMed, Chain Medical Labs, Berry Oncology, Belief BioMed, ZhenGe Biotech, Alamar Biosciences among others. Nisa has been recognized by the Forbes Global 100 VC Midas List in 2019, 2020 and 2021 and named Best Women VCs List by Forbes China (#2 in 2021, #3 in 2018). Nisa earned her MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BS from Cornell University. She is currently visiting lecturer at Harvard Law School, member of Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council and serves as an INED of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (“HKEX”) and Hong Kong Palace Museum.
Prof. Ophelia TSUI
Professor, Department of Physics
Director of William Mong Institute of Nano Science and Technology
Prof. Véronique A. LAFON-VINAIS
Associate Professor of Business Education
Senior Lecturer of Department of Finance
Program Co-Director of BSc in Sustainable and Green Finance-
Associate Director of Undergraduate Programs (School of Business and Management)
Associate Director of World Bachelor in Business Program
Executive Director, Career Development and Corporate Outreach (School of Business and Management)
“My lifelong challenge has been to learn patience.”
She is now dedicating herself full time to education and teaching at HKUST, where she teaches in the MBA/MSc programs as well as in the Undergraduate Programs, and professional training and consulting for the finance industry.
Veronique is married with two children. She is a French national and a Hong Kong Permanent Resident.
Prof. Rhea LIEM
“Find something you are really passionate about and have the courage to pursue it. Then, be very good at it so no one can doubt you.”
Prof. Yiwen WANG
Associate Professor, Departments of Electronic and Computer Engineering and Chemical and Biological Engineering
Prof. Emily NASON
Associate Professor of Business Education
Director, Undergraduate Recruitment & Admissions Office
BBA (MGTO)
“No job is easy. But if you see meaning in your work, it will inspire you to keep going.”
Prof. Caroline WANG
“To embrace equity through a fair process, a leader is not only accountable for openly setting clear standards, but also ensuring the implementation where all those who meet the standards regardless of different individual characteristics will be recognized. Each individual has an indispensable responsibility to fully understand and meet the standards, and also add incremental value to the team they belong to. Equality is the outcome of the joint and persistent endeavors by both leaders and individuals.”
Prof. Caroline Wang was IBM’s highest ranked Asian woman executive globally. Of her 30 year-tenure at IBM, she worked in the US, Japan and Hong Kong for respectively 15, 7 and 8 years, during which she was appointed as Adjunct Professor by HKUST Business School in 2003 and granted Honorary Fellow by HKUST in 2020. Professor Wang has served as Board Director for different industries, including media, fashion, manufacturing, banking, insurance, and education. She teaches MBA, EMBA, and Executive programs in the areas of “Managerial Decision Making and Leadership”, “Leading Change”, and “Managerial Communication”.
Professor Wang was the valedictorian of her graduating class at National Taiwan University. She received her Master of Art from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Sociology, and Master of Science from Harvard University in Health Services Administration and Population Sciences. She is the author of 2 books: “Managerial Decision Making and Leadership” in English, and its Chinese version《决策思维》.
Prof. Hnin Yin Yin NYEIN
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering
Prof. Angela Wu
Associate Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering & Division of Life Science
MIT Technology Review Magazine’s Top 10 Innovators Under 35 in Asia in 2017
Teresa KO
“Gender diversity is not just a business imperative but the right thing to do. Diversity promotes better ideas, solutions and decisions.
Hong Kong-listed companies disclosing diversity policies and having at least one woman per board is only a small step forward.
We should encourage dialogue, mindset change and positive action to illuminate the benefits of diversity, especially gender diversity. We must also continue to expand opportunities for women to benefit of our community.
Believe in them, support them and help them pave their own paths forward and upward.”
Described as “an icon in the industry”, Teresa is one of the most prominent corporate and securities lawyers having led eight out of ten of the largest IPOs in Hong Kong.
She is the first female to chair the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Listing Committee and initiated disclosure of gender diversity for Hong Kong listed companies. She believes board and corporate diversity and inclusion is not just a business imperative but the right thing to do.
As Vice Chair of the IFRS Foundation, she is an influential leader advocating ISSB’s global baseline of sustainability disclosure and believes that individual as well as collective efforts count.
She is recognized in 2023 for the 6th consecutive year, ranked 5th place in 2023’s 100 HERoes Executive Role Models and named on Forbes’ ‘Asia's Power Businesswomen’ list 2021.
Jennifer YU CHENG
“To my mind, #InspireInclusion means: providing the access, opportunities, and resources to allow everyone to contribute meaningfully. Everyone has an innate talent, skill, or gift which can benefit society when we provide diverse pathways for people to pursue their passions and interests. These pathways include inspiring, supporting, and mentoring the leaders and thinkers of tomorrow – and they begin with education.”
Jennifer is Group President and Deputy Vice Chairwoman of CTF Education Group (CTFEG) and Founder of JYC Girls Impact Foundation (JYCGIF), a charitable initiative empowering teenage girls through education to become future ready leaders.
She is Chairman of HKUST Institutional Advancement and Outreach Committee; HKUST Council Member; Members of HKUST Council Standing Committee, Finance Committee, and Knowledge Transfer Committee; and HKUST Business School Advisory Council Member.
Jennifer is a Non-official Member of both the Women’s Commission and Commission on Children.
Alumni and Students
Janice PANG
Alison YEUNG Wun-Lam
HKUST Robotics team
“My ambition is to be a product or software engineer and create a tech-related start-up to invent and develop sustainability-related products.”
Sarah Shuo FENG
Dr. Dajung KIM
Dr. Xiao LU
Dr. Melody Jin Teng CHUNG
Jing GAO (HKUST EMBA)
Inspired by a role model of tenacity and courage, Marie Curie, who is a Nobel Prize-winning scientist and devoted her life to discovering the elements polonium and radium, GAO Jing believes “every woman has infinite potential. We should encourage them to pursue their goals, stay motivated and explore their possibilities.”
To promote diversity and inclusion in her company’s culture, Jing has established a comprehensive mechanism to recognize female talent and support their career development, resulting in 59% of women being represented in top management positions. Additionally, she has been actively developing the 170 Entrepreneurship Camp to support and facilitate female participation in scientific and innovative projects.
Amanda TUNG
“Don’t be defeated because you are the minority in the room. Always stretch yourself for a better self.”
Amanda has over 10 years of experience in marketing with commitment and passion in the FinTech space. She is the Founding Board of Directors at the FinTech Association of Hong Kong (FTAHK). She was elected as one of the most powerful female leaders in FinTech, 2017. Amanda currently serves as Senior Manager, Partnership in ZhongAn International. She previously managed marketing initiatives across ANX International group and Octagon Strategy Limited.
Amy POON
BEng in Civil and Environmental Engineering (2011)
District Engineer (General), Highways Department, The Government of the HKSAR
Andrea VILLAROMAN
BEng in Chemical and Bioproduct Engineering (2013)
Clinical Research Coordinator and Project Manager at University of California, San Francisco
First US undergraduate student in CBE
Anushka PUROHIT
When I had to choose my major, my love for math and science made picking Engineering the most obvious choice. Eventually, I’ve dipped my toes into Engineering and Entrepreneurship, a testament to the versatility of Engineering.
Having the foundational technical knowledge allows each individual to approach a problem differently, looking for the existing gaps and wondering what information one has to fill the gap. HKUST has given me a platform for research, experimentation, and exploration – I truly learnt this when I was away from HKUST in UC Berkeley on exchange!
At HKUST, I never felt like I was limited by my major. I was always encouraged to use my engineering learning and apply it to other areas, which inspired me to begin my own startup at HKUST! I used my engineering learning to solve Hong Kong’s food wastage problem with Breer, finding a new area of interest for myself.
As an Engineering Student Ambassador, I hope to inspire other students to do the same, follow their passions and never feel limited by their majors! HKUST is all about leaving your comfort zone and excelling in it – your home away from home!
Ayumi LEE
“Impact the world with your actions” has been Ayumi’s life motto. Her parents named her “Ayumi”, or “taking steps” in Japanese, to ensure she makes strides towards such vision. The origin of her name fueled her passion for entrepreneurship at an early age. To ensure she is equipped with relevant knowledge in building a startup, she has taken two majors in Global Business and Marketing, and two minors in Design and Psychology. Having a quadruple background, she has co-founded 3 startups during her university studies, ranging from a website analytics SAAS, design assistant SAAS to a VR-guided meditation hub. All of them have gained recognition in several competitions, such as the Alibaba Entrepreneurship Fund Jumpstarter Global Top 10, Enactus Cup Regional Championship, and Cyberport Incubation Programme. In addition, Ayumi demonstrates academic distinction besides her entrepreneurial venture, where she has received awards from both Zonta Club of Victoria for excellence in business studies, and Zonta International for Jane M Klausman Women in Business District Scholarship.
Bianca HO
BBA(GBUS & ECON)
Co-founder and COO of Clare
Bianca Ho is the co-founder and COO of Clare.AI. Award winning Clare.AI builds proprietary industry-specific omni-channel conversational digital assistants that can understand 10+ Asian languages. We partner with leading institutions in real estate, telecommunications, and financial institutions to create conversational digital experiences. With one of their Fortune 500 clients, they have automated 87% of their FAQ inquiries.
She started her career in JP Morgan Private Banking servicing the ultra high net worth clients in Hong Kong. She worked closely with Zendesk’s executive team on developing China market entry strategy.
Optional: She previously co-founded Dotkids, a startup aiming to create a children friendly space online by applying for .kids domain name. She is also an active youth advocate in Internet governance, and is selected as one of the youngest members of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group in the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (“UNIGF”).
Cammy YIU
KH EMBA
Managing Director of Asia Brand
Cammy is an Entrepreneur, Editor in Chief and a Marketing Professional.
She was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Canada. After obtaining her first degree and starting her career as an art gallery manager in Edmonton, Alberta, she returned to Hong Kong in 1992, for “a bit of adventure” and – like so many others – stayed. She worked in senior management level positions in various companies until she started her own business, a Marketing Consultancy, in 2003.
She is currently the Managing Director of Asia Brand, a marketing consultancy. In addition to her responsibilities for the general management of the company, she is also in charge of directing and managing client projects, developing business and strategic alliances, as well as new premium product and services.
Since January 2005, Asia Brand has been the Publisher of CULTURE Magazine with Cammy as Editor in Chief. CULTURE Magazine is an English-language monthly publication developed specifically to feature articles and photo essays on arts, culture, travel, lifestyle, food and wine for the Hong Kong and China market. Cammy also managed Alluminate Gallery, an easy-to-use online platform for art collectors to view and buy original works of art.
Carol ZHOU
At the forefront of driving innovation and development in China’s booming consumer sector is Carol Zhou, SVP of China Business Innovation & Investment Office for Shiseido, established in early 2019. “It was an exciting opportunity to build everything from scratch…a new team, a new division, and we’re creating something totally different in China for the Chinese consumer leveraging the dynamic ecosystem here,” said Carol.
Carol and her team not only drives acceleration of current businesses within the group, but also develops new customer-centric solutions targeting the new China generation who values self-expression, personalization and healthy living.
She has a strong belief that one should stop waiting for that perfect moment. For someone to love you, for more money, for when you are “ready”. Happiness is when you stop waiting and just make the best of what you can, at this present moment.
As SVP of China Business Innovation & Investment office for Shiseido created in Jan 2019 , Carol is helping to shape the next phase of transformation for the company. By leveraging the dynamic ecosystem and entrepreneurial talents in China, Carol will help to accelerate the implementations of innovations and new business models, to create new beauty business as the next growth driver of the Shiseido group on a global level. Previously, she has held a number of management positions at multinational firms such as Unilever, Burberry, L’Oréal, and Marriott where she has led global strategy & innovation functions across regions and categories.
Cathy CHAN
“Nothing worth having comes easy ”
Cathy is a part-time elite junior athlete at the Hong Kong Sports Institute after she became the Bronze medalist at the 2nd Nanjing Asian Youth Games – Women’s Rugby event in 2013. Since then, she represented Hong Kong in several junior tournaments and obtained her coaching certificates from the International Rugby Board. During her first year at HKUST, she served as the vice-captain of the school’s women’s rugby team where the team finished second in the Tertiary Xs League. She was invited to join the National seniors VIIs and XVs Squad in the same year. She also led the Hong Kong U20 women’s team to the Asia Rugby U20 Sevens Series 2017 as the co-captain of the team.
Not only is Cathy dedicated in sports, she also engages vaguely in organized activities. She is now the Chairperson of the Sports Association, HKUSTSU and was the Founder and Chairperson of the Student Air Cadet Society, HKUSTSU. During Cathy’s time in high school, she also represented the Hong Kong Air Cadet Corps to New Zealand and United Kingdom for Brush-craft training course and Rifle Shooting Competition (Inter-service Cader Rifle Meeting).
Considering her outstanding performance in extra-curricular activities, she was nominated by HKUST for the Sai Kung District Outstanding Youth Commendation Scheme in 2017. During that year, she was awarded the Top 10 Outstanding Youth and Stellar Accomplishment Award by the Commissions on Youth and Home Affair Bureau, HKSAR.
Cathy JIM
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Celia LAO
“Be the best version of yourself every day!”
Celia joined AirAsia as Country Manager – China, and became the airline’s very first employee in that region in 2004. Known as “the iron fist in the velvet glove”, she has overcome many challenges with resilience and determination in the male-dominated aviation industry in Greater China over the last 17 years, has made great contributions to further AirAsia’s presence in the region by taking different management positions in areas of Government & Airport Affairs, Regulatory Compliances, Operations Management and Commercial Strategy, has successfully moved up from being a manager to a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the airline in 2017, and currently responsible for developing and expanding AirAsia digital business in Greater China as the Company is pivoting from an airline to a unified e-commerce platform. In doing so, Celia has been recognized with numerous awards, including Hong Kong’s outstanding woman leader award in 2019, Guangdong – Hong Kong – Macao Greater Bay Area Best Social Responsibility Award in September 2021 and the Inspiring Woman Leader in Asia in December 2021.
Chloe CHAN
BEng in Chemical and Biological Engineering
President of the Students’ Union Provisional Executive Committee (2017-18)
Stephen Cheong Kam-chuen Medal for Distinguished Service to the Student Body
Chloe CHAN
“Identifying the problems is never difficult, the hard part is stepping out of your comfort zone and adapt.”
When I was 8 years old skating around the ice rink, I was amazed by a kid in hockey skates zooming past like wind. That was the defining moment for my love with ice hockey.
Many relate ice hockey with 6-foot-tall men bumping into each other. My mom included. As I started, I realized I was the only girl in the entire high school league. There were no separated leagues for boys and girls and most boys were at least a head taller than me.
Despite the difference in physical built, I disliked it when boys went easy on me. I would tie up my hair just so no one knew I was a girl.
Over time I realized I was capable of achieving success. I ended up being captain for my school team and now part of the national team. I believe that if we push ourselves hard enough, we will be able to prove for ourselves.
To me, it’s most important not to give up. Identifying the problems is never difficult, the hard part is stepping out of the comfort zone and adapt. Overcoming obstacles does not just mean always trying to be at the top, it’s more about pushing oneself, because nobody is perfect. We all have our flaws that we must face up to and deal with.
Christina ZHANG
BBA (ACCT)
Senior Director, Corporate Strategy & Communication, DJI
Christina Zhang is the treasurer and director of corporate strategy of DJI. Since joining DJI in late 2013, she has helped to direct cash management and fundraising to support the firm’s rapid expansion. Her work also includes liaising with potential industry partners and universities to expand application of unmanned aerial systems.
Before joining DJI, Christina was an audit manager at one of the big four accounting firms, where she spent almost six years conducting financial audits and appraising internal control and risks for Hong Kong listed companies. Christina holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree (Accounting Major) from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and she is a holder of Hong Kong Certified Public Accountant.
Cindy CHOW
MBA 2002
Executive Director, Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund
“There’s a will, there’s a way.”
Claudia CHEUNG
“If you never try, you’ll never know, don’t die hesitating”
Claudia is a Year 2 student from the School of Business and Management. At the same time, Claudia is also a Taekwondo Poomsae athlete in the Hong Kong Taekwondo Team, as such she gets to represent Hong Kong to participate in various overseas training and international tournaments. In view of the upcoming Asian Games 2018 at Indonesia, Palembang, she is being selected to train and earn more experience through various competitions abroad, that is why she decided to take a gap year. She has been in the team for around 3 years and has captured over 10 medals in these years. She was even awarded with the Best Female Athlete by the Hong Kong Taekwondo Association in 2017. Apart from training and competing hard, Claudia enjoys teaching her profession to younger kids in order to promote the sport in Hong Kong, hoping to gain more attention and support from the public or even the government.
Dolphin YIP
“Live the Life you Love, Love the Life you Live!”
“There is no mistake, only experiences.”
Dolphin is a Visual Artist who actively promotes Meditative Art in Hong Kong. With an inborn hip-joint dislocation condition, Dolphin was told by the doctors there will be a high chance to have to rely on a wheelchair for the rest of her life. She suffered continuous pains until she started her spiritual practice in late 20s and realized that physical illness is highly related to psychological condition and beliefs. At 35, her hip pain got significantly improved by a shift in core beliefs. She was then inspired to fully focus on art healing for people in need.
With 10 years of mindfulness practice, Dolphin alchemized meditation with expressive arts and founded a neo-form of meditative practice named “Soul Painting”, which supported her to recover from postpartum depression in 2016.
In 2018, Dolphin extended the concept of Meditative Art to various art forms beyond painting, and founded a pioneer meditative art hub, Art of Dove (A.O.D.) Meditative Art Studio, to further cultivate this unique concept in Asia. Dolphin obtained a MA (SOSC) & a BBA (MARK) degrees from HKUST.
Dr. Gigi SUEN
BEng in Civil and Structural Engineering (2006)
PhD in Civil Engineering (2012)
Engineer, JMK Consulting Engineers Limited
Fanny SUEN
BBA(MARK)
Founder, MobiChef
Fanny is the founder of MobiChef, an online platform for diners to book a personal chef to come and cook in their home.
When Fanny took a career break after eight years in the hotel industry, she came up with a thought about the possibility of having a chef taking care of the dinner for gatherings at home when she was cooking for her family. Very soon she started the project and launched MobiChef in 2017. From convincing experienced chefs to join, to expanding the potential market, Fanny has conquered many challenges by keeping her faith that MobiChef is bringing a better life to both the chefs and food lovers.
Irene CHEUNG
“No one is too busy, it is just a matter of priorities. Think twice and action fast.”
Jelly ZHOU
“Encountering and overcoming challenges makes an essential part of my life, keeping me energetic, young and brave. Over my career journey, I have walked through various positions across different industries including marketing, business development, customer services, content distribution and partnership and production administration. I believe that limits and bias would not hold us back, unless we admit their existence.”
Jelly is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (Hong Kong) of Hong Kong Technology Venture Company Limited. She oversees the business direction and management of the Hong Kong business operations of the Group under “HKTVmall”, including sales and marketing, O2O shop management, customer services, automated fulfilment and logistics functions and development of the Group’s digital ecosystem. Jelly joined the Group as a management trainee, and she held numerous positions prior to the current role and has extensive experience in marketing, business development, customer services, content distribution and partnership and production administration. Under the leadership of Jelly, HKTVmall has become the largest online shopping mall in Hong Kong and a successful showcase of eCommerce business model.
Jenny YEUNG
“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way. (Martin Luther King)”
Being the first female graduating with a BEng (Civil & Structural) from the HKUST in 1995 and subsequently acquired an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, Jenny is qualified in the Civil, Structural and Geotechnical engineering disciplines and is also the first and only woman Chief Geotechnical Engineer in the Government of the HKSAR.
Her passion in serving the engineering profession and the community has won her quite a few awards, such as the Secretary for the Civil Service’s Commendation, Young Engineer of the Year, Trainee of the Year and Fugro Best Paper Award etc. She was also elected a member of the Election Committee (Engineering Subsector) in 2011.
While striving to enhance slope safety in Hong Kong, Jenny is also a mother to a boy aged 10 and his sister aged 8. She always endeavours to strike a balance between family and work. Despite sometimes demanding of herself, enjoying happy and meaningful lives is the only goal that she sets for her kids.
Know more about Jenny:
A Career in the HKSAR Government – Conversations with Alumni
Ta Kung Pao – September 19, 2016
Jess CHENG
BBA(MARK)
Co-founder and CMO of ChargeSpot
Jess is a dedicated entrepreneur with fast track business growth and expansion record with her own startup set up in Hong Kong and expanded into Japan and many other countries. She was born and raised in Hong Kong with over 10 years of all-rounded marketing and brand management experience in international companies for beauty, retail & I.T. industries. Jess is the Co-founder and CMO of ChargeSpot, the world’s 1st transnational power bank rental service.
Jessica CHEN
BEng in Civil and Structural Engineering (2014)
Engineer, Walter P Moore
2018 New Face of Civil Engineering Professional Edition, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Joey SO
“The thought of ‘let’s do it’ was what motivated me.”
Joey is empathetic towards social causes and determined to put her business knowledge into practice – she has been an active member in community service.
During her gap year, Joey aspired to further develop her impact through establishing a social enterprise – Mealingful.
Mealingful is a soft meal market developer that aims to improve the quality of life for dysphagia patients. It offers an online soft meal ordering platform and organizes public awareness events. It is currently funded by the Hong Kong Social Enterprise Challenge, Good Seed and Social Innovation for Sustainable Communities Program.
Joey confessed the challenges and obstacles of leading the venture can be overwhelming at times. Yet, Joey and the team did not stop there. They had chosen to take the first leap and do it right there, right then, and they were surprised by where their courage took them.
‘The thought of “let’s do it” was what motivated me and my teammates to transform Mealingful from a rough concept into an up-and-running startup that we did not dare to fathom on Day 1.’
Joey aims to continue creating shared value as she pursues her future career after graduation.
Karen Ka Long LEONG
“The treasure of mine is the every single glimpse of exploration in life.”
Karen Wu
“Always stays focused and keeps enthusiastic, even during challenging times.”
Karen is the Founder of DAMA, one of the popular vegan food stores in Hong Kong, with a core belief of “Protecting the Animals and Loving the Earth”.
Encouraged by her husband that there were limited vegan dessert options for vegetarians, Karen spent countless hours and tremendous effort in developing recipes of vegan soft serve.
She succeeded – with wide variety of tastes and eye-catching colors, vegan soft serve becomes the signature of DAMA.
Apart from DAMA, Karen also found an online cooking platform called Good Cook Channel which shares cooking tips and videos on social media and its own website, attracting close to 160,000 followers in just 3 years’ time.
It is greatly challenging for Karen to start up a new business after almost 20 years of corporate experience in finance. She never has any on-hand experience running her own business, not to mention her next-to-zero experience in the fast moving F&B industry. She needs to overcome a lot of difficulties especially the social issues and COVID-19.
A key lesson for Karen is to always stay focused and keeps enthusiastic. It’s all about enhancing customer experience and expanding the range of product offers.
Kimberley Vanessa CHEUNG
SSCI Biochemistry & Cell Biology
Hong Kong Ranking – number 1 in Ladies’ Foil (Fencing) in 2015
Incheon Asian Games 2014 bronze medalist in 2014
Kit Ying WONG
“Remember why you started”
Kit Ying is enthusiastic athlete who has been representing Hong Kong in Rugby on numerous occasions, including a championship at the UAE International Rugby 7’s U18 Girls Tournament 2016 in Dubai. Recently, she joined and captured the Bowl Champion at the 6th New Territories Regional Rugby 7s Championship and Carnival in celebration of HKSAR 20th Anniversary by NTRSA.
Kit Ying has joined 4 years Inter-School Rugby 7s’ Competition in her secondary school life and received numerous awards. During her secondary school life, she was the chairperson of Rugby Club. Her contribution to the Rugby Club has allowed her to receive several Service and Responsibility Awards for the Rugby Club. She was also awarded two internal scholarships from her school for her active participation in Hong Kong Rugby Team and enthusiasm in sports with leaderships.
LEE Shuk Kwan
“Genius is 1% talent and 99% hard work.”
Shuk Kwan is the captain of HKUST Women’s Archery Team. She started learning archery in 2009 and has been participating in different overseas competitions as Hong Kong representative since 2013. She is one of the awardees of HKUST Alumni Endowment Fund Athletic Awards 2016/17 due to her outstanding archery performance. During 2017-2018, Shuk Kwan has already represented Hong Kong in Rosario 2017 World Archery Youth Championships 2017, Asia Cup World Ranking Tournament Stage 1 and the Archery Test Event for 18th Asian Games 2018.
Lucy CHOI
MBA
Co-Founder, More Than Musical
Lucy is a classically trained musician with a music degree at the Hong Kong Baptist University. She also has a master degree in Arts Administration from the Goldsmiths College, University of London and MBA at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Lucy had been a Tedx speaker twice, she has extensive experiences in art administration and business development. Her passion in opera and classical music drove her to establish More Than Musical. Together with her enthusiastic colleague, they share the same vision: to create imitate and unforgettable opera experiences to the general public.
Lydia MAK
“Love what you do and do what you love”
Lydia is a football player who has been representing Hong Kong Women’s Football Team since 2015. She is currently the player of Tai Po Football Club which ranks fifth in Hong Kong Football Association Women League. In 2016, she represented Hong Kong in the Asian Football Confederation U19 Women’s Championship Qualifiers in Dushanbe, Tajikistan and the 13th National Student Sports Games in Beihai, Guangxi. In addition, Lydia was recently awarded the A.S. WATSON GROUP Hong Kong Student Sports Awards for year 2016/17.
Apart from her sporting achievements, Lydia also excels in her chosen field of mathematics and science. She was a member of the Hong Kong team at the China Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad for three consecutive years from 2013 to 2015 and brought home one silver and two bronze medals. She was also a bronze medalist in the 17th Asian Physics Olympiad which took place in Hong Kong and a silver medalist in the 47th International Physics Olympiad held in Zurich, Switzerland.
Nayeon LEE
MPhil in Electronic and Computer Engineering
BEng in Computer Science and Engineering (2017)
Google Women Techmakers Scholar 2017 in the Asia Pacific region
Maria HUI
BBA(IS & FINA) & MSc(ISM)
Director of Marketing and Operations (M&O), Microsoft Hong Kong
“Success comes with the can-do attitude, nothing is impossible if we are willing to make an effort.”
Maria Hui is the Director of Marketing and Operations Group (M&O) in Microsoft Hong Kong. M&O organization is at the core of leading the Hong Kong subsidiary in landing the mission of Microsoft in the local community: to empower everyone and every organization to do more and achieve more in the new digital era, where Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Cloud will play a key role. She is responsible for leading business operations, marketing strategy and overall business performance of the various business groups.
Prior to her current role, she was the Director of Human Resources at Microsoft Hong Kong for over three years. Maria started her career as a Management Consultant in PwC Consulting, which was later acquired by IBM. Her domain focus was on big data and analytics. She gained a reputation for her skills in project management and business analytics. She made a shift in her career to become an HR Business Partner. Her dedication to client success and the ability to innovatively design and execute transformation projects have helped get the workforce ready for a new business direction. Over the years, she has taken up various leadership positions in HR, including executive compensation leader and regional HR partner leader roles.
Mashiat LAMISA
When I was 11, it wasn’t water that damaged my mother’s red transistor radio. I just wanted to see the speaker inside it, and the capacitors, and the antennas. When kids my age would collect stamps and Pokémon cards, I’d collect circuits, chips and tiny motors from inside whatever appliances I found in the house. Ever since I started understanding the inner workings of the world, I’ve had an insatiable need to continuously challenge myself in building and breaking things. I say it is a challenge because it’s actually pretty difficult to successfully break things apart – the art of which is something I began to acknowledge and appreciate more when I transferred to the School of Engineering a year ago.
Despite my specific interests in electronics and technology, I came to HKUST not knowing exactly what I wanted to study. On one hand, I wanted to write beautiful code and work with electronics; on the other hand, I wanted to do something more human-centered and practical beyond the world of theories and equations. Having had the opportunity of taking a wide array of courses and extra-curricular programs over my first year, I finally found my calling in Integrative Systems and Design. Here, all my courses are hands-on. We not only go through the whole journey of understanding users to design for them, but we also actually get to create software and hardware innovations that might possibly be implemented in the real world.
Being someone who’s gone through the process of being an exploratory fresher to finding passion in a specific sector of engineering, I hope to share my journey with more students trying to find their niche in the School of Engineering community. The amount of resources and opportunities HKUST provides to encourage hands-on learning is unbelievable – it’s just a matter of time and will before you can avail them all!
Michelle FNO
MPhil in Technology Leadership and Entrepreneurship
BEng in Logistics Management and Engineering (2017)
HKUST President’s Cup 2017 – Silver Award
Founder & CEO, Aromeo Diffuser
“Make products that look good, smell good and feel good to help people become happier.”
Born and grown up in Indonesia, Michelle abandoned her medical studies in Indonesia and went to study in Japan, where she got in touch with aromatherapy. After that, she came to HKUST to study logistics management and engineering.
An avid wellness practitioner and an industrial engineer, she has been in the wellness industry for more than years, starting from using essential oil, to making handmade skincare products, to selling DIY skincare kits, then offering aromatherapy gifts & workshops, to now Aromeo Diffuser
The University was where she initiated the idea of combining her interest into her career and becoming an entrepreneur herself – she partnered with her classmates and developed a smart aromatherapy system. Her business has achieved great success with its clientele mainly from aromatherapy brands and leisure facilities.
Oi Man LEUNG
“Never be afraid of challenges and take them as opportunities to improve yourself”
Oi Man Leung is an equestrian athlete who has been representing Hong Kong in show jumping on numerous occasions since 2011. She is currently a Hong Kong Sports Institute funded Elite Athlete and has achieved results from across the globe, including a 4th place at the 2016 World University Equestrian Championships held in Sweden. In 2014, she qualified for the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games and was named the “Best Junior Rider of the Year” five times by the Hong Kong Equestrian Federation from 2011 to 2015. In addition, Oi Man was recently awarded the Alumni Endowment Fund Athletic Award for Personal Achievement in Sports for the 2016/17 academic year.
Aside from her sporting achievements, Oi Man also finds success in her chosen field of engineering, and was a member of the 2nd runner-up team at the Cathay Pacific 24-Hour Hackathon held in October 2017. She was also selected as a finalist of the 2017 EuroBrake Student Opportunities Programme held in Dresden, Germany, organised by the International Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies (FISITA).
Prof. Yanlei DIAO
MPhil in Computer Science (2000)
Professor of Computer Science, École Polytechnique
Associate Professor of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst
2013 CRA-W Anita Borg Early Career Award
Queenie SOO
BBA in Management and Marketing
Hong Kong Open Table Tennis Championships (Team) – 1st runner up
2015/16 Hong Kong Youth Orienteering Championship – Champion
UBS Group Technology and Operations Case Challenge – 3rd runner-up
Joint University Outstanding Marketing Award – Champion
“Give and Take”
As an athlete of two Hong Kong National Sports Teams, I was fortunate enough to be given all the opportunities and resources. Yet, I understand a lot of people out there have the passion and potential, but are lacking a platform to shine. Therefore now, taking a step backward, I organize competitions, training, fun days via various channels, aiming to create a stage for all to enjoy and perform.
Rachel HUANG
BBA(GBUS & OM)
HR Program Officer & Donor and Government Affairs Associate, International Committee of the Red Cross – ICRC
Rachel is from Taiwan and came to Hong Kong for university. She is now working at the headquarters of International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland, one of the world’s most prestigious humanitarian organizations, which helps more than 34 million people in conflict every year. She was also the student representative at the 2019 Congregation.
Rachel WONG
“Positivity will take you everywhere!”
Rachel has been a part-time elite senior athlete under the Hong Kong Acrobatic Gymnastics Talent Team for 10+ years since 2006. During Rachel’s time in high school, she has represented Hong Kong in the Aged 12-18 Category as part of a Women’s Group in the 8th FIG Acrobatic Gymnastics World Age Group Competitions, Levallois (FRA), during July 2 – 5, 2014.
During her first year at HKUST, she was HKUST Korfball Team member and was a registered player under the Hong Kong China Korfball Association (HKCKA). She has also become the champion in Level 3 Women’s Pair in the Chinese National Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships, and obtained her coaching certificate on Elementary Coaching Course for Gymnastics (General Theory) from the Gymnastics Association of Hong Kong, China. In her second and third year at HKUST, she has also competed the Chinese National Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships, in which she came second in Level 4 Mixed Pair and the champion in Level 6 Mixed Pair respectively. As a member of the team, she has also joined the National Gymnastics Extravaganza as a performer in October 2017. In 2017, she has also qualified to represent Hong Kong as a Senior Mixed Pair in the Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships 2018, Antwerp (BEL).
Not only is Rachel dedicated in sports, she also engages vaguely in various programs. As a first year student, she was a fellow under Headstart@HKUST in 2016 and was selected to participate in the press conference and the University Council and Court Meeting as a student. In her second year, she became also a buddy in the English Learning Buddy Scheme, organized by the Center of Language Education, HKUST.
Samantha Wing Man KONG
“Dare to Dream, Dare to Do, the heart of social change is how you can make a difference.”
Serena MAK
“Don’t be afraid of saying yes and being up for a challenge, and don’t be worried about failing. Through taking up challenges, you will find yourself breaking ceilings and going beyond comfort zones.”
Serena is currently Deputy Head of Funding Asia with Home Credit, an international consumer finance provider with a focus on responsible lending. Serena focuses on debt fundraising across Asia markets, including ESG financing opportunities. Prior to Home Credit, Serena has over 15 years of experience with Goldman Sachs. Serena is also Board Governor & Honorary Secretary at Friends of the Earth (Hong Kong) with a focus on Green and Sustainable Finance development in Asia. She serves on the expert group for the Hong Kong Council of Social Service on NGO Reserve and Investments and is a guest lecturer on ESG courses with the Hong Kong University SPACE Community College. Serena is a Certified ESG Analyst (CESGA®), CPA (Aust), and FRM. Serena is the first cohort of HKUST Bachelor in Global Business, and also holds a MSc degree with HKUST.
Sherring NG
MBA
Actress
“Use your talent, do what you love and make an impact.”
A brush with mortality in 2012 taught Sherring Ng that life is too short and unpredictable not to experiment and pursue your own passions. Having achieved financial freedom, she decided to step down from the role of Program Director at HKUST Business School, ending her promising career in the higher education sector, and dedicate herself to her childhood dream of being an actress while supporting others in chasing their own dreams. You might have seen her on ViuTV or RTHK or TV commercials and surely will see her in movies this year.
Swan LU
MBA Candidate, Harvard Business School
Dual Degree Program in Technology & Management
Co-founder of Bookwarm (www.bookwarm.org)
Goldman Sachs Global Leadership Award
HSBC Young Entrepreneur Award
“Be courageous to follow your own path.”
Veronica FUNG
BBA(MARK)
Head of Global Markets New Client Onboarding, Vice President & Chief of Staff, Operations APAC, Vice President, Société Générale
“Always be curious and look for your passion. If you are consistent in what you love, you will be where you want.”
As the Chief of Staff of Operations in APAC at Société Générale since 2016, Veronica is leading the Continuous improvement team in Asia and driving innovation initiatives for the department. She has extensive knowledge in banking operations, which she worked at client service operations with BNP Paribas, and client onboarding, KYC & referential data management with Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Veronica is also the Co-Chair of the Financial Inclusion and Literacy Committee of the Fintech Association of Hong Kong. She has active participation in Fintech and social responsibility initiatives around the topic of financial inclusion.
Vivian HO
MBA
Artist
Vivian is a post-90s emerging artist who is active in the scene of art and illustration in Hong Kong. She is best at capturing everyday life and unconventional beauty with a touch of humor and imagination. In her few years of practice, Vivian has already held numerous exhibitions in different locations including the US, Italy, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. She also worked with an extended range of brands and programs including MTR Hong Kong, Hong Kong International Film Festival, Hong Kong Repertory Theatre and more.
Despite her devotion to art, Vivian also has vast interest in business and entrepreneurship. She obtained a degree in Wesleyan University in the US and recently graduated from HKUST with an MBA for Professionals. Vivian is eager to see how business and art can come together.
Winnie WONG
“Keep a can-do attitude, a positive mindset, a life-long learning habit and be appreciative to others.”
XIE Qing
“When life challenges you, don’t cave in. Always be open to exploring different possibilities.”
· 2021 Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship – First recipient from HKUST
· 2020 Zonta Club of Victoria WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) Award
· Din-Yu Hsieh Teaching Award
Ms. Xie is pursuing her Ph.D. in applied mathematics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Her research topic is about the development of high-order gas-kinetic schemes (GKS) for the compressible flow simulation, and the main application area is in aerospace, such as the high-speed flow around an air-vehicle and physical wave interactions. Another main application for the high-order scheme is the computational aero-acoustics (CAA), which targets the reduction of noises from aircraft. In the past three years, she has made great progress on the construction of high-order finite-difference GKS for the compressible Navier-Stokes equations and applied the scheme successfully to many test cases, such as blast wave, cavity flow and shock interactions. With the successful development of fundamental algorithms for fluid simulations, she is gradually shifting her research topic to apply the algorithm in real engineering applications.
Besides her research achievements, Ms. Xie also won the best teaching award when serving as a teaching assistant in past years. She spares no efforts in helping undergraduate students and arousing their curiosity in STEM learning, especially for women and girls.
Yosha GUPTA
MSc(FINA)
Founder of Meraki
Yosha is the founder of a direct to customer artisanal fashion brand Meraki (https://www.memeraki.com/ ). Meraki is a social enterprise that has been created with the mission to promote India’s long lost arts with handpainted high end artisanal bags, evening clutches and other products. Meraki also upcycle customers own luxury bags with traditional art like Madhubani, Pattachitra, Gond, Warli and many more. As a social enterprise Meraki works with other non profits like running a crowdfunding campaign for building an art school for girls in Madhubani district in Bihar and this year creating a cork based collection to help Animals Asia Hong Kong with their fundraising. Artists are the heroes at Meraki with a focus on storytelling and bringing patronage back to the arts and artists.
Yosha has spent 14 years in the FinTech sector and worked across Asia and is currently a Digital Financial Specialist and Financial Inclusion Consultant with the International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group where she works on financial inclusion projects across Asia. She has also been the Founder & CEO of a leading cashback app with more than 1 million downloads in India. They were backed by 500Startups and Vectr Ventures and were also a part of Facebook’s FBStart programme as well as Cyberport’s Startup programme in Hong Kong.
Yosha has an MSc in Finance from HKUST and an undergraduate degree in Economics from Lady Shri Ram College for Women. She is a regular speaker at digital and payments events as well as advisor to start-ups and the cofounder of a community initiative Indiatechhk to promote Indian start-ups in Hong Kong (www.indiatechhk.com ). Yosha was appointed to the Diversity List 2018 for Hong Kong which aims to give ethnic minorities of Hong Kong a voice in decision making and policy, particularly in government advisory bodies. She was also nominated for American Chambers ‘Women of Influence’ award 2017 and was awarded ‘Most Influential Payments Professional’ by World BFSI Congress and Awards 2018, India.
Yuki WONG
BBA (MARK & MGTO)
Professional MC/Public Speaking Trainer, Spotknight
A passionate professional emcee & public speaking trainer. Yuki has captured the national 1st runner up in public speaking and numerous area awards. She has worked with clients including Chinachem, DBS, The Outstanding Youth Persons’ Association and Metro Radio on functions including annual dinner, mall shows and conferences.
Zoe SO
“Every fragment in perpetuity is instantaneous”
Zoe has been representing Hong Kong to participate in World, Asian, and National rope skipping competitions.
Apart from competing, she is also a qualified senior rope skipping freestyle judge and rope skipping coach of Hong Kong Rope Skipping Association, China. Recently, she has performed in different occasions. Zoe is still holding a Guinness World Record – Most People Skipping Double Dutch Style with her teammates of Hong Kong Rope Skipping Academy since April 2013.
In addition to her dedication to rope skipping, she has taken up several leading roles in HKUST. She is the cohort leader in creative division of HKUST Business Cohort Community, and was the Chief Promotion Secretary of International Food Fair which leading international students from 10 countries to share their culinary cultures to all students from business school. During the event, she was the sole graphic designer for pull-up banners, stickers, and backdrop of the photo booth. She had also organized business school student orientation day involving over 800 students, launched Used Textbook Give and Take Campaign, and produced a video for Student Advising Session. Simultaneously, she is the Deputy Head Student Ambassador of the HKUST, being a motivator among the student ambassador cohort as well as the leader of Campus Tours and HKUST Summer Camp, assistant for Command Centre of HKUST Information Day, and student representative for JUPAS admission talks.
Stephanie Lam & Lydia Lau
“Everyone is a contributor to gender equality, yet the first step should always come from our beliefs and effort.”
Inspired by their frustrations from buying furniture, Stephanie and Lydia found Homie Living, a one-stop home product e-commerce platform for new homeowners to create the ideal living space with self-actualising technology. The platform delivers over 6,000 product options at good value. Homie Living is rated among the top 3 furniture e-commerce platforms and has sold over 5,000 pieces of furniture in Hong Kong since commencing business about three years ago.
Stephanie started her career as a product and digital marketer in the luxury beauty and FMCG industry with six years of solid experience in promoting multiple global brands. Having garnered strong digital and product marketing expertise in the first few years of her career, she managed to deliver industry award-winning digital activation campaigns, elevating the brand experience and delivering high returns on investment.
On the other hand, Lydia started her career in corporate banking after graduating from HKUST, and gained ample opportunities to work with entrepreneurs and senior management of different corporate clients, from whom she learnt a great deal about starting and managing a business. This has fueled her entrepreneurial spirit and prompted her to boldly venture into a business for solving a real-life problem.
Eva TSANG Chin-Lam
1999 BEng in Chemical Engineering
Executive Director of Opal Cosmetics (HK) Limited
When HKUST Engineering Alumna Eva TSANG Chin-Lam (1999 BEng in Chemical Engineering), currently Executive Director of Opal Cosmetics (HK) Limited, walked gracefully down the red carpet in a glittering gown to accept the Greater Bay Area (GBA) Outstanding Women Entrepreneur Award 2020, she was buoyed by the belief that the honor was an endorsement of her two decades of entrepreneurship. Having been blessed with a career without dramatic turning points, she shares that she has simply kept moving forward one step at a time. She skims over the difficulties, diffusing any bitterness with her bright smile, demonstrating the strong positive spirit that propelled her forward.
Prof. Sally NG Nga-Lee
“Spurred by her School of Engineering student days to become an atmospheric scientist, alumna Prof. Sally Ng Nga-Lee is advancing sustainability through her leading air quality research, as well as fostering the next generation of aerosol explorers.”