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Scientific talent in Hong Kong is well recognised with four second-class awards conferred to projects with the participation of local researchers under the 2009 State Science and Technology Awards (SSTAs) announced today (January 11).
"The awards received by the Hong Kong researchers highlight our excellent capabilities in scientific research and serve as motivation to their fellow researchers as well as the Government," a Government spokesman said. "We congratulate the awardees on their achievements and wish them to continue to scale new heights in their research."
In 2009, more than 120 entries competed for the State Natural Science Award (SNSA), which is China's most prestigious award in the field of natural science and aims to recognise academic excellence in basic and applied research in natural science. The details of the award-receiving projects with the participation of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) researchers are as follows (including projects nominated by the HKSAR Government as well as projects nominated by other agencies on the Mainland):
* An SNSA second-class award was conferred to the research project "Optimisation Theory and Methodology for Discrete Event Dynamic Systems" led by Professor Cao Xi-ren of Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. This project belongs to the category of optimisation of discrete event dynamic systems (DEDS) in information technology (IT). Examples of such systems include communication networks (e.g., Internet), computer systems, logistics systems, manufacturing plants, transportation systems, robotics, and many other man-made operational systems. Because of difficulties involving randomness, discrete states and nonlinearity, there is no unified theory in this area. In this project, Professor Cao's team solved a number of long-standing issues in the area, and developed a unified framework for a few different subjects and approaches in the area; and based on the insights obtained with this framework, the team proposed a number of new research topics and directions. These contributions are pioneering and innovative and have significantly advanced the development of the fundamental theory and methodologies in the area.
* The research project "Experimental Studies of Turbulent Thermal Convection" of Professor Xia Keqing of the Department of Physics of The Chinese University of Hong Kong won him an SNSA second-class award. Professor Xia discovered that thermal plumes are responsible for the initiation and sustentation of the large-scale circulation (LSC), and that the LSC is driven by the buoyancy of plumes. Professor Xia's group is the first to systematically study the azimuthal motion of the LSC. Through high-precision heat transport measurements over an unprecedented range of the Prandtl number (Pr), Professor Xia has contributed significantly to the understanding of turbulent heat transfer. Professor Xia has also developed a novel technique that can be used to accurately measure the velocity in coupled boundary layers. The findings and discoveries of Professor Xia's research have shed light on the nature of fluid turbulence, considered by some the last unsolved problems in classical physics. They also provide insight into the natural phenomenon of thermal convection that occurs widely in geophysical and astrophysical systems. The findings of Professor Xia's research also help us better understand the important processes of heat transfer and mixing in engineering applications.
* In addition, an SNSA second-class award went to the project "Asymmetric Catalytic Syntheses and Their Applications in Polypeptide Investigations" led by Professor Wang Rui of the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and nominated by Gansu Province. Another SNSA second-class award went to the project "Multiobjective decision making and rainfall-runoff prediction theories for complex flood control system for reservoirs" nominated by Liaoning Province, which involved the participation of Dr Chau Kwok-wing of the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering of PolyU.
The HKSAR Government was invited by the National Office for Science and Technology Awards to submit nominations from Hong Kong for the SNSA. Nominations for the SNSA are co-ordinated by the Education Bureau with the assistance of the Research Grants Council and the Beijing-Hong Kong Academic Exchange Centre.
Ends/Monday, January 11, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:18
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