The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) received a HK$40 million donation from Seal of Love Charitable Foundation (Foundation). The gift is set to empower HKUST students in solving real-world problems with innovative thinking and technology know-how, and to deliver social impact with tangible solutions in resource-limited communities.
The generous gift from the Foundation – a charitable organization dedicated to helping others with projects mostly focused on supporting education and the underprivileged in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia – will be used to set up an endowment fund called the “Seal of Love Foundation Student Innovative Service Fund” (Fund). In appreciation of the Foundation’s benevolent support, the University has named a wing of its semi-circular Academic Building “Seal of Love Charitable Foundation Wing”.
Founder of the Foundation Mr. Lawrence CHAN and his family members officiated at the naming ceremony earlier to unveil the commemorative plaque of the Wing. At the ceremony, Director of the Foundation Ms. Dee Dee CHAN said, “I can think of no better partners to help fulfil this vision than the bright and promising young scholars of HKUST. We hope that our new Fund will allow HKUST students to use their imagination and technological know-how to come up with disruptive tangible solutions to the world’s most pressing problems with maximum social impact.” Other officiating guests included Prof. Wei SHYY, President of HKUST and Prof. Lionel NI, Provost of HKUST.
Prof. SHYY said HKUST shares a common goal with the Foundation on driving self-expectation on having positive social impact with what HKUST is good at, namely, innovation, design thinking and science and technology. “We encourage our students to apply their ideas and knowledge with a goal of serving people; hence, it is a combination of service and learning for them. I am very grateful for the Foundation’s generous support. It is a testimony of confidence in our faculty’s and students’ devotion and capabilities.”
Seal of Love Charitable Foundation was established in 2010 by Mr. Lawrence CHAN, the eldest son of the late CHAN Chak-Fu – a pioneer in hotel industry who built a global empire stretching from Asia to Europe and the United States – including the Park Lane Hotel in Hong Kong. Since its inception, the Foundation has devoted efforts to serving the underprivileged in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, building schools and sponsoring students to earn vocational and university degrees in Cambodia and Thailand, as well as supporting a Chinese medicine clinic for elderly in Hong Kong.
Student Innovation for Global Health Technology (SIGHT) – a program launched in 2014 that empowers HKUST students to tackle global health issues both locally and overseas – is the first project to be supported by the Fund. In collaboration with various partners, SIGHT students devise creative and affordable solutions for real-world problems. Their inventions include a diagnostic software for diabetic retinopathy in Indonesia, a tailored keyboard for students with special educational needs (SEN) to enter Math formula in Hong Kong, and a mobile electronic health record system for medical teams who serve the slums and rural provinces of Cambodia, which has since found its way to Gambia. Other upcoming projects include medicine and equipment transport for mobile clinics in Cambodia, learning aids for SEN students in Hong Kong and tackling anemia in tribal villages of Gujarat, India.
About The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) () is a world-class research university that focuses on science, technology and business as well as humanities and social science. HKUST offers an international campus, and a holistic and interdisciplinary pedagogy to nurture well-rounded graduates with global vision, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking. HKUST attained the highest proportion of internationally excellent research work in the Research Assessment Exercise 2014 of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee, and is ranked as the world’s best young university in Times Higher Education’s Young University Rankings 2019. Its graduates were ranked 10th worldwide and top in Greater China in Global Employability University Survey 2019.
