For example, it has set up the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development to look at creative solutions for rapid urbanisation, combining researches and academics from various fields such as social science, humanities, construction and material science, as well as engineering and computing from Hong Kong, Mainland and abroad.

The university is working closely with the government to accelerate the transformation of Hong Kong into a “smart” city, and to migrate its manufacturing to “Industry 4.0”, which refers to the current trend of automation and data exchange of manufacturing technologies. To this end, PolyU has devoted its resources to the generation and application of big data analytics.

For example, the university is looking at how big data output can be applied with automation, 3D printing and new material technology in order to produce products in a way that is highly personalised, precise, waste-free and functional.  It is launching a 3D printing laboratory in April, where together with the other resources at the Industrial Centre, university staff and industry experts can put their expertise together to come up with new ideas.

Apart from that, the university is also launching new degree programmes in response to new demands. It has recently launched aviation engineering as well as aviation management and logistics programmes in light of the shortage of aviation professionals, which will probably be exacerbated by the completion of the third runway in the next few years. It has also launched the ageology study in light of the systematic emergence of the practical needs of an ageing population.

The  findings of the study would eventually come to fruition in real world application through the collaboration between the university and the business, commerce and public sectors.

”We care for both academic and applied research,” says Tong. ”I would always encourage my staff to take a step further to look into how to apply their research to make an impact on the world. I also work closely with my colleagues in various disciplinesd, and put them in touch with people in the business to make things happen.”

PolyU’s footprint can be seen in various sectors around the city, whether it be the launch of a new cancer medicine at hospitals, the new railway monitoring system that helps smooth out a journey, the lunar exploration in collaboration with the Mainland government, or the maintenance of aircrafts.

Another unique strategy of PolyU in shaping future leaders would be its emphasis on Service- Learning. In the few years leading up to the overhaul of Hong Kong’s university education, which changed from three years in duration to four years, Professor Tong had made the decision to introduce Service-Learning as a credit-bearing, compulsory subject for all students starting from 2012.

“It is not enough to just equip one with professional skills,” Tong says. ”We also have to educate our students that they have to consider ways to benefit the society as a whole when pursuing personal ambition. It is only by doing this that they will realise their role in the society, and what their knowledge, skills and ambitions mean in the bigger picture.”

The university has since grown its number of Service-Learning electives from only a handful of subjects to almost 70 subjects, spanning from social work, geoinformatics, engineering, bioengineering, opticology and many more. Various projects have been commenced in order to touch the lives of communities in need-- whether through helping ethnic minorities in Hong Kong go get connected to the happenings in their neighbourhood, allow disabled children in Guangzhou to find new lives through artificial limbs, or looking after the eyesight of HIV positive orphans in Cambodia and seeing that they receive treatment.

”It makes me proud to think that PolyU is sending forth more than 5,000 bachelor degree graduates every year who understand what it means to serve the community with what they have,” said Professor Tong. He is planning to introduce more leadership and personal development subjects for students.

Apart from Service-Learning, the university is also widening the horizon of students and staff alike through regional and international exchange programs. Each year, 2,000 students are dispatched to the Mainland, and another 700  to overseas destinations. On a staff level, professors from overseas universities are invited from time to time to stay and teach for a few months, while PolyU staff will also be visiting overseas universities for teaching and exchange programmes. The relationships often evolve into future research collaboration.

”It will be a wonderful occasion when all the people we have worked with across the years from all over the world join and celebrate the impact we have made together,” said Professor Tong. ”Education is a force of change. I am proud of what PolyU has achieved.”