One key difference between HKUST and other tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, and most of Asia, is our mission to go beyond the traditional areas of academic research and teaching.

The University therefore places strong emphasis on community initiatives to boost Hong Kong's resources, building the skills required in a knowledge-based society and encouraging university-industrial collaborations to drive forward the economy.

In line with this, 2002-03 saw the School of Engineering's first classes on the MSc in Telecommunications and MSc in Information Technology programs. The former is the first master's level telecommunications program offered in Hong Kong. Another new higher degree offered in the year was the MSc in IC Design which aims to nurture much needed talents for the semiconductor industry.

The School of Engineering also became the first to gain approval by the Chinese State Council's Ministry of Education and Academic Degree Commission to run and award degrees for a Master of Technology Management (MTM) program in the Chinese Mainland. The new Executive MTM program is being offered in partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Students can meet up with participants on the Hong Kong MTM as part of the program.

The School of Business and Management launched the first Chinese-medium MBA program, the International EMBA, attracting senior officials and top-level managers from government offices, state-owned enterprises, joint ventures and multinationals. The year brought further accolades for the well-established and highly regarded Kellogg-HKUST EMBA, when it was ranked best EMBA in Asia by Chief Executive China.

A Family Business Program, the first of its kind in Asia, threw light on the special issues facing these firms. The program brought together 36 representatives of all ages from 19 top family businesses. Topics included family business governance, succession planning and special competitive advantages of such companies.

While continuing its efforts in developing online education with universities in North America, the University's College of Lifelong Learning became the first institution in Hong Kong to offer British university degree programs through UK eUniversities Worldwide Limited, established in 2001 by the British government and leading higher education institutions to provide British degree programs to students around the world via the Internet.

Along with such community teaching and learning initiatives, HKUST is always seeking to set our knowledge breakthroughs to work. In doing so we aim to generate businesses in emerging fields, keep established companies competitive through incorporating the latest technological advances, and assist Hong Kong entrepreneurs and companies to set the pace in their sectors.

The University's Technology Transfer Center and HKUST RandD Corporation facilitate this, fostering university-industry collaborations, partnerships for research and development, and protection and transfer of intellectual property.

In 2002-03, HKUST's intellectual innovation led to 22 patent applications being filed, mostly with the US Patent Office. The University also received notice that seven patents had been granted. The HKUST RandD Corporation signed 75 R&D contracts with industrial clients, worth more than HK$16 million, and made 16 license agreements for the transfer of intellectual property to regional companies.

In addition, HKUST faculty have worked on numerous projects to boost Hong Kong's industrial sector during the year. Among them:

	Prof Howard Luong and colleagues organized the Industrial Consortium in Integrated Circuits (IC2) to strengthen and promote IC design actvities in Hong Kong. Prof Luong and the Consortium have provided intensive IC design services and support to local IC companies, including consultancy, engineer training, and successfully completing several industrial contracts for IC technology transfer and IC product development.
	The Semi-conductor Product Analysis and Design Enhancement (SPADE) Center, led by Prof Johnny Sin, has been using the latest technology and newly developed analytical tools to assist more than 50 semiconductor design and foundry companies in Hong Kong and the region to solve product development and failure analysis problems.
	Profs Kalok Chan and John Wei, Department of Finance, helped HSBC revamp its investment advisory system by redesigning Rule-Based Investment Solutions for the bank's clients.