Teamwork safeguards community

Dr See Chung Kot, Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, assisted the World Health Organization (WHO) investigation into the outbreak at Amoy Gardens housing estate, by tracking the spread of the corona virus via the 'chimney' effect. Dr Kot produced models of Amoy Gardens and neighboring buildings, which he then tested in HKUST's state-of-the-art Wind/Wave Tunnel Facility.

HKUST's Safety and Environmental Protection Office worked together with the Estate Management Office to help design and develop hazards control hardware to further enhance infection control measures at the Haven of Hope and Tseung Kwan O hospitals, located near the University.

Prof K C Chan, Dean of the School of Business and Management, was appointed to the Government's Economic Relaunch Strategy Group.

During the SARS outbreak, the Student Social Service Society organized a campaign to show the concern of HKUST students for the community and to promote student awareness of their responsibilities in the fight against the disease. Members of the University wrote messages of thanks and good wishes to staff and patients at United Christian Hospital in Kwun Tong, to show their support for their work in trying to overcome the disease. Following delivery, the board was prominently displayed in the hospital lobby helping to boost morale.

The University's Education Development Program provided online support in science subjects to Hong Kong's home-based secondary school students. Later, the Education Development Program joined with local think-tank Civic Exchange and the Hong Kong Science Museum and arranged for HKUST experts in air quality, physics, mechanical engineering and economics to participate in a series of public talks on SARS-related issues, attracting 200 people.

Dr Cecilia Cheng, Associate Professor of Social Science and an expert in effective coping during times of stress, started research on the psychosocial aspects of handling SARS.

An appeal initiated by Dr Yang Leng, his colleagues in the Mechanical Engineering Department and HKUST Staff Association, called on members of HKUST to donate the salary tax refunds, handed out by the Hong Kong Government in 2002, to SARS victims. More than 260 faculty and staff members responded to the HKUST SARS Relief Campaign, raising more than HK$540,000 for the We Care Education Fund to help education of orphaned children of SARS victims.