News

COMP and IFTA launch Co-Op and Mentorship Programme to support new BSc in FinTech & AI Programme

In response to the growing demand for cross-disciplinary financial technology (FinTech) and artificial intelligence (AI) professionals, COMP will launch a full-time Bachelor of Science in Financial Technology and Artificial Intelligence* Programme in the 2019/20 academic year under Broad Discipline of Computing. To support this new programme and nurture FinTech talents, COMP and Institute of Financial Technologists of Asia (IFTA) announced a Co-Op and Mentorship Programme on 27 November. Under this collaboration, students can spend 6 to 8 months of full-time internship at the member-companies of IFTA while graduating in 4 years. Students will be assigned with Career Mentors, Executive Mentors and/ or Entrepreneur Mentors for them to seek professional and industrial advice. Regular hackathons, seminars, visits and workshops will also be organized to widen students’ exposure to FinTech. In addition, graduates of the FinTech and AI bachelor programme will be exempted from Level I Examination of the Certificate in Finance and Technology (CFT), thus accelerating their acquisition of FinTech professional qualifications recognised internationally. Media coverage: https://polyu.hk/rlfsB *This programme is subject to final approval.

Open Forum: Entrepreneurship in the Greater Bay Area

COMP organised an open forum on “Entrepreneurship in the Greater Bay Area” at PolyU on 17 November. The forum brought together over 200 attendees including entrepreneurs, business executives, industry professionals, government officials, academia and students for a fruitful exchange. At the opening, Prof. Qin Lu, Professor and Interim Head of COMP, delivered the welcome remarks. Various scholars and industry specialists were invited to be guest speakers and panelists to share their views and insights on different opportunities in the GBA, how we can grow the area together, and drive the changes in technology, business and society. The GBA is positioned to become the world’s largest bay area economy. By linking up nine cities in the Guangdong Province and two special administrative regions, the GBA will be turned into an integrated economic and business hub, thus providing great opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop new businesses.

PolyU joins forces with Alibaba Cloud in AI research for Smart Cities and Smart Healthcare

With the Best Partner Award in Alibaba-Academic Collaboration received by Prof. Lei Zhang, COMP’s Chair Professor, at the Alibaba Annual Research Collaboration Summit in April, PolyU further strengthens the strategic cooperation with Alibaba in Artificial Intelligence (AI) research by entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on advanced AI technologies and applications, particularly in smart cities and smart healthcare. The MoU signing ceremony was held at PolyU on 13 November, with Prof. Alex Wai, Vice President (Research Development) of PolyU, and Mr Simon Hu, Senior Vice President of Alibaba Group and President of Alibaba Cloud, as signatories. Dr Yin-xing Hao, Director of Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong SAR, and Prof. Timothy Tong, President of PolyU, alongside a number of industry leaders also attended and witnessed this event. In recent years, PolyU and COMP have been working closely with Alibaba Group in multidisciplinary research projects through successful joint research projects, co-organised large-scale conferences, competitions and seminars. PolyU and Alibaba Cloud will explore the opportunity for setting up a joint research centre to advance AI research, including fundamental research, applied research and commercialisation of research findings that will ultimately support the development of the ecosystem and benefit the wider community.

The 24th Congregation of PolyU

Congratulations to all COMP’s graduates! The conferment of bachelor and master degrees on the candidates of COMP was held on 16 November at the Jockey Club Auditorium of PolyU. Families and friends of graduates gathered together to witness such memorable moment.

Two COMP graduates shined in Taiwan International ICT Innovative Services Awards

On 3 November, COMP graduates, Mr Yik Kan Leung and Mr Chak Hei So, clinched the first runner-up with their project “Marketemy - Simulation Game for Learning of Digital Marketing” under the Asian-Pacific Section of the International ICT Innovative Services Awards (InnoServe Awards), a flagship ICT event in Taiwan tertiary education sector. This year, the competition attracted more than 5,000 participants in 800 teams from 100 institutions. “Marketemy” is an e-marketing solution designed to allow prospective higher education students to learn digital marketing concepts by formulating e-marketing strategies on Google AdWords and Facebook for Business. The solution operates in mini-game mode, with the sole objective of practising particular e-marketing strategies, such as by achieving a quota of page likes for social media marketing, or a certain number of conversions from e-marketing campaigns. Entering its 23rd year, the InnoServe Awards is an annual ICT application competition held for university and college students, providing a platform for students to present their projects as part of their graduation requirements and promoting academic-industry collaboration by integrating academic training and practical experience.

The 43rd ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) Asia Shenyang Regional Contest

Under the supervision of our Associate Professor Dr Ken Yiu, a COMP student team, “Golden Water”, formed by Mr Shiqi He, Mr Haozhe Yan and Mr Yutong Yang won a silver medal in the 43rd ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) Asia Shenyang Regional Contest held at Northeastern University, China on 20 – 21 October. This year, more than 64 teams from over 100 colleges participated in the contest. Each team had to solve the most real-world problems, from debug to design test case for software programme. “Golden Water” finally solved three problems and awarded the silver medal. The International Collegiate Programming Contest is an algorithmic programming contest for college students. It is the oldest, largest, and the most prestigious programming contest in the world which fosters creativity, teamwork, innovation in building new software programmes, and enables students to test their ability to perform under pressure.

COMP Departmental Advisory Committee Member Mr James Lam is awarded the Medal of Honour

Congratulations to Mr James Y.F. Lam, our Departmental Advisory Committee (DAC) Member, on receiving the Medal of Honour (MH) from the HKSAR Government in recognition of his significant contributions to the education sector and the promotion of education policies and initiatives. Mr Lam is the Principal of Lions College and Ex-officio Member of Hong Kong Subsidized Secondary Schools Council. He was also the past Chairman of the Hong Kong Subsidized Secondary Schools Council. Being our DAC Member since 2016, Mr Lam has shown dedication and support in providing his valuable advice to our Department.

Machine Learning Studio Workshop by Microsoft

On 25 October, we invited Mr Morris Wong, professional trainer from Microsoft Hong Kong, to deliver a Machine Learning Studio Workshop for our students. Mr Wong introduced from the concept of Data Science to Machine Learning through in-class practical exercises and training. Students could at the same time gain hands-on experiences in machine learning and grasp how machine learning works through live demonstration.

COMP Research Student Orientation cum Welcome Day

To help COMP new research postgraduate (RPg) students who admitted in the academic year of 2018/19 to familiarise with their study at the Department, an orientation gathering was held on 15 October. The orientation began with a warm welcome speech by Prof. Qin Lu, Professor and Interim Head of COMP. Dr Bin Xiao, Associate Professor of COMP and the Chair of the Departmental Research Committee (DRC) explained the RPg Education at COMP such as programme structure and study path. Dr Xiao also introduced the supports and services offered by the Department. Dr Grace Ngai, Associate Professor of COMP and Chair of the Departmental Learning & Teaching Committee (DLTC) also met the students and talked about their responsibilities as teaching assistants. Dr Chengyao Chen from the Postgraduate Research Student Association was invited to share her study experience at COMP and her life at PolyU. COMP representatives and new students got along quite well and had a joyful afternoon.

Thousands of visitors were attracted to COMP at PolyU Education Info Day 2018

PolyU Education Info Day was smoothly concluded on 6 October. To provide visitors with comprehensive information on the programmes on offer, COMP organised various activities including exhibition and consultation, information seminars, and guided laboratory tours with live demonstration. A “Career Talk on FinTech & AI” was specially arranged for Career Teachers of secondary schools to obtain details of our new undergraduate programme – BSc (Hons) in Financial Technology and Artificial Intelligence*. At COMP booth, our Augmented Reality (AR) photo counters attracted many visitors and they had much fun by experiencing the AR technologies. Throughout the day, there were lively interaction and fruitful exchange between the visitors, our students and academic staff. PolyU Education Day is an annual event which provides an excellent platform for prospective students, parents and the public to obtain first-hand information on undergraduate programmes, admission requirements and career prospects. *This programme is subject to approval.