Souvenirs

This exquisite paper art coaster embodies the 85th anniversary logo and highlights PolyU’s landmark architecture while redefining traditional paper art craftsmanship.

Government Trade School

PolyU has its origin in the development of local technical education in the years preceding World War II. The Government Trade School opened on Wood Road in Wanchai in 1937 and was the first publicly funded post-secondary technical institution in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Technical College

The provision of technical education continued on a small scale during World War II and expanded soon after the war’s end. Renamed the Hong Kong Technical College in 1947, the institution offered both full- and part-time courses.

Hong Kong Polytechnic

There was soon an increasing need for a more advanced model of professional education, with Dr the Honourable Sir Chung Sze-yuen addressing the Legislative Council about a proposal for a “polytechnic-type institution” in 1965. His work on the Polytechnic Planning Committee with Dr the Honourable Tang Ping-yuan led to the establishment of the Hong Kong Polytechnic in 1972.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

In 1994, the Polytechnic gained approval from the then University and Polytechnic Grants Committee (now the University Grants Committee) for the self-accreditation of degree programmes. This enhanced responsibility resulted in full university status and a name change to The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

In collaboration with the China Academy of Space Technology, PolyU developed and manufactured the “Surface Sampling and Packing System” for China’s historic Chang’e-5 lunar sample return mission in 2020. Following the landing of the Chang’e-5 probe, the system automatically collected and packed samples from the lunar surface.

With the Tianwen-1 mission, China landed a spacecraft on Mars for the first time in May 2021, becoming the second country in the world to land and operate a rover on the Red Planet. PolyU researchers played a vital role in the mission, in collaboration with the China Academy of Space Technology.

PolyU developed the “Mars Landing Surveillance Camera” for capturing images of the Red Planet, and identified possible landing sites using topographic mapping and geomorphological analysis technologies.