We are delighted to announce the recipients of the Outstanding Alumni Award 2026 of PolyU Department of English and Communication. The Department would like to recognise the significant achievements of three of our alumni in their fields. The three awardees listed below have all made remarkable contributions to PolyU, our Department, and society.
The Alumni and Young Alumni awardees, in alphabetical order by family name, are:
1. Ms Iris CHEUNG Ah Yuk, Associate Director of Education, AISL Harrow Group (Graduate of 2005)
Outstanding Alumni Award
Ms Iris CHEUNG 's recognition in the Professional Achievement area has been demonstrated through her senior strategic leadership within prestigious international school groups and her bridge of local cultural values and global educational standards. As the Associate Director of Education for AISL Harrow Group, she provides strategic leadership to senior schools across Mainland China and Hong Kong, representing a distinguished level of professional achievement and underscoring her broad impact on educational leadership.
Ms Cheung felt deeply honoured to receive this award from her alma mater. She shared, “My BA (Hons) in English Language Teaching journey provided the definitive foundation for the privilege of the work I get to do today. I am incredibly grateful for the collective efforts of the entire PolyU community, from the dedicated faculty to professional support teams like the SAO, who worked tirelessly to ensure student success. This recognition inspires me to continue fostering a student-first education experience and celebrating every part of their journey. Thank you, PolyU!”
2. Dr Wience LAI Wing Sze, Senior Lecturer & Associate Head, Division of Languages and Communication, College of Professional and Continuing Education, PolyU (Graduate of 2001)
Outstanding Alumni Award
Dr Wience Lai distinguished herself in the Scholarly Achievement area with contributions to phonetics, second-language education, and technology-enhanced language learning. Her research had a significant educational and societal impact in Hong Kong and other multilingual contexts. Her contributions, such as the QESS-funded project and pedagogic research, have also advanced English language learning, assessment equity, and pedagogic practice. Dr Lai promoted a more effective, inclusive, and evidence-based approach to teaching and assessment.
Dr Lai was deeply honoured and grateful to receive the award: “My heartfelt thanks go to my nominator, Mr Paul Lee, and to the PolyU Department of English and Communication, where my undergraduate years were filled with warmth, inspiration, and treasured bonds with teachers and classmates. It was there that my love for linguistics, especially phonetics, first took root. That sense of belonging continues to guide me as I contribute to my alma mater through my work at PolyU CPCE.”
3. Dr Chenzi XU, Assistant Professor, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (Graduate of 2016)
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Dr Chenzi XU’s distinctive international profile in experimental and corpus phonetics and speech technology makes her stand out in the Scholarly Achievement area. As Principal Investigator of the Many Tones project, Dr Xu has led innovative cross-linguistic research on co-intrinsic pitch perception, strengthening international collaboration and advancing the field. Through the development of open research tools and widely adopted tutorials in phonetic analysis, corpus methods, and speech technology, she has made significant contributions to the global research community that extend well beyond her publications.
Dr Xu said, “I am honoured to receive this award from the Department of English and Communication at PolyU.” She also expressed her gratitude, saying, “My years there, from coursework and student projects to service learning and work-integrated education, shaped my academic career in ways I could not have anticipated. I learnt that impactful research demands leadership, collaboration, and persuasive scientific argument. I am grateful to my former teachers and mentors, and I look forward to remaining an active part of this community.”
