Areas of Excellence Scheme

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Areas of Excellence Selection Panel

Committee Member	Title/Institution
Chairman
Professor Paul K L Yu*	Provost of Revelle College and William S C Chang Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, San Diego, U.S.A. Interests in optoelectronic materials, devices and engineering, modern communication, microwave photonics (e.g. transmission of high frequency optical signals and signal processing).
Members
Biology and Medicine Sub-group
Professor Hongtao Yu*	Chair Professor and Dean of School of Life Sciences, Westlake University, Chinese Mainland Interests in combining cell biological, biochemical, and biophysical methods, to understand cellular mechanisms governing genomic stability at the molecular and atomic levels.
Professor Xiao-fan Wang*	Donald and Elizabeth Cooke Distinguished Professor of Cancer Research, Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, School of Medicine, School of Medicine, Duke University, U.S.A. Interests in surgery, elucidation of molecular nature and signaling mechanisms associated with the initiation of cellular senescence and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of various types of human cancer.
Professor Pedro Alvarez*	George R. Brown Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, U.S.A. Interests in environmental implications and applications of nanotechnology, bioremediation, fate and transport of toxic chemicals, water footprint of biofuels, water treatment and reuse, and antibiotic resistance control.
Professor Pierre Braunstein*	Emeritus Research Director CNRS, Professeur conventionné, University of Strasbourg, France Interests in molecular chemistry, transition elements, polytopic ligands, Ligands with delocalized electronic system, metal complexes of functional enolates, bimetallics with silicon ligands, molecular clusters, carbene complexes.
Professor Marc Cadotte*	Professor of Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada Interests in ecological and evolutionary mechanisms generating patterns of species diversity and applying the understanding to conservation issues, community ecology, biology invasions, evolution, biodiversity, plant ecology, experiments and ecosystem function.
Professor Patrick Yizhi Cai*	Chair Professor in Synthetic Genomics, Department of Chemistry, Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, The University of Manchester, U.K. Interests in biochemistry, genetics &and molecular biology, immunology and microbiology.
Professor Wesley Cantwell*	Director, Aerospace Research and Innovation Centre and Associate Dean for Research, Department of Aerospace Engineering , Khalifa University of Science Technology and Research, U.A.E. Interests in composite materials, impact, lightweight aerospace structures, advanced manufacturing techniques, environmentally-friendly composites, polymers, fracture mechanics, dynamic properties of materials and smart structures.
Professor Ian Everall*	Executive Dean and Professor of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, King’s College London, U.K. Interests in psychiatry, psychology and neuroscience.
Professor Pinghui Feng*	Chair of the Section of Infection and Immunity, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, University of Southern California, U.S.A. Interests in dynamic interactions between herpesviruses and host innate immune system during infection and pathogenesis.
Professor Charles ffrench-Constant*	Professor of Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, U.K. Interests in finding therapies for multiple sclerosis.
Professor Tony Gin	Emeritus Professor, Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Interests in anaesthesia, pain medicine and pharmacology.
Professor Jennifer Grandis*	American Cancer Society Professor, Otolaryngology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, U.S.A. Interests in head and neck cancer, signal transduction, precision medicine.
Professor William Hunter*	Emeritus Professor, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, U.K. Interests in Enzymes; drugs; metals; structure-activity relationships; pathogens; secretion systems; bacteria; protists; tools; recombinant protein production; X-rays crystallography; Cryo-EM; protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions; ion channels; ligand interactions.
Professor Ladd Johnson*	Professor of Department of Biology, Laval University, Canada Interests in marine ecology and invasion biology.
Professor Alexandru Morega*	Professor of Electrical Engineering, Department of Electrical Machines, Materials and Drives, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania Interests in electromagnetism, electrical and magnetic circuits, processes of heat and mass transfer, energy conversion and sources, mathematical, numerical modeling for boundary and initial condition problems, nonlinear dynamics, biomedical engineering and technology, structural optimization, construction design, modeling interdisciplinary problems.
Professor Stephen Newman*	Professor Emeritus, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bath, U.K. Interests in machining science, computer aided process planning, machine tool metrology, CAD/CAM.
Professor Jonas Rosendahl*	Leitender Oberarzt der Universitätsklinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin I, Universitätsklinikum Halle, Germany Interests in genetic studies in gastroenterology, functional studies of genetic variants (in vitro/in vivo), clinical research in gastroenterology.
Professor Feng Shao*	Investigator and Deputy Director for Academic Affairs, National Institute of Biological Sciences, Chinese Mainland Interests in bacteria-host interaction, innate immunity, and inflammation.
Professor Richard Strugnell*	Professor of Microbiology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne, Australia Interests in microbiology/immunology interface, and in basic bacterial molecular biology of key microbiological phenomena including bacterial physiology, biofilm development and adaptation to intracellular growth.
Professor Yi Wang*	Faculty Distinguished Professor of Radiology, Department of Radiology, Cornell University, U.S.A. Interests in biomedical imaging and instrumentation, bioengineering, biomedical engineering, image analysis, signal and image processing, scientific computing, biomolecular engineering, algorithms, artificial intelligence, biophysics, biotechnology, computational fluid dynamics, complex systems, network science and computation, computational science and engineering, computer aided diagnosis, neuroscience, statistics and machine learning.
Engineering Sub-group
Professor Ronaldo Borja*	Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Professor (By Courtesy) of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, U.S.A. Interests in theoretical and computational solid mechanics, geomechanics and geosciences.
Professor Jon Longtin*	Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stony Brook University, U.S.A. Interests in using the unique qualities of laser light for novel measurement of the thermophysical behavior of liquid and solids.
Professor Pedro Alvarez*	George R. Brown Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, U.S.A. Interests in environmental implications and applications of nanotechnology, bioremediation, fate and transport of toxic chemicals, water footprint of biofuels, water treatment and reuse, and antibiotic resistance control.
Professor Catherine Brinson*	Sharon C. and Harold L. Yoh, III Distinguished Professor, Department of Mechanical, Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, U.S.A. Interests in advanced material systems and developing new methods to characterize and to model material behavior.
Professor George T C Chiu*	Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, U.S.A. Interests in mechatronics, dynamic systems and control, digital imaging and printing systems, functional printing and digital fabrication, robotics, perception-based engineering, human motor control, optimal and robust control.
Professor Xiaotie Deng*	Professor of Center on Frontiers of Computing Studies, Peking University, Chinese Mainland Interests in algorithmic game theory, with applications to Internet Economics and Finance including sponsored search auction, p2p network’s economics such as BitTorrent network, sharing economics, and blockchain.
Professor Wei Ding*	Professor of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Boston, U.S.A. Interests in data mining, machine learning, artificial intelligence, computational semantics, and with applications to health sciences, astronomy, geosciences, and environmental sciences.
Professor Zhi Ding*	Distinguished Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Davis, U.S.A. Interests in the broad field of signal and data processing, communications, and networking technologies
Professor Xiaojiang Du*	Anson Wood Burchard Endowed-Chair Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology, U.S.A. Interests in Internet of Things (IoT) Security, Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) Security; Artificial Intelligence (AI) Security, machine learning security; mobile device security, wireless network security; wireless networks, computer networks; computer systems, controls and , communications.
Professor Lucy E Dunne*	Professor and Program Director of Apparel Design and Apparel Studies Track of Design Graduate Program, University of Minnesota, U.S.A. Interests in apparel design, functional apparel, smart clothing/wearable technology.
Professor Kornel Ehmann*	Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, U.S.A. Interests in micro/meso-scale manufacturing, precision engineering, machine tool dynamics and control, material removal processes, automation and robotics.
Professor Lixin Gao*	Distinguished Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, U.S.A. Interests in networking, distributed systems, algorithms and computational biology.
Dr Julio C Guerrero*	Founder and CEO, Cambridge Research and Technology L.L.C. Senior Manager of Exponent, Inc., U.S.A. Interests in analyzing, designing, and developing mechanical systems, including those for harsh and extreme conditions, and energy and oil and gas and biomedical industries.
Professor Dikai Liu*	Distinguished Professor, School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Interests in field robotics and human-robot collaboration and infrastructure robotics
Professor Wing-kam Liu*	Professor of Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, U.S.A. Interests in mechanistic data science & Artificial Intelligence, multiscale modeling and simulation, computational mechanics & meshfree methods, additive manufacturing design and nanotechnology & biology.
Professor Alexandru Morega*	Professor of Electrical Engineering, Department of Electrical Machines, Materials and Drives, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania Interests in electromagnetism, electrical and magnetic circuits, processes of heat and mass transfer, energy conversion and sources, mathematical, numerical modeling for boundary and initial condition problems, nonlinear dynamics, biomedical engineering and technology, structural optimization, construction design, modeling interdisciplinary problems.
Professor Stephen Newman*	Professor Emeritus, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bath, U.K. Interests in machining science, computer aided process planning, machine tool metrology, CAD/CAM.
Professor Duc Truong Pham*	Chance Professor of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Birmingham, U.K. Interests in rapid manufacturing, micro manufacturing, automation, robotics, IT and intelligent systems.
Professor Honggang Wang*	Professor and Department Chair, Department of Graduate Computer Science and Engineering, Katz School of Science and Health, Yeshiva University, U.S.A. Interests in Internet of Things and connected health, Body Area Networks (BAN) and wireless multimedia, multimedia processing and communications, cyber and multimedia security, mobile multimedia and cloud, edge computing, wireless networks and cyber-physical system, big data in mHealth, data engineering and machine learning.
Professor Michael S. Wong*	Professor of Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, U.S.A. Interests in (i) structure-property analysis of palladium-on-gold catalysts; (ii) metal-on-metal nanoparticle synthesis; (iii) treatment of dioxane, nitrate, fluorocarbons, and chlorocarbons from water; (iv) sugar upgrading chemistry, and (v) nanoparticle assembly.
Professor Wei Wu*	Director of Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria Interests in ground investigation, numerical simulation, geotechnical expertise, geotechnical design, geohazard.
Professor Feng Xia*	Professor of School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University, Australia Interests in artificial intelligence, graph learning, brain, robotics, and digital health.
Professor Xiangwu Zhang*	Samuel S. Walker Distinguished Professor, Wilson College of Textiles, North Carolina State University, U.S.A. Interests in focus on nanostructured and multifunctional polymer, composite, fiber, and textile materials with an emphasis on practical applications: energy storage and conversion, chemical and biological protection, composites and nanofinishing.
Physical Sciences Sub-group
Professor Wesley Cantwell*	Director, Aerospace Research and Innovation Centre and Associate Dean for Research, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Khalifa University of Science Technology and Research, U.A.E. Interests in composite materials, impact, lightweight aerospace structures, advanced manufacturing techniques, environmentally-friendly composites, polymers, fracture mechanics, dynamic properties of materials and smart structures.
Professor Jonathan Cooper*	Wolfson Chair of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, U.K. Interests in use of micro and nanotechnology at the life-science interface, particularly in the area of advanced diagnostics and Lab-on-a-Chip.
Professor Isabelle Baraffe*	Professor of Astrophysics, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Exeter, U.K. Interests in Stellar hydrodynamics, Exoplanets, Planetary atmospheric dynamics.
Professor David Bergbreiter*	Professor of Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, U.S.A. Interests in catalysis, nanoscience, organic, organometallic, polymer chemistry, surface modification, sustainability & green and synthesis.
Professor Ronaldo Borja*	Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Professor (By Courtesy) of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, U.S.A. Interests in theoretical and computational solid mechanics, geomechanics and geosciences.
Professor Mark Andrew Bradford*	Emeritus Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Australia Interests in structures subjected to extreme actions, including fire and blast, geometric and material non-linear response of structures including arches, domes and curved beams, dynamics and elasto-dynamic buckling, numerical methods, structural retrofit and design codes.
Professor David Carey*	Professor of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Surrey, U.K. Interests in graphene and beyond graphene: 2D Layered Materials, band gap engineering, doping and characterization.
Professor James Fawcett*	Professor of Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, U.K. Interests in axon regeneration, neuroplasticity and perineuronal nets, spinal cord & brain repair, neurotechnology & electronics and clinical application.
Professor Les Field*	Professor of School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales, Australia Interests in organometallic chemistry, NMR spectroscopy.
Professor Huosheng Hu*	Emeritus Professor, School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex, U.K. Interests in intelligent systems and autonomous mobile robots, networked robots and network enable systems / devices, smart sensors, actuators and mechatronics, sensor integration and data fusion algorithms, tele-rehabilitation, tele-care, tele-health, intelligent wheelchairs, genetic algorithms, fuzzy logic and neural networks in robotics, pervasive computing, mobile computing, e-learning, distributed computer architecture and parallel processing.
Professor William Hunter*	Emeritus Professor, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, U.K. Interests in Enzymes; drugs; metals; structure-activity relationships; pathogens; secretion systems; bacteria; protists; tools; recombinant protein production; X-rays crystallography; Cryo-EM; protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions; ion channels; ligand interactions.
Professor Didier Pribat*	Research Director, Laboratoire de Physique des Interfaces et des Couches Minces, France Interests in Nanoscience & Nanotechnologies, Crystal growth, Materials science.
Professor Christopher Tout*	Professor of Stellar Evolution , Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, U.K. Interest in the theory of stellar evolution including that of interacting binary stars. Fluid and magnetohydrodynamic processes in stars.
Professor Yi Wang*	Faculty Distinguished Professor of Radiology, Department of Radiology, Cornell University, U.S.A. Interests in biomedical imaging and instrumentation, bioengineering, biomedical engineering, image analysis, signal and image processing, scientific computing, biomolecular engineering, algorithms, artificial intelligence, biophysics, biotechnology, computational fluid dynamics, complex systems, network science and computation, computational science and engineering, computer aided diagnosis, neuroscience, statistics and machine learning.
Professor Jianliang Xiao*	Professor of School of Physical Sciences, University of Liverpool, U.K. Interests in organic synthesis and homogeneous catalysis.
Humanities and Social Sciences Sub-group
Professor Gigi Luk*	Professor, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Canada Interests in Bilingualism, cognitive development, lifespan development and neuroimaging.
Professor Paul Clark*	Professor of Chinese, Department of Asian Studies, The University of Auckland, New Zealand Interests in Contemporary Chinese popular culture, including film and the Cultural Revolution; Contemporary Chinese history.
Professor Larry Cata Backer*	Professor of School of Law and School of International Affairs, Pennsylvania State University, U.S.A. Interests in business & human rights, business law, constitutional law, corporate compliance, human rights, international law, law and semiotics.
Professor Ronaldo Borja*	Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Professor (By Courtesy) of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, U.S.A. Interests in theoretical and computational solid mechanics, geomechanics and geosciences.
Professor Xiaojiang Du*	Anson Wood Burchard Endowed-Chair Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology, U.S.A. Interests in Internet of Things (IoT) Security, Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) Security; Artificial Intelligence (AI) Security, machine learning security; mobile device security, wireless network security; wireless networks, computer networks; computer systems, controls and communications.
Professor Charles ffrench-Constant*	Professor of Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, U.K. Interests in finding therapies for multiple Sclerosis.
Professor Tim Forsyth*	Professor of Department of International Development, London School of Economics and Political Science, U.K. Interests in Southeast and South Asia (India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam), climate change, environmental policy, social studies of science, social movements and environment, institution and governance.
Prof Wen-jui Han*	Professor, Silver School of Social Work, New York University, U.S.A. Interests in social welfare policy, with an emphasis on children and families; effects of maternal employment and child care on children's cognitive and social and emotional outcomes; impact of welfare reform and child care subsidies on families; precarious parental work, parental work schedules, and child well-being; cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes of children in immigrant families; quantitative research methods and use of large-scale longitudinal data.
Professor Ilan Katz*	Professor of Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC), University of New South Wales, Australia Interests include social policy, evaluation of complex family and community interventions, family support, child protection, families and communities, race, culture and ethnicity, migration, international comparisons of child welfare systems and policy, parenting, mental health and youth justice.
Professor Alan Hiu-fung Lam	Founder and Chairman of Sengital Limited, Hong Kong Interests in IoT technologies, sensor technology and applications, wireless network, system design, signal processing, AI and machine intelligence, manufacturing and commercialization.
Professor Zhu Li*	Professor of Department of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering, University of Missouri, Kansas City, U.S.A. Interests in image/video, light field and point cloud compression, deep learning based compression schemes, image/video denoising and super-resolution, video hashing and identification and video communication system issues.
Professor Zhilin Liu*	Professor of School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, Chinese Mainland Interests in urban policy and governance, housing policy, urban social geography, sustainable development and new institutionalism theory.
Professor Witold Pedrycz*	Professor of Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada Interests in the realm of Computational Intelligence (CI), bioinformatics, and granular computing regarded as a recent development in the design and analysis of intelligent and human-centric systems.
Professor Weiping Wu*	Professor & Director, Urban Planning Program Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, U.S.A. Interests in urbanization and migration, urban development and policy, urban infrastructure.
Professor Sean Xin Xu*	Starr Endowed Chair Professor, Department of Management Science and Engineering, Associate Dean, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Chinese Mainland Interest in digital enablement (understanding IT’s capabilities to digitally transform business and improve business performance) and IT governance (ensuring the acquired IT capabilities are well aligned with business objectives).
Business Sub-group
Professor Nancy Y Wong*	Professor, Consumer Science, School of Human Ecology and Faculty Director, Kohl's Center for Retailing Excellence, University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S.A. Interests in culture, materialism and emotion, cross-cultural research methods, consumer decision making and public policy.
Professor Tim Woonghee Huh*	Professor and Chair, Operations and Logistics Division, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Canada Interests in Inventory control, pricing, capacity, operations management, data-driven methods, business analytics and health-care operations
Professor Hong Chen*	Professor of Department of Management Sciences, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, Chinese Mainland Interests in clean energy market and finance, and carbon reduction in supply chain; modeling, optimization and empirical analysis of supply chain management, and healthcare management, corporate finance and real estate.
Professor Jens Leth Hougaard*	Professor of Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark Interests in applied microeconomics: economic design, networks, game theory, blockchains and efficiency analysis.

* Members outside Hong Kong