Research Impact Fund Committee (2022-23)*
  Title/Sphere of Interest
Chairman
Professor Yip-wah Chung, BBS Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, U.S.A.

Interests in surface science, tribology, design and characterization of lubricant additives, hard coatings and alloys, as well as high throughput synthesis of multi-component systems
Members
Professor Owen Addison Professor of Oral Rehabilitation, Centre for Clinical, Oral and Translational Sciences, King’s College London, United Kingdom

Interests in predictive performance modelling and development of dental biomaterials; Advanced biophysical measurements of soft and hard tissues and engineered materials; Investigating materials determinants of peri-implant biological outcomes; Development of novel approaches to improve biological outcomes associated with implanted devices
Professor Daniel Alexander Professor of Imaging Science, Department of Computer Science, University College London, United Kingdom

Interests in computational modelling and optimization for biomedical imaging and image analysis, involves both ends of the imaging pipeline: designing novel imaging techniques with sensitivity to new image features, and extracting new information from existing images
Professor Soon Ang Goh Tjoei Kok Chair & Professor in Management, Head of Division of Strategy, Management and Organization and Executive Director of the Center for Innovation Research in Cultural Intelligence & Leadership, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Interests in cultural intelligence, international organizational behavior, outsourcing and talent management
Professor Brian James Baer Professor of Russian and Translation Studies, Department of Modern & Classical Language Studies, Kent State University, U.S.A.

Interests in Russian, History of translation, Sexuality, Censorship, Translation pedagogy and Journal editorship
Professor Eileen Breslin Dean and Professor, School of Nursing, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, U.S.A.

Interests in Violence, Addiction & Women's Health
Professor Heather Campbell Professor and Director of School of Community and Regional Planning, The University of British Columbia, Canada

Interests in how ethical values can be incorporated into public policy relating to city and regional planning and how academics can work more effectively with non-academics to enhance the relevance and impact of their research
Professor Yihai Cao Professor of Vascular Biology, Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

Interests in studying the fundamental mechanisms of angiogenesis, the key process of blood vessel formation, in various diseases, understanding molecular and functional mechanisms of angiogenesis in the onset and progression of most common and lethal human diseases such as cancer, metabolic disease, and cardiovascular disease
Professor Xiao-Ping Chen Professor of Management, Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs, Philip M. Condit Endowed Chair in Business Administration, Department of Management and Organization, Michael G. Foster School of Business, University of Washington, U.S.A.

Interests in creativity, decision making, entrepreneurship, global business, leadership organizational behavior, teamwork
Professor George T C Chiu Professor, School 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 Ken P Chong Research Professor, Department of Mechnical and Aerospace Engineering, The George Washington University, U.S.A.

Interests in the analysis and development of re-usable energy and structural efficient sandwich panels with cold-formed steel facings and rigid foamed cores, now widely used in industrial and commercial building systems. Developed new semi-circular fracture specimens for core-based brittle materials, now considered a standard. Research on the design of hybrid girders has been incorporated into AISC manuals
Professor Justin Jang Hann Chu Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Interests in Virology, Antivirals, Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, Dengue Virus, Chikungunya Virus and Vaccine
Professor Michael P Doyle Professor and The Rita and John Feik Distinguished University Chair in Medicinal Chemistry. Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at San Antonio, U.S.A.

Interests in applications with metal carbene transformations, Lewis acid catalyzed reactions, selective catalytic oxidations, and novel dirhodium compounds
Professor Hanming Fang Joseph M. Cohen Term Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Interests in applied microeconomic theory; empirical microeconomics; public economic; insurance markets; economics of discrimination and affirmative action
Professor William Grabe Regents Professor of Applied Linguistics, English Department, Northern Arizona University, U.S.A.c

Interests in L2 reading, writing, and literacy, written discourse analysis, content-based language instruction, teacher development, and the disciplinary nature of applied linguistics
Professor Jianguo Guan Professor, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, China

Interests in electrorheological fluids; magnetorheological materials; electromagnetic functional composite materials; chameleon film or coating materials; hydrogen production; functional nanostructures; biosensors
Professor Tamara Hervey Jean Monnet Professor of European Union Law, City Law School, City University of London, United Kingdom

Interests in transnational, global and comparative health law, and Equality and Diversity
Professor Brad Holschuh Assistant Professor of Apparel Design, Department of Design, Housing and Apparel, College of Design, University of Minnesota, U.S.A.

Interests in Wearable Technology, Active Materials, Soft Robotics, Medical Devices and Bioastronautics
Professor Jeffrey Hu Sharon A. and David B. Pearce Professor, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology, U.S.A.

Interests in big data, business analytics, electronic commerce, mobile commerce, social media, consumer behavior, and online advertising
Professor William N Hunter Professor of Structural Biology, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, United Kingdom

Interests in protein structure and function; fundamental chemical biology and early stage antimicrobial drug discovery
Professor Zhigang Jiang Associate Professor, School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, U.S.A.

Interests in quantum transport and infrared optical properties of low dimensional condensed matter systems
Dr Song Jin Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin Madison, U.S.A.

Interests in materials science, inorganic chemistry - chemistry and physics of materials on the nanoscale for solar applications, spintronics and other fascinating processes. Nanomaterials for renewable energy conversion, such as photovoltaic and thermoelectric energy conversion, and the applications of nanomaterials in biotechnology
Dr Sunil Kukreja Deputy Director of Active Perception Systems, Scientific Systems Company Inc., U.S.A.

Interests in experience providing valuable technical insights, vision and leadership in Engineering, Technology and Applied Research fields such as robotics, haptics, virtual reality, neuromorphic engineering, machine learning and data driven mathematical modeling (nonlinear system identification)
Professor Terry Lamb Professor of Languages and Interdisciplinary Pedagogy, Head of the Westminster Centre for Teaching Innovation Department of Modern Languages and Culture, University of Westminster, United Kingdom

Interests in linguistic diversity and plurilingual pedagogies in the context of globalisation and urban studies; learner and teacher autonomy (and related pedagogies such as e-learning, distance and blended learning, self-access learning, problem based collaborative learning etc.)
Professor Seung-Wuk Lee Professor of Bioengineering, Department of Bioengineering, College of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.

Interests in developing new ways to fabricate high performance materials and devices through self-assembly processes by exploiting biological organisms such as viruses and cells; designing synthetic viruses which can be exploited as regenerative tissue engineering materials and drug delivery vehicles
Professor Kai Li W. Maurice Young Chair in Finance, UBC Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Canada

Interests in corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, shareholder activism, culture and finance and corporate innovation
Professor Lingjun Li Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemistry, School of Pharmacy and Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S.A.

Interests in bioanalytical chemistry, neurochemistry, biological mass spectrometry, neuropeptides, proteomics, peptidomics
Professor Shaofan Li Professor of Applied and Computernational Mechanics, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.

Interests in computational mechanics; Bio- and Nano-mechanics, Mechanics of soft matters; Multiscale simulations and Computational statistical mechanics; Micromechanics, Configurational force mechanics
Dr Ruifeng Liang Managing Director, NSF Center for Integration of Composites into Infrastructure, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, West Virginia University, U.S.A.

Interests in advanced FRP composites through innovative material design and processing; Smart materials for new devices, structures and NDE techniques; Novel polymer and composite technologies to advance materials with better strength, durability, and cost-effectiveness; Process modeling, structural and design analyses; Nanocomposites, natural composites, green composites; Hakka Tulou, rammed earth, and other sustainable structures
Professor Peter K. Liaw Professor and Ivan Racheff Chair of Excellence, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, U.S.A.

Interests in mechanical behavior, fatigue and fracture behavior, nondestructive-evaluation, and neutron/synchrotron studies of advanced materials, including bulk-metallic glasses, nano-structural materials, high-entropy alloys, superalloys, steels, and intermetallics
Professor Wing-kam Liu Walter P. Murphy Professor of Mechanical & Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, U.S.A.

Interests in nonlinear finite elements; multiscale methods for materials design and engineering simulation; linear and nonlinear fluid structure interactions; seismic analysis and vulnerability of structures; computational nanotechnology; multiscale computational materials design; microfluidics and electrokinetics of manipulation and assembly of nano/bio molecules; modeling of MEMS/NEMS and energy harvesting devices; microfluidic electrokinetic assembly of nano- and bio-molecules; nano-diamond based device for engineered medicine delivery
Professor Peter Lucas Professor of Artificial Intelligence, Department of Data Science, University of Twente, Netherlands

Interests in artificial intelligence, biomedical informatics, data science, Bayesian networks, model-based diagnosis, clinical decision-support systems
Professor Vincent Mak Director of the MPhil in Strategy, Marketing & Operations Programme, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Interests in pricing, search decisions, decisions in networks and queues, decisions in competitive environments, competitive strategies, game theory, and experimental economics
Professor Stuart Maudsley VIB Group leader, VIB-UAntwerp Center for Molecular Neurology, University of Antwerp, Belgium

Interests in understanding how complex and multifactorial neurodegenerative diseases are generated through the interaction of networks of genes and proteins, and subsequently how to develop tractable receptor-based therapeutic strategies that exert beneficial effects across these pathological networks
Professor Chris Mi Professor and Chair, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Director, DOE GATE Center for Electric Drive Transportation, San Diego State University, U.S.A.

Interests in electric and hybrid vehicles
Professor Tracey Moore Head of Department, The School of Nursing and Midwifery, The University of Sheffield, United Kingdom

Interests in recognising and responding to adult patient deterioration within an acute ward environment and the impact of track and trigger systems in detecting patients at risk of clinical deterioration
Professor Ray Owens Professor of Molecular Biology, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Head of the Oxford Protein Production Facility – UK, University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Interests in protein expression, crystallization and high throughput
Professor Jian Pei Canada Research Chair in Big Data Science, Professor of School of Computing Science, Associate member of Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Canada

Interests in data mining, data science, data engineering, database systems, business intelligence, healthcare informatics
Professor Luis Perez-Gonzalez Professor of Translation Studies, Department of Foreign Languages and Translation, University of Agder, Norway

Interests in The Contestation of Key Political and Scientific Concepts in the Digital Sphere, Engaged Subtitling and Citizen Media in the Digital Culture, Fandom and Audiovisual Translation and Discourse, Translation and the Law
Mr Michael Pidd Director, The Digital Humanities Institute, The University of Sheffield, United Kingdom

Interests in responsibility for the development and delivery of its research projects; Initiating and developing research funding proposals; Developing the DHI's operations and strategic objectives; Managing the DHI's relationship with its clients and stakeholders; Developing new relationships and business opportunities; Representing the DHI nationally and internationally as well as within the University more widely; Overseeing the online resources which the DHI hosts on behalf of its partners
Professor Dong Qian Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Dallas, U.S.A.

Interests in Nonlinear finite element and meshfree methods and applications to stress and failure analysis, Fatigue and life prediction, Surface engineering, residual stress analysis. Modeling and simulation of manufacturing process (peening, forming, etc.), Modeling and simulation of nanostructured materials with focus on mechanical properties and multiphysics coupling mechanisms
Professor Subramanian Ramaswamy Director, Bindley Bioscience Centre, Purdue University, U.S.A.

Interests in the molecular basis of function - trying to understand biological process from the first principles of physics and chemistry
Professor Matthias Schwab Professor of Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Tübingen, Germany

Interests in pharmacogenomics/epigenetics of drug metabolizing enzymes, drug transporters and nuclear receptors; Pharmacogenomics of anticancer and immunosuppressive drugs; Drug-Drug Interaction and clinical consequences; Pediatric clinical pharmacology; Novel methodologies in genomic research and molecular diagnostics; Novel therapeutic strategies in renal cancer
Professor Steve Waiching Sun Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering & Engineering Mechanics, Columbia University, U.S.A.

Interests in the mechanics and physics of geological and porous materials such as soil, rocks, concrete, and salt. Focusing on computational poromechanics and geomechanics for a wide spectrum of applications ranging from field scale applications such as geological storage of carbon dioxide, hydraulic fracture, geological disposal of nuclear waste, and vehicle-soil-water interaction to micro-scale simulations of the 3D printing processes and fragmentation and fracture of a single crystal grain
Professor Yong Tan Neal and Jan Dempsey Professor of Information Systems, Foster School of Business, University of Washington, U.S.A.

Interests in big data, social media and user generated content, FinTech, online opinion formation, Health IT, Economic and social networks , open source software development, Peer-to-peer network, information security, digital content distribution channels, economics of Internet interconnectivity, online trust management, pricing of Internet services
Professor Shaoqiang Tang Professor of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, College of Engineering, Peking University, China

Interests in computational Mechanics and Applied Mathematics: multiscale simulations, scientific computing
Professor Jinhua Wang Professor, Institute for Health Informatics, University of Minnesota, U.S.A.

Interests in Computational analysis for high-throughput cancer genomics projects especially as it relates to high-throughput data mining and modeling, heterogeneous genomics data integration, comparative genomics; integrating copy number variation, gene expression profiling, sequence somatic mutations and proteomic data, and developed novel methods to detect the influence of copy number variation and coding/noncoding mutations on splicing and expression of different splicing isoforms
Professor Bridgette Wessels Professor of Social Inequality, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom

Interests in Social innovation and technological change, focusing on digital and social media technologies, digital services and social agency; Social media, digital-services and social participation, in the public sector, the wider public sphere, the creative sector and in everyday life; Innovations in methodology: e-research, participatory methods, and action research
Professor David Winkler Professor (Research), Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Australia

Interests in stem cells, drug development, computational models, startup companies
Professor Dapeng Oliver Wu Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Florida, U.S.A.

Interests in networking, communications, signal processing, computer vision, machine learning, smart grid, and information and network security
Professor Won-Sub Yoon Professor of Department of Energy Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Republic of Korea

Interests in the fabrication and structure analysis of electrode materials to increase capacity and efficiency of lithium ion battery cathode and anode active materials
Professor Raymond Yung Professor of Internal Medicine, Medical School, University of Michigan, U.S.A.

Interests in rheumatology, arthritis, immunology and geriatrics
Professor Yongjie Jessica Zhang Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Courtesy Appointment in Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, U.S.A.

Interests in computational geometry, mesh generation, computer graphics, visualization, finite element method, isogeometric analysis and their application in computational biomedicine and engineering
Professor Hongcai Joe Zhou Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry, Associate Editor, Inorganic Chemistry, Director, Center for Electrochemical Systems and Hydrogen Research, Chair, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, U.S.A.

Interests in Energy Storage for Transportation, Supramolecular Chemistry, Hydrogen and Methane Storage, Carbon Dioxide Capture, Clean-Energy-Related Separation, Metal-Organic Frameworks, Mesh-Adjustable Molecular Sieves, Mesoporous Materials, Biomimetic Synthesis
Secretary
Mr K Y Cheng Assistant Secretary General (Research)4, UGC

* All Members are outside Hong Kong