Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU) held its annual Award Presentation Ceremony on 28 February to recognise staff for their outstanding achievements and contributions in the areas of teaching, research, community engagement, enhancing the University's image and administration, as well as for long service.

At the ceremony, Prof. Paul Lam Kwan-sing, HKMU President, expressed his heartfelt gratitude and congratulated all the awardees for their contributions to the University. He encouraged all HKMU staff to continue to strive to do their jobs well, not for rewards, promotions or praise from supervisors, but out of a genuine desire to help others, benefit students and contribute to society. “I believe that if more of us can do a good job for these reasons, our University will continue to improve,” Prof. Lam said. He also thanked the long-service awardees for their dedication and commitment to the University.

President's Awards for Excellence in Inspirational Teaching

To promote the quality of teaching and learning, the University established the “President's Awards for Excellence in Inspirational Teaching” to recognise and reward staff who create inspirational learning experiences for students and serve as pedagogical role models for their colleagues. This year, three outstanding individuals were honoured as 'Winners' and seven other teaching staff were named 'Top Finalists':

• Dr Venus Chan Wing-man, Assistant Professor in the School of Arts and Social Sciences, received the award in the “Professional Teaching” category for her use of extended reality (XR)-powered teaching to develop learners' interpreting and public-speaking skills through the interactive mobile app XR MALL.
• Dr Ge Lin, Assistant Professor in the Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration (Business School), was recognised in the “Early-career Teaching” category for her application of Variation Theory in Master of Business Administration (MBA) education, demonstrating unique perspectives and exceptional outcomes.
• Ms Karen Wu Chak-kuen, Course Coordinator (Part-time) in the Business School, was awarded in the “Part-time Teaching” category for her effective pedagogies that make learning finance enjoyable and effective for students.

Katie Shu Sui Pui Charitable Trust – Outstanding Research Publication Award

The “Katie Shu Sui Pui Charitable Trust – Outstanding Research Publication Award” was established to recognise and commend staff members for outstanding research publications. This year, the Gold Prize was awarded to Dr Rebecca Leung Mo-ling, Associate Dean (Administration and Development) and Associate Professor in the School of Arts and Social Sciences. Her paper, published in the prestigious academic journal Bulletin of the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy（中國文哲研究集刊）, explores the interpretive process of renowned writer Lu Xun's work, A Madman's Diary（狂人日記）. The Assessment Panel commended the publication for its high academic quality and its potential benefit for, and impact on, primary and secondary education.

The Silver Prize was awarded to Dr John Chui Kwok-tai, Assistant Professor, and Dr Alin Liu Yalin, Senior Lecturer, both from the School of Science and Technology. Dr Chui's research proposed an enhanced “transfer learning” algorithm – a machine learning technique – which improves accuracy and may be beneficial for small-scale datasets and applications where similar datasets are not available. Dr Liu's research focused on developing a precise analytical model for space-air-ground integrated networks for satellite communications.

The Bronze Prize was awarded to Dr Chen Jianlin, Assistant Professor in the School of Science and Technology, and Dr Gonzalo Hernandez Soto, Senior Lecturer in the Business School, for their research publication on microfluidic paper-based analytical devices and the effects of outward foreign direct investment on energy intensity among the member countries of the European Union, respectively.

At the ceremony, the University also presented the “President's Awards for Distinguished Achievement” to academic and administrative staff in recognition of their outstanding accomplishments in various projects over the past year, ranging from the HKMU 35^th Anniversary Exhibition, collaboration with the Correctional Services Department's Ethics College to support inmates in continuous learning, community health outreach, and the HKMU Graduate Trainee Programme. The University also presented the “Long Service Award” to 45 staff and the “Retiree” award to nine former staff in recognition of their dedication and contributions over the years.