Many of the young men and women, who took a leap of faith and joined HKUST in the 90s, have become leaders in their fields.  Apart from household names like Frank Wang, who started his multi-billion dollar drone empire DJI in a dormitory room at HKUST, there are entrepreneurs like Kent Hau, who instigated a trend of “upper floor shops” in Hong Kong with his dried seafood chain HK JEBN, or dream chasers like Jeanie Leung, who gave up a stable banking career to pursue her dream as an artist – despite having never received formal art training, she soon made her name by creating the popular figurine Oowa.  These are just a few examples that showcase the can do spirit of the HKUST people, who are taught to pursue not just a stable and respectful job, but a career that allows them to follow their passion and make a change to the society.

This spirit has been passing on. Over the years, HKUST alumni continue to make a mark in different spectrums. On the entrepreneurship front, business graduate Roman Khan, for example, was the first HKUST alumnus to tap into crowdfunding as a source for his online leather goods business.  On research, life sciences graduate Sean Carim was part of a research team in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) during a two-month exchange trip that discovered a type of bacteria that could be developed into a safer and more accurate bioelectronics device.  On academic, Physics fresh graduate Shu Qi published up to 3 papers in different authoritative journals ever since he was a first-year undergraduate student.  On student engagement, engineering graduate Ryan Kow created Y-talk – a youth version of the famous TEDx talk for various experienced industry speakers to share topics and advice with university students.   

Today, another batch of students will join our alumni family.  In an address to the fresh graduates, HKUST President Prof Tony Chan reminded them to always hold dear at heart the spirit of “can-do”.  “You should aim high, and never concede that something is beyond your reach.  Your character will be defined by what you could do, instead of what you should do.  Do what you love to do, and do what you are passionate about.  For life is full of surprises, and sometimes the greatest achievements in mankind come in the most unexpected way.”

As a relatively young university, HKUST graduates are particularly close as they are keen to establish a network in support of one another. Alumni have given enthusiastic support to the University through their active response to the Alumni Endowment Fund, which has topped HK$25million this year.  Some donations to HKUST have specific purposes, such as the Yeung Wing Yee Entrepreneurs Fund, which was aimed at nurturing startups at an early stage.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary, HKUST created a digital Mosaic with more than 2,000 photos collected from faculty, students, staff and alumni to serve as living tapestry of the University community.  Alumni conferences were also being held in four overseas cities for the occasion.