Hong Kong university head: We want to be like Technion one day

Hong Kong’s academic institutions have a lot to learn from Israel – especially from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, said Prof. Tony Chan, president of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology on Sunday.

Leading a senior delegation from Hong Kong to the Haifa institution of higher learning, Chan delivered a lecture before top professors and students on “Building a University on an International Level in 21 Years.”

Although the Hong Kong university was established exactly 21 years ago and is one of the youngest in the world, it is considered a leader in advancing the hi-tech industry and allows residents of Hong Kong and China to study close to home rather than go abroad. The government of Hong Kong, he said, understands that it must invest in scientific and technological fields.

“I see many similarities between our university and the Technion,” he continued. “My dream is that in 40 years, I will be able – like the Technion president – to boast of the fact that our graduates are in the forefront of the leading hi-tech companies in the world.”

The guests asked Technion president Prof. Peretz Lavie and others what contributed to the Haifa institution turning into a “start-up power” and how it encourages the development of initiatives among students.

They also were interested in how the Technion promotes cooperation between academia and industry.

The Technion heads were asked to explain how they convinced leading scientists who had emigrated from Israel to return, and to elucidate upon the contributions of immigrant scientists from the former Soviet Union.