(Hong Kong, December 18, 2012) Hang Lung Properties Limited (stock code: 101) in conjunction with The Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Department of Mathematics of The Chinese University of Hong Kong today announced the winners of the 2012 Hang Lung Mathematics Awards (HLMA) at an awards presentation ceremony held at the Asia Society Hong Kong Center. Mr. Eddie Hak-Kim Ng, SBS, JP, Secretary for Education, Government of the HKSAR, was the guest of honor at the ceremony.
This year marks the fifth HLMA. The Gold Award of the 2012 HLMA goes to Chung Hang Kwan from Sir Ellis Kadoorie Secondary School (West Kowloon) on the topic of Towards Catalan’s Conjecture. The Silver Award goes to Kai Lai Chan, Tsz Nam Chan, Ho Yin Lau, Kai Shing Mok and Yiu Shing Wong from Sha Tin Government Secondary School on Cutting Twisted Solid Tori (TSTs), and the Bronze Award goes to Tsam Kiu Pun from St. Mary’s Canossian College on Complexity Reduction of Graph. The "Teacher Leadership Award" of the Gold Award winning team goes to Yat Ting Tong from Sir Ellis Kadoorie Secondary School (West Kowloon).
The 2012 HLMA recorded a total of 252 students forming 87 teams from 62 schools. Under the supervision of the leading teacher, each HLMA participating team was tasked with designing and carrying out a mathematics research project. Each project was carefully assessed by the Scientific Committee, using a multi-step process similar to that undertaken for publication by a scientific journal. 14 teams that impressed the Scientific Committee with their creativity and ingenuity were invited to participate in an oral defense, a procedure that is modeled after a doctoral degree defense and was held yesterday (December 17) at the head office of Hang Lung Properties.
Founded in 2004 by Mr. Ronnie C. Chan, Chairman of Hang Lung Properties, and the world-renowned mathematician Professor Shing-Tung Yau, 1982 Fields Medalist, the HLMA nurture world-class mathematics talents in Hong Kong by providing a unique platform to stimulate critical thinking and creativity among secondary school students, as well as to raise their academic aptitude and ability.
Reviewing the HLMA since their inception, Mr. Ronnie C. Chan, Chairman of Hang Lung Properties, said, “Hang Lung Properties believes that education empowers continuous development of society and therefore, we have long had a tradition of supporting education. Since we inaugurated the competition, the HLMA have touched the hearts and minds of many mathematics enthusiasts – students, teachers, mathematicians alike -- in the pursuit of mathematics discovery and truth. We are delighted to see that past winners have graduated and are contributing to our society in many ways, personally, academically and professionally.”
Professor Shing-Tung Yau, Chairman of the HLMA Scientific Committee and William Caspar Graustein Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University, said, “The HLMA are precious honors. The adjudicating committee comprises scholars from world-renowned universities and they maintain a fair and conscientious assessment process. Winning their recognition is actually equivalent to obtaining international acknowledgement.” Professor Yau added that he was impressed by the passion and confidence shown by the youngsters in Hong Kong at the oral defense. He especially commended the winners of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards for their outstanding creativity and their ability to think out of the box in mathematical theories.
Professor Sir James A. Mirrlees, Chairman of the HLMA Steering Committee and 1996 Nobel Laureate in Economics, said he was pleased to see the outstanding quality of the submissions from students, “The proposals from finalist teams of the 2012 HLMA are those which meet the highest academic standards in terms of execution, methodology and scholarship. Undoubtedly, the standard of the works from students in Hong Kong is absolutely comparable with those from the distinguished schools in the world. We hope that our young generation would embrace a lifelong pursuit for knowledge, and enrich the world with their revelations and works.”
Eight Hang Lung Mathematics Awards were presented at the HLMA this year: a Gold Award of HK$400,000; a Silver Award of HK$200,000; a Bronze Award of HK$100,000; and five Honorable Mentions, each worth HK$60,000. Each Hang Lung Mathematics Award has four components: a "Student Education Award" to be shared equally among team members and applied towards their university studies; a "Teacher Leadership Award" for the supervising teacher; a "School Development Award" to promote mathematics education at the winning school; and a "Tuition Scholarship" for any teacher at the winning school to earn a Master of Science (M. Sc.) in Mathematics from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Each winning student and teacher received a crystal trophy and a certificate, while the school received a crystal trophy.
Hang Lung Properties sponsors and funds the HLMA. Scholarships are granted to the winning students and teachers, with the winning schools receiving a development grant. In addition, funds are designated to support research, participant mentorship, the adjudication process and administration expenses. The "Tuition Scholarship" is provided by the Department of Mathematics of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
For more information, please visit the HLMA website: http://hlma.math.cuhk.edu.hk
