A strategic collaboration strengthening internationalisation in research and education has been signed between City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and Arizona State University (ASU).

The partnership will enhance ties between the two universities in urban sustainability, digital and creative media, flexible electronics for enabling human-scale and built environment technologies, and product innovation. It will also encourage the development of joint undergraduate and graduate programmes and create opportunities for faculty and student exchange, studies and research.

Professor Arthur Ellis, Acting President of CityU, and Dr Michael Crow, President of ASU, officiated at the signing ceremony on 21 April at CityU.

At the ceremony, Professor Ellis introduced the recently launched Academic Development Proposal 2012–15, which includes the Discovery-enriched Curriculum and a series of Gateway Education courses aimed at encouraging students to make their own original discoveries at University.

In his address, Professor Crow said CityU is a strong partner of ASU in Asia. “We are excited to advance this partnership on joint research centres, programmes and transdisciplinary projects,” he said.

Attending from ASU were Professor Rick Shangraw, Senior Vice President, Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development (OKED), and Mr Stephen Feinson, Executive Director, Global Engagement, OKED, ASU.

The CityU delegation comprised Professor Gregory Raupp, Vice President (Research and Technology), Professor Paul Lam Kwan-sing, Vice President (Student Affairs), Professor Julia Tao Lai Po-wah, Chief-of-Staff, and Professor Wei Kwok-kee, Dean, College of Business, Professor Robert Li Kwok-yiu, Acting Dean, College of Science and Engineering, and Dr Dennis Wong, Acting Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

The ASU delegation toured CityU’s cutting-edge research facilities on campus and at the Hong Kong Science Park. Professor Lam led the delegation to the State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution and CityU’s Professor Horace Ip Ho-shing, Chair Professor, Department of Computer Science, introduced the Interactive Media and Virtual Reality Laboratory. Professor Johnny Chan Chung-leung, Dean, School of Energy and Environment (SEE), led the delegation to SEE’s laboratories, and Professor Jeffrey Shaw, Dean, School of Creative Media, introduced the Applied Laboratory for Interactive Visualization and Embodiment, known as ALiVE.