The founding director of HSEO, Prof Joseph Kwan, has retired at the end of June 2019, after 28 years of dedicated service to HKUST. Joe joined the university in the same year of the first intake of students in 1991. Over the years, not only did he build up a campus safety program now recognized to be at par with international best practice, he also groomed many young professionals while they were serving with the university. Up until he retires, there were more than 20 current or former colleagues who attained professional qualifications in occupational hygiene and other related health and safety fields, under Joe's guidance and with his strong encouragement and support. Other than his main roles as the Director of HSEO, Joe also made use of his expertise in microbiology and environmental and occupational health to teach UG and PG courses, serve as co-supervisors of RPGs, and co-PI in research projects. Outside of UST, Joe played and continues to play leadership roles in community service, especially in the healthcare and education sectors. Although Joe has retired from his post in HSEO, he is now engaging in the HKUST Guangzhou Campus initiative, as well as one of the InnoHK projects, so Joe will continue to be an active member of our campus community in a different capacity!
Since 1 July 2019, Prof Samuel Yu became the Director of HSEO, after serving first as one of the Section Heads and then as the Associate Director of HSEO. Sam got his doctoral degree in Environmental Science and Engineering from University of California Los Angeles, and is a Certified Industrial Hygienist. He joined HKUST in 1994, and in the past 25 years, his duties mainly focused on research and laboratory safety. He also oversees HSEO Lab, which provides analytical support to campus environmental and occupational exposure monitoring, and various teaching and research activities. Sam also teaches UG and PG courses in different academic programs, and co-supervises RPG students.
The Associate Director post vacated by Sam has been taken by Mr Stephen Tsu, a "returnee" who served HKUST from 1992 to 1998, moved on to work with Hong Kong Hospital Authority and Government Labour Department, and in the past 9 years, worked at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) at Saudi Arabia. Stephen is one of the many young professionals groomed and nurtured by HSEO, and then went on to prominent professional jobs in Hong Kong as well as other countries. Stephen has a Master of Public Health degree, and is a Certified Industrial Hygienist and a Certified Safety Professional. He brought with him a wealth of experience after serving as the Senior Lab Safety Specialist at the Core Labs and Major Facilities of KAUST.
Continuous improvement is a must for any organization, and this is particularly true in research safety, as the risk management measures must concurrently evolve with the rapidly evolving research activities. In order to remain a leader in campus health, safety and sustainability in Hong Kong and the region, and to continue adopting international best practices, HSEO must sustain our efforts, and in particular, make better use of information and other technologies to further improve our diverse campus safety programs.
We look forward to continue working closely with all our partners on campus under the new leadership!