CityU caters to the educational and management training needs of industrial enterprises in the Pearl River Delta (PRD). The Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Engineering Management (MEEM) is offering a one-and-a-half-year-long training programme for a Hong Kong-based electronics company in Dongguan. Some 25 of the company's managerial staff have enrolled. Such a long-term programme is the first of its kind in the region.

 

MEEM's training programme, offered to Kwonnie Electrical Products Ltd, located in QingXi, Dongguan, kicked off on 29 October. Officiating the ceremony, Mr K S Choi, Secretary of Qingxi city, said, “Such a world-class professional training programme and the academic experts involved brings advanced management and technological training into the PRD.” Senior staff members at Kwonnie, such as Mr H C Lam, Mr Peter Ho, and Mr Benjamin Kwok, also spoke at the occasion, expressing appreciation for CityU's organizing the programme. “Industries need to develop new ideas to cope with rapid changes in the market,” Mr Lam said. “Continuous education can keep people’s mind fresh and motivated.”

 

The programme, organized and facilitated by MEEM Associate Professors Dr Ralph Ip, Dr Richard Yam and Dr Sun Hongyi,  is designed to upgrade engineering management skills. It is structured as five related sections, each to be completed within three months. Subjects covered include: elementary and advanced engineering management concepts; management skills training; innovative management design; and training workshops.

 

 

CityU’s Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Professor C H Chan, encouraged more companies in the region to join the programme. “Providing training to our community is one of the major goals of tertiary institutions,” he said. “There is no difference between teaching on- or off-campus as long as quality teaching is provided.” MEEM Head Professor Michael Hung added that more training programmes catering to industries in the PRD are already in the pipeline. “In addition to professional training, we wish to capitalize on our well-equipped laboratories and highly capable teams of  applied researchers in order to provide R&D support,” he said. Six companies engaging in electronics, building services, and the manufacturing of domestic products have expressed interest in participating.