Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)

This course provides students with an overall scientific understanding of our world. This course deals with fundamental questions, such as: Where does this universe come from? What is the origin of matter? What is the origin of life? What guides the human behavior? What shapes the development of the human society? What will be the future of this world? Students are expected to have Science background. Graded pass/no pass only.

This course incorporates prior learning in marketing and gives practical examples of how the basic principles are used in digital and direct marketing. The clear differences between General Advertising and Digital and Direct Marketing in customer acquisition and retention are explain in detail. There is extensive use made of videos to illustrate the principles taught, and analysis of video material is required to answer exam questions. Participation is not just encouraged, but required, thus there will be classes where you will be asked to come prepared with 2 or 3 questions either from the readings or other material presented.

The Greater Bay Area (GBA) has become the world's largest urban area. Consisting of Hong Kong, Macau and the nine cities of the Pearl River Delta, in less than forty years it has transformed from a rural backwater to an economic engine of sophisticated manufacturing and services. It has lifted millions of people out of poverty and provided them with new homes and communities. The GBA has also become an important node in a network of megacity regions responsible for much of the world's economic dynamism. For the most part, the GBA has evolved after its economic potential was unleashed by the opening up to Hong Kong and global trade networks. The twin forces of economic agglomeration and urbanization were the drivers of this growth, but were substantially supported by infrastructure development and policy, particularly from individual cities. Yet, it is thought that the region's further development will require a more sophisticated harnessing of agglomeration forces so that the GBA can compete with other highly developed bay areas. Improvements must also be made to deal with substantial environmental and social costs of the GBA's growth. This course is designed to familiarize students with the GBA. The region is more economically powerful, complex and interesting than all but a few of the world's countries. It is deserving of some appreciation. Moreover, Hong Kong has been crucial to the GBA's development and the prosperity of the GBA remains key to the prosperity Hong Kong. To understand why the region is so successful, interesting and important, we will analyze processes such as agglomeration, clustering, migration, urbanization and sustainable development. These processes led the GBA's development and will determine its future—in terms of continued economic development and more importantly in terms of the wellbeing of the GBA's people. We examine how the GBA can function as a cohesive region, but also how the actions of the cities and the diversity of activities within the cities add vibrancy. We also put the GBA's development in perspective, reflecting on the regional culture of the past and what other megacity regions tell us the GBA can be.

This course in microeconomics examines markets based on decisions made by individual actors in an economy such as consumers, firms, and government, facing scarcity of resources. This course covers key concepts in microeconomics and basic tools to understand an allocation mechanism of markets. Topics: theory of the firm in a free enterprise system; theory of consumer demand; market structures and resource allocation; and selected topics on government regulation.

This course gives an overview on the relationships between human health, environment, and sustainable development. Topics include the development and objectives of environmental impact and risk assessment; impacts of environmental quality (including air, water, wastes, ecology) and health risks; assessment and mitigation, public participation; sustainable development. Case studies and guest lectures are included.

This course introduces the fundamental scientific knowledge about human thinking and behavior processes, and illustrates the relevance of this knowledge to the betterment of human performance and well-being in a wide variety of settings in the society (e.g., education, business, healthcare). Topics include but are not limited to sensation and perception, sleep and dreams, learning, memory, intelligence, personality, development, psychological disorders, and health. This course is also prerequisite for students who want to study psychology further.

This course examines principles and roles of various disciplines in biotechnology, including manipulation of various cell types, gene expression, immunochemistry, protein engineering, downstream processing, cell and enzyme immobilization, and fermentation. The course includes various case studies in the development and applications of biotechnology in areas such as medicine, agriculture and livestock, environment, biomass utilization, and basic research.

This course covers the fundamental concepts of actuarial financial mathematics and how these concepts are applied in calculating present and accumulated values for various streams of cash flows. The topics covered include interest rates, present value, annuities valuation, loan repayment, bond and portfolio yield, bond valuation, rate of return, yield curve, term structure of interest rates, duration and convexity of general cash flows and portfolios, immunization, stock valuation, capital budgeting, dynamic cash flow processes, and asset and liability management.

The course examines the growing integration of science and technology in our workplaces, the impact of science and technology on the direction of work, the workplace and even capitalism itself. The course investigates how science and technology have been key factors in shaping work since at least the beginning of factory production and generally explores the interactions between science, technology and work since that period. Students examine a range of topics and readings from history, sociology and anthropology of the workplace. This course also includes comparative discussions of science and technology as it is integrated into the workplace in industry as compared to the services.

With dwindling energy resources, environmental impact of fossil fuel utilization and concerns on energy security, sustainability has gained increasing importance. In fact, modern society relies on stable and inexpensive energy supply and renewable energy is a significant component of the new energy mix. The course tackles energy conversion, utilization and storage for renewable technologies such as wind, solar, biomass, fuel cells and hybrid systems. Thermodynamics concepts, including the first law and the description of the various forms of energy, will form the basis for identifying, analyzing and modeling renewable energy systems. The course also touches upon the environmental consequences of energy conversion and how renewable energy systems can be used effectively to mitigate global climate change.