Nerd Nite Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Nerd Nite Hong Kong X Croucher Foundation

June 19, 2019

Hi Nerd Niters! We are super excited to be working with Croucher Foundation for the next edition of Nerd Nite! We will be having 3 Croucher scholars alumni giving talks on an Array of Amazing Areas that forms an Alliteration of As! Stay tuned for updates on the speakers and their topics! Can’t wait to see all you beautiful people!

Event: Nerd Nite Hong Kong X Croucher Foundation
Date: 22nd July 2019
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: The Artist House, Fashion Walk, 9 Kingston St, Causeway Bay
Entry Fee: Free! Thanks to the support provided by the venue! You just got to buy your own drinks!

Speaker 1: Dr. Kenneth Leung (Croucher Fellowship 2000)
Topic: Renovation of Seawalls for Housing More Marine Life

Speaker 2: Dr. Winston Sun (Croucher Fellowship 2001)
Topic: 3D space digitization using LIDAR for mostly indoor (and sometimes outdoor) applications

Speaker 3: Dr. Carmen Wong (Croucher Innovation Award 2017, Croucher Fellowship 2009)
Topic: A journey from a childhood dream to reality – Do what you love. Love what you do

Quick Nerdisms:

Speaker 1: Why are there so few marine organisms living on artificial seawalls? How can we enhance marine biodiversity on these structures? In this Nerd talk, I will address these questions and call for more innovative ideas

Speaker 2: TBA

Speaker 3: My strong desire for the quest of knowledge has made me to be considered one of the nerds in high school. Luckily, I still had a lot of good friends who embraced my nerdiness. As teenagers, my high school friends got obsessed with parties but strangely I got obsessed with science. I was patient enough to let time take care of things. After 20 years while all my friends got tired of partying, I am still obsessed with science, even more than before. That’s the beauty of science.

Nerd Cred:

Speaker 1: Kenneth Leung is Professor of Aquatic Ecology and Toxicology at School of Biological Sciences in the University of Hong Kong. He received the Croucher Fellowship in 2000. So far, he has published over 190 peer-reviewed articles which are principally related to marine ecology, pollution, ecotoxicology and environmental risk assessment as well as ecosystem restoration via eco-engineering. Globally, he is among the Top 1% Cited Scientists in Ecology/Environmental Sciences, according to Clarivate Analytics’ Essential Science Indicators. Owing to his professional achievements and dedicated community services, he was selected as one of the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons” for Hong Kong by Junior Chamber International in 2010 and appointed as a Justice of the Peace by the HKSAR Government in 2018. In 2017, he was awarded the 19th Biwako Prize for Ecology by the Ecological Society of Japan in recognition of his contributions to aquatic ecology and toxicology in Asia-Pacific, and conferred as a Fellow of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). In 2018, he was selected as one of the top 100 Asian Scientists by Asian Scientist Magazine.

Speaker 2: In 2001, Winston received generous help from The Croucher Foundation and spent 3 years in Switzerland. Besides some research work, Winston commuted mainly by bicycle and learned to enjoy TV-free life.
In 2004, Winston received generous help from the Japan Society of Promotion of Science to work at the University of Tokyo. Besides some cleanroom work, Winston continued to commute mainly by the same bicycle and learned to speak and read a bit of Japanese, which turned out to be quite useful every now and then. Also he acquired some strange techniques during his no-TV free time including but not limited to one-hand typing and no-kick breaststroke swim, which basically rewired his brain and enabled him to see things slightly differently.
In 2010, Winston traveled to Singapore as a research scientist. Besides some research work, Winston refined his no-kick breaststroke to backstroke, became a Durian fan, and most importantly learned to ride unicycle from a generous French unicyclist.
Winston is back to HK in mid 2014, enjoyed no work for couple months, joined a lab in CityU as a researcher, moved to the lab’s ShenZhen branch, stayed there for two years, witnessed the beginning of the cashless economy, the rise and fall of the shared-bike boom, and proved that HK folks can survive the dynamic situation in SZ, as long as one is prepared to learn and adapt.
Winston returned to HK and joined a small startup in mid 2018. He is leading an engineering team to work on various prototypes of LIDAR indoor scanner.

Speaker 3: Dr Carmen Wong obtained her BSc degree in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of British Columbia in Canada, MSc degree in Biotechnology from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and PhD degree in Cancer Biology from the University of Hong Kong (HKU). She received the Croucher Fellowship in 2009 and obtained her post-doctoral training at the Johns Hopkins University in the United States. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Pathology and a principal investigator of the State Key Laboratory for Liver Research of HKU.

Nerd Nite Hong Kong – Edition #19

April 19, 2019

Hello nerd niters!!! Nerd Nite is back once again in May and it is promised to be yet another fun-filled evening. We have a great venue, lovely beer and awesome talks – everything you could ask for on a Monday night. Please please please mark down on your calendar for the next Nerd Nite and stay tuned to find out more about our invited speakers 😀

What is this Nerd Nite anyway you ask? Nerd Nite is a monthly lecture event that aims at a casual, relaxed, and let’s be honest, slightly inebriated evening of academic fun times. The idea is for people to have a good time with friends over drinks while learning a thing or two. Our unofficial tag line is “It’s like the Discovery Channel – with beer!”

This event will be free thanks to the support received from the venue! You just got to buy your own drinks!

Speaker 1: Dr. Akhee Jahan
Topic: No Man’s land, what lies between the living and non-living?

Speaker 2: Dr Stephen H. Ashworth
Topic: Taking the P out of pee, and other elementary tales.

Speaker 3: Ms. Maja H. Sørensen
Topic: Microglia

(Abstracts and Profiles below)

Quick Nerdisms:

Speaker 1: They are not alive, but they are not dead either. Causing us miseries and tonnes of money, Viruses continue to prevail since the time of our existence. What makes them so resilient? Let’s explore how these miniscule pirates hijack the basic unit of life, our cells.

Speaker 2: Have you ever wondered who came up with the Periodic Table, and how? Or how chemical elements get their names? This talk might in the International Year of the Periodic Table might give you some answers.

Speaker 3: The fascinating properties of microglia helps protect our brain during normal life. But activation of these can also cause death of neurons. In this presentation, we will explore the factors determing when microglia turn bad.

Nerd Cred:

Speaker 1: Akhee just finished her Phd at the University of Hong Kong, working with influenza viruses and what not. Like many others glued to Hong Kong, she hasn’t left HKU for over 10 years hoping to stay a student forever. But all good (not really thaaat good) things must come to an end. Akhee has to finally leave her nest and go off to do her post-doc while exploring some very high-tech stuff in the midst of icy Denmark.

Speaker 2: Dr Stephen H. Ashworth is a Reader in Chemistry at the University of East Anglia in the UK. In the last twenty years, when he has not been teaching chemistry and physics, he has been communicating science to the public. He performs his Kitchen Chemistry (and other) science shows around the world. In his spare time he plays bass trombone in a local brass band.

Speaker 3: Maja H. Sørensen is in the first year of her PhD at The University of Hong Kong. She received at bachelor’s degree in Biomedicine from the University of Southern Denmark and a master’s degree in Biochemistry from The University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Her interest lies within the diseased human brain, and her research currently focus on elucidating the link between alpha-synuclein aggregation and neurodegeneration.

Nerd Nite Hong Kong: Edition #18

March 17, 2019

Event: Nerd Nite Hong Kong: Edition #18
Date: 25th March 2019
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: The Artist House, Fashion Walk, 9 Kingston St, Causeway Bay
Entry Fee: Free! Thanks to the support provided by the venue! You just got to buy your own drinks!

Speaker 1: Dr. Lai Wang-Chun, Andy
Topic: The “Secret” of Weather Forecasting at the Observatory

Speaker 2: Dr. Christian Langkamp
Topic: Robots, Humans, and the Future of Work & Capitalism

Speaker 3: Dr. Kendrick Co Shih
Topic: The Cornea: Your Window to the World

(Abstracts and Profiles below)

Quick Nerdisms:

Speaker 1: What does a weather forecaster do? How do we formulate a weather forecast? The talk will bring you insightful information on how we operate. The memorable event of Super Typhoon Mangkhut will also be discussed from the point of view of a Meteorologist.

Speaker 2: Whilst in some areas there still are setbacks and a complete automatization of manufacturing or many services by 2025 is unlikely, it is undoubtedly the case that AI and robotics will eliminate the tasks of many middle income workers, who will unlikely be able to fast reskill to find new jobs. It is additionally quite possible that demand for human labour will get depressed to a level that 50 % of available workforce in the western world is sufficient to produce all consumer products the market can reasonably absorb (given monetary distribution). The question is then what will we all do with the newly gained time and how will the economic gain be allocated… The talk is loosely based on the book ‘The lights in the tunnel’ by Martin Ford plus some own observations and anecdotes encountered in daily reading at his work and should serve to kick-start the ensuing exciting discussions

Speaker 3: The eye is the most important organ in your body, said ophthalmologists. And within the eye, the cornea is the most precious part because it functions as a window that focuses light into the eye. Through this talk, I will illustrate how, by manipulating the shape of our cornea, we can achieve super normal vision, and how accidents and disease can lead to corneal blindness.

Nerd Cred:

Speaker 1:
• BSc Physics at Imperial College London.
• MPhil Nuclear Energy Engineering, and PhD Climate Science at the University of Cambridge.
• Joined HKO in 2016.
• Went to UK Met Office for training, then qualified as a Forecaster in early 2017.
• Currently a Scientific Officer (Forecaster, shift duties, non-regular hours) in a team called “Forecast Operation” within the Forecasting & Warning Services Branch, responsible for formulating local weather forecasts and issuing weather warnings. Occasionally act as spokesperson to answer media enquiries.

Speaker 2:
Christian Langkamp is a Manager in Data Analytics at BASF, the chemical company. He studied Maths and Business administration and is interested in contemporary politics, existential psychology and ancient history. He likes cooking, photography and socialising.

Speaker 3:
Kendrick underwent his medical studies, postgraduate research work and specialty training in ophthalmology all at the University of Hong Kong. In fact, he hasn’t left Sassoon road since 2003 and has been teaching medical students as a Clinical Assistant Professor in Ophthalmology at the university since 2010. In academic circles, this is known as intellectual in-breeding, and is significantly frowned upon. But just like an in-bred pure-bred pedigree golden retriever; a little crazy and very loyal, he remains blissfully unaware of his mental limitations. Kendrick’s research and clinical work specializes in diseases of the cornea.

Nerd Nite Hong Kong: Edition #17

January 11, 2019
New Year, New Venue!!! We are super excited to be having Nerd Nite at The Artist House – a Belgium craft beer bar in Causeway Bay! Even better, as a Nerd Nite special, Beers will be HK$50 all night long!! Start 2019 right, and come join us at this beautiful venue, drink some delicious craft beers, and learn a thing or two from the line up of amazing speakers! It’s definitely not a Nerd Nite you want to miss 🙂

Event: Nerd Nite Hong Kong: Edition #17
Date: 28th January 2019
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: The Artist House, Fashion Walk, 9 Kingston St, Causeway Bay
Entry Fee: Free! Thanks to the support provided by the venue! You just got to buy your own drinks!

Speaker 1: Dr. Jian Yang
Topic: Through the Looking Glass: A Journey Back to the Tang Dynasty
Quick Nerdisms: In the distant past, at the peak of the Chinses civilization, there was the Tang Dynasty. From 7th century, for 300 hundred years of the surreal golden age, China thrived and became literally the center of the earth, where cultures, arts, technologies, religions, economy and ethnics from all over the world mingled, integrated and bounded together. If you want to experience this fantasy not from movies nor in dreams, but with your own eyes in reality, you are in for a treat. A place right in the heart of this metropolis can take you back to Tang dynasty and experience its glories culture, religion, art and architecture. Will this experience be authentic? Well, the place I am going to take you to is the first and only cultural site in Hong Kong that is listed on the world cultural heritage backup list of China.
Nerd Cred: Jian Yang, MD, PhD, FHEA, doctor of some boring stuff. Did his MD in Beijing University all those years ago, went to Bristol for a PhD that had something to do with epilepsy. Wrestled with depression in HKU (as a research interest, not that he was depressed, but then, who wasn’t) for several years. Now happily cultivating half of the future Hong Kong doctors in the School of Biomedical Sciences, LKS Faculty of Medicine, HKU, teaching anatomy, histology and things that hopefully matters. Loves Tang dynasty culture and architecture, and has been a volunteer and cultural ambassador of Chi Lin Nunnery and South Lotus Garden for a decade.
Speaker 2:Dr. Gregory Whitten
Topic:US – China trade: how responsible is China for the decline of US manufacturing employment?
Quick Nerdisms: It’s easy to hear from the news that US bluecollar workers have suffered because of Chinese exports to the US. However intuitive this idea might be, how much should we believe it? This talk will break down the academic research on Chinese exports and US employment to show that the reality is far more nuanced.
Nerd Cred:  Gregory Whitten is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Economics Department of Lingnan University. He has a BA (in Economics, French Literature, and International Studies) and an MA in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, an MSc in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a PhD in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh. He has published in Agricultural Economics, World Economy, and Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.
Speaker 3: Mr. Sherman Lee
Topic: Open API development in HK
Quick Nerdisms:
– What is API and Open API?
– Where are they in our daily life? How are they impacting us?
– Why do we still need API if we have screen scraping?
– Examples of how other places use API
– Hong Kong, are we in the right direction towards intelligent city and what next?
Nerd Cred: Sherman is a Business Analyst at HSBC graduated at HKU Computer Science. He is passionate in tech industry especially in Open Banking and chatbot development

Nerd Nite Hong Kong X RPS+

October 10, 2018

Nerd Nite HK teams up with HKU Medical Faculty Research Postgraduate Symposium (RPS) this year to bring you a special edition of Nerd Nite! With a line up of speakers from the medical field this round, Nerd Nite X RPS+ is sure to bring you an awesomely nerdy night. Be sure to come down for this special night of nerdy medical funtimes!

Event: Nerd Nite Hong Kong X RPS +
Date: 26th November 2018
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Mezcalito; 27/F, 18 On Lan St, Central.
Entry Fee: Free! Thanks to the support provided by the venue! You just got to buy your own drinks!

Speaker 1: Dr. Tomasz Cecot
Topic: Learning. One Word – Different Meaning
Quick Nerdisms: The neuroscientists claim that are closer and closer to understand the process of ‘learning’. The teachers believe that they already know what ‘learning’ is. The students think that nobody but them knows what ‘learning’ really means… So, who is right?
Nerd Cred: Life-long Learner who is trying to understand the world and himself by travelling, night-long discussions, drinking and eating. A neuroscientist who devoted his life to teaching. Passionate about the structure and function of the human body at different levels of biological organisation is teaching different cohorts of students at different Universities around the globe including Gdansk, Poland (hometown), Southampton UK and Hong Kong.
Speaker 2: Dr. Lap Ki Chan
Topic: Gross Anatomy: A “Gross” Discipline?
Quick Nerdisms: Human gross anatomy is an academic discipline focusing on the study of the structure of the human body. Despite the fact that everyone has a body, gross anatomy is sometimes considered unpleasant and downright offensive to some people. In this talk, Dr Lap Ki Chan will talk about the beautiful side of the this “gross” discipline.
Nerd Cred: Dr Lap Ki Chan is a gross-anatomy teacher (note the position of the hyphen, it is not gross anatomy-teacher) at The University of Hong Kong. He likes teaching gross anatomy and is always trying to find the best and fun ways of helping his students to learn.
Speaker 2: Dr. Mei Li Khong
Topic: ‘Change’ or ‘Die’ – Adaptation in a Big Bad World
Quick Nerdisms: CHANGE’ or ‘DIE’ – One topic, two case studies. Were jellyfishes what they are today – one of the 10 deadliest predators in the world? How did a simple, prebiotic molecule become arguably the most fundamental molecule in our human body today? Come with some of these questions in mind and leave knowing that change (or death) is inevitable.
Nerd Cred: Dr. Mei Li Khong – A celebrity scientist-wannabe turned educator. Her research journey began with a peculiar fascination with jellyfish, particularly the evolutionary genetics of jellyfish toxins. Currently she is studying a prebiotic molecule, polyphosphate, and its fundamental roles in humans and the world around us. Her greatest joy, however, is teaching and sharing the skills, knowledge, and character she has developed throughout her research journey. To catch a glimpse of what she is currently passionate about, check out her winning performances at HKU 3 Minute Thesis 2018, HKU Visualise Your Thesis Competition 2018, and Asia Pacific 3 Minute Thesis 2018 which can be found online!

Nerd Nite Hong Kong: Edition #15

August 22, 2018

Event: Nerd Nite Hong Kong: Edition #15
Date: 17th September 2018
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Mezcalito; 27/F, 18 On Lan St, Central.
Entry Fee: Free! Thanks to the support provided by the venue! You just got to buy your own drinks!

Speaker 1: Mr. Brandon Kirk
 Topic: Material Excess
Quick Nerdisms: Materials science has quite literally shaped our world, from the giant structures of ancient times to space exploration. Whether by centuries of trial and error, or a systematic search for the next “big thing”, the methods by which we make stuff have been at the heart of the human experience.
Key topics in this talk include 1) composites, from the past to the future, 2) the plastics revolution and the problem of waste, 3) design principles for a sustainable future
Nerd Cred:  Brandon Kirk – hardware product manager, maker of new things.
Brandon grew up dreaming of being an astronaut, with a grandfather who brought him mementos from his work as a composites engineer for a NASA contractor. In school he enjoyed sculpture, and later in life rediscovered his passion for materials and making by exposure to manufacturing and prototyping of consumer electronics.
Speaker 2: Ms. Kaitlin Chan
Topic: The Benefits of Being Average Looking
Quick Nerdisms: Kaitlin Chan, a certified average looking person, will present on the social construction of beauty, as well as how the “hetero-economy of looks” (a term coined by Tony Tulathimutte) works in tandem with capitalism and white supremacy to reify existing structures of power and domination. Using memes, comics and news items, Chan will outline how to survive as a average looking person in the 21st century of Instagram.
Nerd Cred: Kaitlin Chan is an artist and curator from Hong Kong. She works for a non-profit gallery, and is also a contributing cartoonist to Art Agency, Partners/ Sotheby’s In Other Words newsletter, as well as a contributing editor to the independent online magazine Still/Loud.
Speaker 3: Mr. Arindam Roy
Topic: Dinosaur Colouration: Knowing the Unknowable
Quick Nerdisms: Dinosaurs captivate people of all ages. Movies, museums, and exhibits routinely display artistic renditions of what a dinosaur may have looked like when alive. But is it truly possible to figure out what colours dinosaurs were ? How much liberty can artists, scientists and filmmakers take with dinosaur illustrations, toys and models. With new cutting-edge research, it is possible to determine colouration of fossils, and it will change the way we look at dinosaurs forever.
Nerd Cred: Arindam Roy is a prestigious Hong Kong PhD fellow at the Vertebrate Palaeontology Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hong Kong. He received his first integrated master’s degree in Biotechnology at St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta India (2014) and went on to earn a second in Palaeobiology from the University of Bristol, United Kingdom (2015). His current research supervised by Dr. Michael Pittman, involves reconstruction of colours in fossils with focus on paravian dinosaurs and early birds.

Nerd Nite Hong Kong: Edition #14

July 9, 2018

Event: Nerd Nite Hong Kong: Edition #14
Date: 30th July 2018
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Mezcalito; 27/F, 18 On Lan St, Central.
Entry Fee: Free! Thanks to the support provided by the venue! You just got to buy your own drinks!

Speaker 1: Dr. Andrew Kinghorn
Topic: Evolution as a tool
Quick Nerdisms: What do artificial intelligence, beer and NASA have in common? They are all awesome. Also, they use evolution as a tool.
Nerd Cred: Dr Andrew Kinghorn is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Hong Kong. Andrew’s research interests include applied molecular evolution, point-of-care disease diagnosis and computer programming. Andrew’s research brings together interdisciplinary experimental and computational approaches to solve problems in medicine, biotechnology and simulation modelling of complex systems. Recent accomplishments include development of malaria diagnostic tests, establishment of a novel selective phenome growth model to represent aptamer ligand binding and coding of web hosted bioinformatic tools for microarray based aptamer optimisation.

Nerd Nite Hong Kong: Edition #13

May 2, 2018

Event: Nerd Nite Hong Kong: Edition #13
Date: 28th May 2018
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Mezcalito; 27/F, 18 On Lan St, Central.
Entry Fee: Free! Thanks to the support provided by the venue! You just got to buy your own drinks!

Speaker 1: Dr. Jiandong Huang
Topic: What does synthetic biology have to do with us?
Quick Nerdisms: What is synthetic biology? What does synthetic biology have to do with us? I will use some examples to describe this frontier science.
Nerd Cred: Prof. Huang earned his BS degree from Fudan University, Shanghai and went to the US through the CUSBEA program to pursue his PhD study in transcriptional regulation during fruit fly embryonic pattern formation. He earned his PhD degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. Thereafter, Prof. Huang received his postdoctoral training in mouse genetics at National Cancer Institute, NIH in the USA. During this period, Prof. Huang was the first to report that the two major intracellular transportation systems of mammalian cells, the microtubule- and actin-filament-based system directly interact with each other through their motor proteins, kinesin and myosin. After returning to China, he established his own laboratory at the University of Hong Kong. Prof. Huang is now the L & T Charitable Foundation Professor in Biomedical Sciences in the School of Biomedical Sciences, the University of Hong Kong.
Prof. Huang focused his research work on synthetic biology. He has provided experimental evidence revealing the mechanism of a powerful DNA engineering technology, recombineering and improved its efficiency in both E. coli and mammalian cells. He has applied this technique to genomic studies and developed more efficient methods in DNA and chromosome engineering. Since 2008, he began to pursue synthetic biology studies focus on vaccine development and cancer therapy. Prof. Huang has published over 130 peer-reviewed papers in Science, Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Biotech., PNSA, PRL, Journal of Controlled Release, Diabetes, Nucleic Acids Research, Genes & Development, and other prestigious journals.
Speaker 2: Mr. Rocky Cheung
Topic: The modernisation of anatomy
Quick Nerdisms: Dark history of anatomy? Confucianism? Cadaveric dissection? You may be wondering how I am going to link all these in a 15minute presentation. What you do not know is that as a story-teller, I am going to “dissect” the rich history of anatomy layer by layer deep into its bare bone. Join me on this voyage to the heart of it all.
Nerd Cred: Rocky Cheung is a first year PhD student at the University of Hong Kong. He received a bachelor’s degree in Anatomy and Human Biology at the University of Liverpool and a master’s degree in Human Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh. His research interest is in innovative pedagogies in human anatomy education, particularly with 3D printing. He also helps out with gross anatomy teaching at the University of Hong Kong as a teaching assistant.
Speaker 3: Dr. Tjonnie Li
Topic: Gravitational Waves: A New Window on the Universe
Quick Nerdisms: Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity, published in 1916, gave us a radically new way of understanding how space, time and gravity are related. His theory quickly became science’s best tool for understanding elusive phenomena such as black holes, the expansion of the Universe and the Big Bang.
The last prediction stemming from general relativity, the existence of ripples in the fabric of spacetime better known as gravitational waves, was finally confirmed in 2015. We will explore what gravitational waves are, and why they promise to revolutionise our understanding of the Universe.
Nerd Cred: Professor Tjonnie Li studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and received his PhD from the Dutch National Institute for Subatomic Physics. He then spent two years conducting research at the California Institute of Technology before joining the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2015. He was involved in the first detection of gravitational waves by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and his awards include the 2016 Gruber Prize in Cosmology; the 2016 Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics; and the 2013 Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize.

Nerd Nite Hong Kong: Anniversary Edition

April 2, 2018

Event: Nerd Nite Hong Kong: Anniversary Edition
Date: 23rd April 2018
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Mezcalito; 27/F, 18 On Lan St, Central.
Entry Fee: Free! Thanks to the support provided by the venue! You just got to buy your own drinks!

Speaker 1: Dr. Timothy Bonebrake
Topic: A multi-scale tale of scaly tails
Quick Nerdisms: Pangolins are scaly mammals distributed across Asia and Africa. All eight pangolin species are now vulnerable to extinction however due in large part to recent increases in the demand of pangolin scales for use in traditional Chinese medicine. We’ll explore this complex issue from conservation, ecology and social perspectives and multiple spatial scales (from the local to the global) with stories from Cameroon, Hong Kong and China.
Nerd Cred: Dr. Timothy C. Bonebrake is an Assistant Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at The University of Hong Kong. He received his BS at the University of California, Berkeley andPhD from Stanford University. He has broad research interests in global change ecology and tropical conservation with work conducted all over the world including Central Africa, Southeast Asia and North America.
Speaker 2: Dr. Danny Chan
Topic: Stress, are you? Cells do, what do they do?
Quick Nerdisms: We all experience stress in our daily lives. Some deal with it better than others. Some absolutely need it to function while others will collapse. Chances are you know and have work with such people, and they could be your friends, family members or yourself. Cells are no different, and there are all sorts of cells. Some are hard workers and others wait for something to do. Some gives orders and other received. Sound familiar? Welcome to the world of cellular stress. The kaleidoscope of cells in our body has to deal with one and other and the changing environment in order to survive. Otherwise, there will be a problem we call disease. Want to know more about how cells deal with stress in their world?
Nerd Cred: Danny Chan is a professor at the School of Biomedical Science in the University of Hong Kong, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine. He graduated from the University of Melbourne, with a Bachelor of Science (Hons), Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy.
His research interest is in skeletal biology, focusing on development, growth and degenerative processes of the skeleton in health and disease. He has a particular interest in rare diseases of the skeleton. He has received more than 25M HKD of research funding as principal investigator and 200M HKD as Co-investigator, and with more than 150 publications in high impact journals such as Nature, JCI, AMHG, PNAS, PLOS Biol, EMBO and JCB.
In recognition of his achievements, he received an award for excellence in medical research from the Premier of Victoria in Australia, and recently, the Croucher Senior Research Fellow Award in Hong Kong, and the SY and HY Cheng Endowed Professor in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. In knowledge exchange, he and his research team helped to initiate “The Little People of Hong Kong” Foundation in Hong Kong, an NGO for the patient groups, and to increase the community’s awareness of the needs of patients with rare skeletal disorders in Hong Kong. He is also a council member of Hong Kong Alliance for Rare Diseases, advocating for the needs of rare disease people in our society.
Professor Chan is the Assistant Dean for Research and Research Postgraduate studies, as well as the Deputy Director for Development and Education for Research Integrity at the University of Hong Kong. He is involved in the education of responsible conduct of research to students and academic staff, and has a strong interest in promoting an environment for high quality research at the university, and sharing experience through networking with regional and international institutions to foster responsible conduct of research.
Speaker 3: Ms. Li Meng De Bakker
Topic: The Language of Film Music
Quick Nerdisms: When a new film hits the theatres, we often ask friends, “Have you seen it?” But films are often as much about sound, as they are about image. Why does film music sound the way it does? How can composers and directors work together to play with our expectations and emotions? Learn more with me about the language of film music through an analysis of techniques and trends drawn from the classics.
Nerd Cred: Li Meng de Bakker is a budding radio host and DJ, with a monthly music education show streaming on Hong Kong Community Radio. She holds an MA in Music from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and will begin a 4 year PhD at the University of Hong Kong in September, studying Hip-Hop culture in Asia. She also uploads pop culture music analysis videos to YouTube, as ‘Musicoology’.

Nerd Nite Hong Kong: Edition #11

March 4, 2018

Event: Nerd Nite Hong Kong: Edition #11
Date: 26th March 2018
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Mezcalito; 27/F, 18 On Lan St, Central.
Entry Fee: Free! Thanks to the support provided by the venue! You just got to buy your own drinks!

Speaker 1: Mr. Ralf Mayet
Topic: AI 2018: Memes for convolutional teens, or the end of humanity?
Quick Nerdisms: With the most recent breakthroughs in statistical machine learning, Artificial Intelligence has moved out of it’s winter sleep back into the mainstream, this time with massive industry backing. This talk explores the significance and limitations of recent advances, sheds light on what it means to be a machine learning researcher today, and talk about the hard problems we haven’t yet solved.
Nerd Cred: Ralf Mayet is a nerd, researcher and engineer. He has a degree in Computer Science from University of Technology in Graz, studied at Istanbul Teknik and currently lives in Hong Kong. With a research background in swarm robotics, self-regulating systems and emergent intelligence, his current focus is exploring human cognition and language through interaction and play. At the OpenCog foundation he is researching the synergy of learned statistical representations and symbolic reasoning. At Hanson Robotics he is working on social robotics, and the integration of perception and action into dialogue systems.
Speaker 2: Mr. John Scott Daly
Topic: Below the line: ‘othering’ the poor in Benefits Street and YouTube comments
Quick Nerdisms: ‘The Big Short’ is a film about the 2007/8 financial crisis. At the end, one of the characters suspects that, although it seemed like an opportunity for real change, soon we would do “what we always do when the economy tanks: blame immigrants and poor people”. My PhD investigates this; specifically how people receiving government welfare are blamed for society’s problems and ‘othered’ in a British documentary and the YouTube comments attached. For Nerd Nite, I have removed all the boring stuff and, surprisingly, there is still some stuff left, so I’ll show you that.
Nerd Cred: John Scott Daly prefers to be called Scott. He left the UK in 2003 and, before coming to Hong Kong, worked in South Korea, New Zealand and Qatar. He is currently experiencing a permanent sense of anxiety about his PhD at HKU.
Speaker 3: Mr. Bryan Ervin Bentley
Topic: A Study in Stereoscopic Imaging
Quick Nerdisms: Have you ever wondered why putting on those wacky glasses to watch “3D” movies makes you see “into” the screen? This talk will walk you through the history, biology, and psychology of stereoscopic imaging as well as examine the tools and techniques that professionals and hobbyists use to produce these images.
Nerd Cred: Bryan Ervin Bentley is currently the Professor of Visual Effects at Savannah College of Art and Design’s Hong Kong Campus.
Previous to this role, Bryan served as a creature technical director for Industrial Light and Magic, a division of Lucasfilm Entertainment, in Singapore. There he had the opportunity to work on such films as Transformers 4, Pacific Rim, and Warcraft. Before moving to ILM Singapore he worked at Industrial Light and Magic’s main branch in San Francisco on Rango, which went on to win the Oscar for Best Animated Film.
Previous to working at Industrial Light and Magic Brayn worked at Rhythm & Hues studios, in Los Angeles, on The Golden Compass, which won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, Alvin and the Chipmunks which has the 5th highest Christmas opening in cinema history, and HULK a revision of one of Marvel comics most popular franchises.
Bryan has a Bachelors of Science in Computer Graphics Technology from Purdue University and a Masters of Fine Arts in Animation from Savannah College of Art and Design.
At Purdue University he was awarded the black caucus and faculty award twice and made the dean’s list. Also while attending Purdue Bryan was granted to opportunity to instruct at the collegiate level at the University of Technology in Rezerwowe Poland. He also served as a Part-Time Professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
Bryan’s areas of specialty include; Character Rigging, Cloth and Softbody Simulation, Python Programming, Rigid Simulation and geometry fracturing for Destruction.