Launch of SPARK Community in Science Park

The Happy Hour & Launch of Spark was organized by Hong Kong Science Park underneath The Golden Egg on 28 Feb 2014 (at night). It provided a live music performance, free to take part in Zentangle Art Corner, and Membership Program exclusively for the Science Park Community.

During the launch of SPARK, Mr. Allen Ma (CEO, HKSTPC) gave a welcome speech and he explained the aim of SPARK was to create a platform for different talent communication and exchange idea. There were five elements to serve a table of sparking ideas included Knowledge Enhancement, Sports & Recreation, Social Entertainment, Special Privileges and Community Engagement. Then the SPARK Membership Program was launched. My wife and I were registered.

The elements and slogan named “Let's Spark New Ideas Together” were projected on the Golden Egg.

SPARK as a Science Park Community Platform to exchange idea for innovation. It seems to develop a creation space as mentioned in the book named “The Power of Pull”. Once the number reached a critical mass, the change will be happened (Like HKSTPC slogan “Making things happen!”. There are three success factors of creation space:
i) Low entry barriers
ii) Real-time feedback
iii) Clear performance measures

Reference:
SPARK - http://spark.hkstp.org/
HKSTP - http://www.hkstp.org/
John Hagel III, John Seely Brown & Lang Davison (2010), The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion, Basic Books.

HKCTC Seminar on ISO 50001 EnMS and Certification

The Seminar on ISO 50001 Energy Management System (EnMS) and Certification was co-organized by the Hong Kong Council for Testing and Certification (HKCTC) and Hong Kong Accreditation Service (HKAS) on 25 Feb 2014. This seminar aimed to share the concepts of ISO 50001 EnMS and relevant certification as well as some success stories in Housing Department and Science Park.

In the beginning, Prof. Paul Lam (Convener, Panel on Promoting Testing and Certification Services in Environmental Protection Trade, HKCTC) gave an welcome remarks. Prof. Paul Lam briefed how important of energy saving and mentioned ISO 50001 which was compatible with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

Then a group photo was taken.

The first speaker was Ms. Jessica Chan (Senior Consultant, HKPC) and her presentation topic named “Enhancing Energy Efficiency within an Organization: Setup of ISO 50001 Energy Management System”. The content included "Why Energy Management", "Overview of ISO 50001 Standard" and "Key steps and tips of setting up an EnMS".

Jessica explained the different between Energy Conservation and Energy Management. Energy Conservation was a project-by-project approach but Energy Management was continual improvement system in energy performance. ISO 50001 published in June 2011 and designed maximum compatibility with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 common elements. The following diagram showed the latest trend of ISO 50001. Hong Kong has 4 certificates until 2012. (It should be more now.)

Then Jessica introduced the PDCA Cycle and its tips on implementation below:
For Energy Planning, energy profile should be developed through comprehensive energy audit and determined the evaluation period. After analysis, it identified current energy sources. Then it should create a detailed equipment list with energy loads breakdown for identifying the areas of Significant Energy Use (SEU) and prioritizing opportunities for improving energy performance.
For Implementation and Operation, Staff competence should be ensured through training on energy management and assessment. And then formulating criteria in the procurement of energy services, products, equipment and energy.
For Checking, it should define an energy measurement plan and periodically review.
(Details in the "Guidebook for ISO 50001 Energy Management System" and recommended to use the Self Evaluation Checklisk)

The second speaker was Ir. Vincent C.Y. Kong (Sustainability Manager of Global Products and Services, SGS Hong Kong) and his presentation entitled “ISO 50001 Energy Management System and Certification”. He explained the benefits of EnMS such as cost control & saving on energy use, improving energy use & efficiency, reduction of GHG emission & environmental impact, etc.

Ir. Vincent Kong said ISO 50001 separated into Management and Technical elements in each stage of PDCA cycle. For Energy Planning Process, energy review was critical and some examples were demonstrate such as energy use register and prioritization ranking. After that energy objectives, targets and action plan were identified.

Finally, he briefed a series of ISO 50001 standard under ISO/TC242 (Energy Management) development included ISO/DIS 500-02/-03/-04/-06/-15.

The third speaker was Dr. Kwok Moon-keung (Senior Accreditation Officer, HKAS) and his presentation was “HKAS - How its Services Help you?”. Firstly, Dr. Kwok introduced "What is Certification and Accreditation?"

Then Dr. Kwok mentioned the ISO 50001 Plan-Do-Check-Act model as following diagram. Until now, six companies were certified ISO 50001 in Hong Kong and they were "Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTPC)", "Housing Department, Development and Construction Division", "International Commerce Centre (ICC), Hong Kong", "Fuji Xerox, Hong Kong", "SOCAM Development Ltd." and "Vermont Marine Bunkering Ltd.".

After that Dr. Kwok introduced HKAS, their system and international cooperation. HKAS has 86 MRA/MLA partners in 68 economies that certification bodies were benefits through HKAS accreditation.

During the break, I took a photo with Prof. Paul Lam and two students for memory. Mr. Tony Chung and Ms. Fay Lo were BSc in Environmental Science and Management in CityU and they had attended my course named "Quality Management for Laboratory" in 2005. In addition, we all were Prof. Paul Lam's student.

(Left: Mr. Tony Chung (Env Mgr, Gammon), Prof. Paul Lam, Ms. Fay Lo (Ass Mgr, EHS, Inchcape) and I)

The forth speaker was Dr. Mckey Ho (Structural Engineer, Housing Department) and his topic entitled "ISO 50001 EnMS and Certification: Application in Public Housing and Construction Sites". Firstly, Dr. Ho introduced two types of Energy in Public Housing Development and they were "Energy in Use" and "Embodied Energy" (process, transporting, during construction and demolition).

Dr. Ho told us to focus on the scope and boundary of ISO 50001 certification. Then he demonstrated their boundary statement "Confined to communal area of domestic building blocks of both public rental housing and new Home Ownership Scheme". After analyzed energy use and consumption (See diagram below), they identified "Significant Energy Use" (SEU) that was Lighting.

Then Dr. Ho explained three means for improving energy performance:
1. Use of energy efficiency products
2. Administrative procedures
3. Optimize the energy source
After that he showed the energy baseline calculation and obtained 30kWh/m2/Annum in 2011. He also shared the target to be set 10% reduction of 2011 energy base line value by 2014. They planned to use LED bulkheads in 2012 but the light intensity would be decay upto 30% after a year use. Therefore, they revised action plan such as optimizing the number of lighting fittings, adopting regenerative power for lift motors and more energy-efficient gearless type lift system, so as to achieve their target in 2014.

Finally, Dr. Ho mentioned ISO 50001 certification requirements for HA listed contractors included Buildings (New Works Category) and Piling Contractors. The requirement was effective on 1 January 2014 and the grace period for existing listed contractors was 2 year (upto 31 Dec 2015).

The final speaker was Mr. Nelson S.L. Ho (Senior Manager, Facilities Management, HKSTPC) and his presentation was "Profit from Energy Management through ISO 50001 Certification - Experience Sharing by HKSTPC". He introduced HKSTPC achieved the first ISO 50001 certification in Hong Kong in 2011.

Nelson said before ISO 50001 certification, their energy saving upto 18% since 2005. Therefore, the saving target was very difficult to set high during implementation of ISO 50001. In the beginning, the scope was set in the headquarter - Bio-Informatics Centre.

Then Nelson showed the comparison of Actual consumption against Energy Baseline for Building Services from Apr 2011 to Mar 2012. It was found that energy saving in headquarter building was upto 9.5% reduction! For other building, those in Phase 1 was saving 2.42% and Phase 2 was saving 1.93% energy from 2010/11 to 2011/12.

After that the ISO 50001 scope was extended to another Building (namely Green 18) in 2012 and to be certified another two buildings in 2014. The ultimate goal was to certify the whole Park with ISO 50001. The energy reduction roadmap from 2013 to 2030 were briefed.

Q&A session

Reference:HKCTC - http://www.hkctc.gov.hk/en/about.html
HKAS - http://www.itc.gov.hk/en/quality/hkas/about.htm
HKSTP - http://www.hkstp.org/

ISO 50001 related seminars:
20130808: HKQAA Seminar on Application of ISO 50001 in Construction Projects - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2013/08/hkqaa-seminar-on-application-of-iso.html
20120709: ISO 50001 Energy Management System (EnMS) Awareness Training - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2012/07/iso-50001-energy-management-system-enms.html
20120811: HKQAA Seminar - Laterest Developments in Energy Efficiency Enhancement - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2012/08/hkqaa-seminar-laterest-developments-in.html
20120413: Seminar on Low Carbon Trends in Hong Kong Construction Industry - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2012/04/seminar-on-low-carbon-trends-in-hong.html
20101114: Introduction of Upcoming Energy Management System Development - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2010/11/introduction-of-upcoming-energy.html

HKSQ Student Project Competition 2014 - Briefing & Plant Visit

The HKSQ Student Project Competition has been organized annually since 2005. This is a company based project to enable students from tertiary institutions to acquire quality improvement experience in an industrial environment. The joint sponsors of this year’s Competition are Woodley Agri-Service Company Limited and Green Technology Consortium (httbbp://www.green-tech-consortium.org) and Woodley Agri-Service Company Limited, and the field trip will be hosted by Hong Kong Organic Waste Resources Centre (HKOWRC) (有機資源再生中心), located at上水金錢村金翠路12號. The core business of HKOWRC is processing of food waste from lunch boxes collected at schools, turning it to fertilizer and animal feed.

The first sessions was problems selection which problems were designed and explained by sponsor companies. The second session was factory visit and the last session was presentation of suggested solutions. The briefing session of the competition was performed by Woodley Agri-Service Company Limited and Green Technology Consortium in PolyU on 15 Feb 2014. Mr. Karson Chui (Chairman, HKSQ) led the briefing session.

Mr. Shawn Cheng (Technical Consultant, HKOWRC) and Mr. Eddie Chan (President, HKOWRC) introduced their topic for student teams to develop a method for effective collection and segregation of food waste so as to facilitate subsequent processes

Mr. Kwok Ming Cheung (Managing Director of Woodley Agri-Service Company Limited) introduced another topic to improve the process of turning collected food waste into high value animal feed. After that students from different universities (included CityU, CUHK, HKUST and PolyU) had selected the question.

The second session - plant visit was held on 22 Feb 2014. Mr. Peter Fung (Vice Chairman, HKSQ) led the visit.

We arrived the HKOWRC.

Dr. KS Chin arrived and took a photo with CityU student before briefing session.

Mr. Peter Fung gave an opening speech and briefing the rule of that visit in the Lecture Hall of HKOWRC.

Then Mr. Eddie Chan (President, HKOWRC) introduced the plant and schedule of the visit.

Mr. Shawn Cheng (Technical Consultant, HKOWRC) mentioned the facilities of the plant and process before site visit.

The plant tour was started. Student teams study scope of the quality improvement project included segregation of food waste in schools, logistics of food waste collection, dehydration of animal feed to maintain high protein and energy contents, other parts in the value chain, or a combination of them. The process recorded in the following photos.

Some final products were shown.

Waste water treatment facilities (capacity: 5 ton)

Shawn explained the dehydration process.

The fermentation process was mentioned too.

Other environmental facilities such as CLP solar panels were also visited.

Green house planting using Hydroponics (水耕法) was discussed.

After visit, a short group discussion was performed. A group photo was taken for memory at the end.

Reference:
HKSQ Company Based Student Project Competition 2014 - http://www.hksq.org/company_based_competition.htm
Green Technology Consortium - http://www.green-tech-consortium.org/
20130921: Visit to Food Education Centre for preparing HKSQ Student Project Competition 2014 - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2013/09/visit-to-food-education-centre-for.html

Half-day Workshop on Laboratory Safety

The workshop on Laboratory Safety was organized by SHE Sub Work Group (Laboratory), Hong Kong Science and Technology Park Corporations on 21 February 2014. Topics for discussion is focus on sharing actual safety practices, and review of real laboratory accident cases.

The first speaker was Mr. S.K. Lam (Director of University Safety, CUHK) and his topic named “Workshop on Laboratory Safety: Chemicals and Biological”. In the beginning, Mr. Lam introduced the principles of Laboratory Safety “RERER”, indicating “Recognition of Hazards”, “Evaluation of Risks”, “Reduction of Hazards”, “Emergency Preparedness” and “Review System and Incidents”.

He said most Lab Safety Management System originate from BS 8800 (for construction site safety mainly) with 14 elements. Most of universities in Hong Kong (e.g. CUHK, PolyU, CityU & BUHK) are following AS 2243. HKU is following BS 7258 and HKUST is following USA system. In CUHK, they employed Centralized MSDS Database which online in each laboratory with different languages (Cost ~ HK$100,000 per year).

Since there are more than 800 laboratories in CUHK, they need to train different student and assign departmental safety coordinators to perform the duty such as chemical inventory check, safety inspection, etc. Moreover, they employed buddy system (Two people operate together as a single unit so as to help each other) for working in the laboratory especially at night.

Then Mr. Lam shared some real cases below.
Case 1 was fire on open branch. Root cause identified (1) keep alcohol lamp on even when no longer needed; (2) lack of concentration during work; and (3) old habit never dies.
Case 2 was chemical bomb because of expired chemical becoming unstable. Root cause identified: (1) excessive chemicals purchased; and (2) no one takes responsibility in inventory control.
Case 3 was release of NO2 from open bench experiment. Root cause identified: (1) no safety briefing to new lab users; (2) no coordination in facility maintenance; and (3) insufficient knowledge on hazardous.
Case 4 was Hydrofluoric Acid (HF) Poisoning in Australia. The technician knocked over a small quantity (between 100 to 230 ml) of HF onto his lap, splashing both thighs. Since no calcium gluconate gel was applied to the affected area and contaminated clothing was not removed during the flushing with water, the technical was in severe pain. The injured man’s right leg was amputated 7 days after the incident and subsequently died from multi-organ failure 15 days after the spill. Root cause identified: (1) Inadequate PPE used when handling HF; (2) no Calcium Gluconate gel available; and (3) Working alone with highly hazardous chemicals.

Mr. Lam said there is no BioHazard Level 4 laboratory in Hong Kong. Biological material is not like chemical to have completely MSDS eventhough it is preparing now.
He pointed some safety precautions in Microbiological Lab such as secondary container for transport of specimen – autoclavable, resistance to chemical disinfectants, internal rack to sit primary container upright. Use of BSC should follow the standard as BS 7258 (BS EN 14175), AS/NZS 2243.3: 2010, etc.
Case 1 for biological incident such as Needle stick injury was found in hospital. Root cause identified: (1) pressing workload and a deadline to beat; and (2) inadequate funding to change to safety syringes.

The second speaker was Mr. S.T. Yip (Safety Officer, University Safety Office, CUHK) and his topic named “Ionizing Radiation Issues in Laboratory” and “Laser and Mechanical Safety Issues in Laboratory”.

Firstly, Mr. Yip briefed the history and background information about ionization radiation. Thorium (232) and Uranium (235) were discussed. Then he mentioned three paths to exposure to radiation such as “Medical”, “Occupational” and “Public”.

The legist ration of radiation in Hong Kong was stated such as Radiation Ordinance Cap. 303 and Import (Radiation) (Prohibition) Regulation Cap. 60K. The following situation will be controlled by ordinance if:
Irradiating Apparatus > 5uSv/hr at 5 cm
Radioactive Substance > 75 Bq/g

Some dose limits on Radiation (IA) Regulations were shown as follows:
Radiation workers: 20 mSv/year
Public: 1mSv/year
Controlled Area: (IA > 3 uSv/h and RS > 1 uSV/hr)

Then the most dangerous source red sign label was demonstrated and we need to stay far and report to your supervisor.

For Laser Hazards (Non-ionizing Radiation), the following items should be concerned:
- Coherent radiation (Laser Beam)
- Non-coherent radiation (UV)
- High voltage (Diffuse Viewing Only (DVO) and arc upto 3 inch if 1500V)
- Chemical
- Toxic Fume / gases

Radioactive Waste management in Hong Kong was introduced:
- Sealed source (e.g. return to manufacturer)
- Unsealed source (e.g. delay and decay)
- Discharge limit (e.g. 1 Annual Limit Intake (ALI) per month)

For compress gas cylinder, press check should be performed every 5 year.

Reference:
Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (5th Edition) CDC - http://www.cdc.gov/biosafety/publications/bmbl5/bmbl.pdf

Related activities in HKSTP & HKTIC:
20081211 - HKTIC Laboratory Biosafety Training - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2008/12/laboratory-biosafety.html
20101004 - HKSP 1st Occupational Safety and Health Conference - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2010/10/hksp-1st-occupational-safety-and-health.html
20111027 - HKSP 2nd Occupational Safety and Health Conference - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2011/10/hksp-2nd-occupational-safety-and-health.html

China ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship Seminar

A Seminar named "China ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship" was organized by Department of Computing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and supported by CityU EngD Society on 20 Feb 2014. The guest speaker was Dr. Chan Man Hung, Thomas (Director, Public Policy Research Institute & Head, China Business Centre, PolyU) who is a true China issue expert in our region. His seminar would address the China ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship from China National Policy direction.

In the beginning, Dr. Walter Fung (Teaching Fellow, Dept. of Computing, PolyU & Former Vice Chairman, CityU EngD Society) gave an opening speech and introduced our guest speaker Dr. Chan Man Hung, Thomas.

Then Dr. Chan Man Hung, Thomas discussed the different topics about China economy and policy. I would like to consolidate some points below:
- Comparison of IC/chip production, China is far behind USA, Taiwan and Korea.
- Semiconductor design is strong in Taiwan and Korea.
- However, China has large scale of economy in which is one of advantages.
- He quoted Alibaba (阿里巴巴) as success case on ICT innovation company and it expanded to On-line Financial Service. However, it has several risks included data security. He mentioned that he didn’t trust too much on any ISO certification (say ISO 27001) in China. People factor such as misconduct would be a risk.
- China’s weakness is technology independent.
- Comparison with USA, Hong Kong has no own bank so the financial risk cannot be contained. USA could use currency policy to prolong the financial bubble/crisis.
- China financial system is a close system until now. If financial system is opened in China, What will happen? He also said many Chinese live in foreign country (Banana – yellow skin but white inside). Could we believe them to have responsibility on China and its society well-being? One of risk in China is the next generation with high education but not commit to the society of China. They only consider personal well-being.
- The risk of China is inside but not outside.
- I asked a question “Could Huawei catch up Samsung in future?” Dr. Chan said it seems difficult because Huawei’s scope is narrow but Samsung is vertical integration company.

At the end, Dr. Fung presented a souvenir to Dr. Chan.

Reference:
Department of Computing, PolyU - http://www.comp.polyu.edu.hk/en/home/index.php
CityU EngD Society - http://www.engd.org/home.aspx

HKSQ Dinner with Mr. Anshuman Tiwari

We are honor to invite Mr. Anshuman Tiwar (Senior Process Consultant / Vice President, HSBC Electronic Data Processing (India) Pvt. Ltd.) to have a short meeting and dinner in City University of Hong Kong on 19 Feb 2014. Mr. Anshuman Tiwar is ASQ Fellow and Chair of the Local Member Communities (LMC) in Bangalore, India.

We knew each other through ASQ Influential Voices and LinkedIn. After knowing him to have business trip in Hong Kong, we organized such meeting with HKSQ exco members for sharing Quality in India, ASQ Fellowship and six sigma project in bank.

In the beginning, Mr. Peter Fung (Vice Chairman, HKSQ) introduced Hong Kong Society for Quality (HKSQ) to Anshuman.

After that we have a discussion for sharing different topics and some insights were summarized as follows:
- Deming Prize, European Quality Award (EQA) (Now referred as EFQM Excellence Award) and Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) are popular in India
- Their LMC has a promotion program of basic quality concept for High School student
- Pharmaceutical product is following US FDA (Asked by Minda, Secretary)
- Most private hospital for medical tourism (Asked by Zoie, Exco member)
- Anshuman said the implementation problem of Six Sigma in service sector was difficult to collect enough data. Senior management had already known the solution for process improvement. It is time-based competition. Six Sigma in bank is not for money saving but for increase of revenue. Dr. Aaron Tong (Former Chairman) added that bank interested in Six Sigma because of Data Mining. Anshuman also agreed.

After the discussion, I presented HKSQ the 25th Anniversary Year Book to Anshuman.

Anshuman also presented ASQ-India Diary to me.

Then we had a dinner in CityU Chinese Restaurant. Mr. Anshuman Tiwar is a vegetarian.

(Left: and Dr. Zoie Wong (Exco member), Dr. Albert Tsang (Former Chairman), Dr. Aaron Tong (Former Chairman), Mr. Anshuman Tiwar (HKSQ Guest), Dr. Lotto Lai(Former Chairman), Ms. Minda Chiang (Hon. Secretary) and Mr. Peter Fung (Vice-chairman))

Reference:
HKSQ - www.hksq.org
Anshuman's blog: Quality - The Unfair Advantage - http://qualityadvantage.blogspot.hk/

Anshuman Tiwari, HSBC Data Processing India, Bangalore, India — For his persistence and diligence in implementing quality principles and practices in India; for writing about quality leadership; for developing performance excellence assessment models; for assessing a range of organizations on performance excellence criteria; and for leading the establishment of ASQ in India. (ASQ Names 24 Fellows for Contributions to Quality)