Quality Alchemist (品質煉金術師): CityU APS Career Talk 2016

The 23^rd Physics and Materials Science Society (APS) of CityU and ASQ Local Member Community (Hong Kong) (ASQ LMC HK) arranged a career talk on 11 Apr 2016. I was one of speakers to share our experience to undergraduates. ASQ LMC HK chairman Mr. Simon Tong and I was AP graduate and other three speakers, Mr. Bennett Tong, Ms. Wong Hing Yi and Mr. Ricky Suen were SEEM graduate.

In the beginning, Dr. Jonathan Chung gave opening speech and shared the 2013 Graduates survey. He added that BEng in Materials Engineering is accredited by Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) for corporate membership in Materials Discipline.

The employment statistics was shared and there were 96.8% fulltime employment. Top three job natures were “Engineering & Technical Work (36.7%)”, “Building & Construction (20%)” and “Architecture/Surveying (13.3%)”. ME graduate average annual salary is HK$173,586 and average monthly salary is HK$14,465 in 2014.

Group photo with Dr. Chung and all guests was taken before the talk.

(Left: Simon Tong, Peter Fung, Wong Hing Yi, Bennett Tong, Ricky Suen, Dr. Chung and I)

In the beginning, Mr. Simon Tong (Sr. Member, ASQ; Chairman of ASQ LMC HK) introduced American Society for Quality and ASQ Local Member Community – Hong Kong. ASQ is home to a robust group of regional and topic and industry specific communities worldwide. Local member communities (LMCs) are local member units for ASQ members outside of the US/Canada.

LMC members make new contacts, network and build knowledge and participate in local activities and events. Then Simon introduced ASQ LMC HK exco members.

The second speaker was Mr. Bennett Tong (Senior Business Improvement Officer, Cathay Pacific Catering Service) and he shared his career experience. He told use he learnt from his first job about “Communication with senior colleagues”, “Skill of phone conversation & business letter writing” and “Think about the working style”. Second job was manufacturing officer for OEM electronic domestics appliance in which he needed to go to China (He described as “Throw caution to the winds”). Finally, he could apply his knowledge, understood “Compromise” and had confidence and self-encouragement in current job.

The third speaker was Ms. Wong Hing Yi (Senior Business Improvement Officer, Cathay Pacific Catering Service) and she also shared her career experience. She studied BEng in System Engineering and serviced in Disneyland, Nestle, DHL and Cathay Catering. During trainee in Nestle, she learnt to express clearly and precisely, calculated risk, to be optimistic and self-motivated and understand the operation with trust. Now, she could apply her knowledge in the current job with open and compromise manner.

Mr. Ricky Suen (Quality Manager, Titron International Limited) was the fourth speaker and his presentation about Quality and Regulatory Affair for Medical Devices field. His talk included three parts that were Career, Entry Requirement and Job Description. Understanding of QMS in Medical Device (ISO 13485) was crucial. The most important issue is “Regulatory Affair”.

I was the last speaker and my topic named “Connecting the Dots – From Student to Adjunct Professor”. I quoted Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Address in 2005 that “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”

Then I shared my achievement and contribution in Academia, Business, Community and Government. On of sharing, the Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) career paths were discussed.