Zürich meets Hong Kong festival opens its doors

“Asians know Switzerland for its impeccable taste in designer watches, cheese and chocolate,” writes the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. By participating in the festival Zürich meets Hong Kong, ETH Zurich hopes to do its part in broadening this perspective. 

As the ‘Leading House’ for its Swiss Science and Technology programme in the Asia-Pacific region, ETH Zurich alone maintains more than 20 collaborations with universities and research institutes in Hong Kong.

At the festival, Bob Sumner, scientific director at ETH Zurich’s Game Technology Center, will show how technology can inspire art and fun. Another focus of ETH Zurich is how to harness technology to create smart cities. Corine Mauch, the mayor of Zurich, and Nicholas Yang, the secretary for Innovation and Technology in Hong Kong, will launch the Smart Cities conference at the festival. 

“When presenting the strengths of our city abroad, universities and the ETH Zurich are indispensable,” said Mauch. “They are synonymous with knowledge, education and innovation and these, among other qualities, are what Zurich represents.” 

The University of Zurich (UZH) is taking part in five festival events. Mike Martin, a professor of gerontopsychology at UZH, and his colleague Terry Lum from the University of Hong Kong will present on the concept of healthy ageing. UZH is staging two other events on the future of privacy in the age of digitalization. Last but not least, Andrea Riemenschnitter from the UZH Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies will present on Leung Ping-Kwan, a Hong Kong author and literary scholar who was a guest lecturer at UZH several times before his death in 2013.