Prof Kou Kun Pang: Serving society wholeheartedly
高冠鵬教授：用心服務社會

In the field of civil engineering, the University of Macau (UM) has a strong faculty team with a long history of providing professional advice and services to the engineering sector in Macao. Kou Kuan Pang, an associate professor at UM, obtained his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the university. After completing his PhD programme in the United Kingdom, he joined the university with a strong desire to contribute to Macao. Over the past 21 years, apart from teaching and research, he has actively worked as an engineering consultant for many local organisations and government departments. He often tells his students: ‘We are all sons and daughters of Macao, so we must serve the community with our hearts.’

Among the First to Graduate from UM’s Civil Engineering Programme

When UM’s Faculty of Science and Technology was established in 1989, it only offered two programmes, one of which was civil engineering, aimed at nurturing local engineering professionals. That was the beginning of the university’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Prof Iu Vai Pan was the founder and first coordinator of the civil engineering programme. He and the Portuguese lecturer Dr Jose Moita were instrumental in launching the programme. In 1989, the first cohort of ten students were admitted to the programme. One of them was Kou Kun Pang. ‘When I was a student at UM, the university did not have a department of civil engineering, and there were not many teachers,’ says Prof Kou. ‘During those four years, almost all of my major courses were taught by my mentor Prof Iu. He had a great influence on me.’

In 1993, when Kou graduated from the university, Prof Iu expressed his hope that some of his graduates could stay on and continue their research while teaching, so the young scholar with a strong interest in teaching stayed on as a teaching assistant. ‘After a year working as a teaching assistant at the university, I felt that I needed to pursue postgraduate studies in order to further my academic career,’ says Prof Kou. Therefore, he travelled to the UK in 1994 to pursue a master’s degree. ‘At that time, UM was very supportive of its faculty members who wished to pursue further studies overseas, to help them move up in their career. I was given the permission to take a leave of absence so that I could return to teaching after completing my degree,’ says Prof Kou. ‘I remember after my graduation, Prof Iu asked me if I wanted to continue my studies. I said of course but the tuition fees made me hesitant. Fortunately, I received a grant from the Macao government on the condition that I would return to Macao after completing my PhD degree.’

Returning to Macao after Completing Overseas Studies

After obtaining his PhD in 2000, Prof Kou returned to UM and has been teaching at the university ever since. Over the past two decades, he has witnessed the growth of the university’s faculty team. Between 1999 and 2008, the percentage of faculty members with a PhD degree increased from 23 per cent to over 70 per cent, and the total number of faculty members increased from 229 to 378. ‘With the support of the government, UM has sponsored a number of its faculty members to pursue further studies to help them move up the ladder. The increase in the size and quality of the faculty team has led to an improvement in the overall teaching quality of the university,’ says Prof Kou. ‘The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has also trained a number of local engineers for the Macao SAR government to meet local demand.’

‘With the rapid social and economic development after Macao’s handover in 1999, there emerged many large-scale construction projects in Macao and the infrastructure sector was booming, with a high demand for engineering professionals,’ says Prof Kou. ‘Indeed, engineering companies expressed interest in UM students in their second or third year of college and wanted them to apply for jobs right after graduation.’

Contributing to the Engineering Sector of Macao

In addition to nurturing talent, serving the community through research is also an important mission of the university. In spite of his busy schedule, Prof Kou has been actively involved in the engineering monitoring services of UM’s Centre for Engineering Research and Testing (CERT), providing consultation and advisory services for the Macao SAR government, local organisations, and the community. He has also served as the vice president of the SAR government’s environmental advisory committee as well as a member of its transport advisory committee.

In 2003, the Macao SAR government began to carry out large-scale construction and infrastructure projects one after another. These projects included the Ferreira do Amaral Plaza car park, the Portas do Cerco car park, and the Sai Van Bridge. At that time, the Macao SAR government already foresaw a huge amount of work in terms of project supervision and quality inspection. In order to support these major public infrastructure projects, the university established CERT in that year and combined the technical strength of the centre and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

‘CERT mainly serves the engineering sector of Macao, and UM has a strong faculty team to provide technical support, including support in inspection and quality control,’ says Prof Kou. ‘Our testing equipment is adjusted by professional companies to ensure accurate and reliable data. Over the past 20 years, CERT has been involved in a wide range of monitoring services in Macao and has built up a reputation in the engineering industry.’

In response to the development needs, UM is planning to restructure CERT into a wholly-owned subsidiary and rename it into UMCERT Engineering Research and Testing Limited, to provide professional services in engineering quality and inspection for the government and the industry in order to promote social-economic development of the city.

The Greatest Achievement

Nurturing talent is one of Prof Kou’s greatest achievements in his teaching career: ‘I like to watch students grow from knowing nothing in their first year of study, to being energised by their professional knowledge, to finally learning to be humble again as time goes by. It is my greatest enjoyment to witness the personal growth of my students.’

‘I often tell my students that we are all sons and daughters of Macao, and that serving the local community is something that we have to do with our hearts,’ says Prof Kou. ‘Now that I have gained some experience in social services, my sharing with students will be more convincing and hopefully will help them apply their knowledge in society.’ In terms of expectations for his students, he hopes that apart from contributing to the development of Macao, the graduates will also become pillars of society.

Souce: My UM e-version

在土木工程領域，澳門大學擁有一批實力雄厚的教研團隊，長期為澳門工程界提供專業的建議和服務。畢業於澳大土木工程專業的高冠鵬教授，在英國取得博士學位後，回澳大教書。21年來，他除了熱心教研之外，還積極為不少澳門機構或政府部門擔任工程顧問的角色，他常常跟學生說：「我們都是澳門兒女，必須要用心去服務澳門社會。」

首屆土木工程專業學生

澳大科技學院在1989年成立時開設兩個科技課程，其一為土木工程課程，以培養本地工程人才為宗旨，土木及環境工程系的里程碑亦由此開展。姚偉彬教授是土木工程課程的第一任課程主任，也是土木工程課程的創辦人。當時姚偉彬教授聯同一名葡籍講師Jose Moita博士致力開拓及設置土木工程課程，並於課程開展首年，即1989年，成功招收十多名學生，高冠鵬是其中一名。高冠鵬回憶道：「當年我讀書時，土木工程只是一個課程，還沒有設系，老師也不多，四年的專業學科幾乎都是我的恩師姚教授所教，他對我的影響非常大。」

高冠鵬於1993年大學畢業那年，姚教授希望能有一些畢業生可以留校一邊教書一邊繼續讀研究生課程，熱衷教學的高冠鵬於是留下來任教學助理（Teaching Assistant），「我在澳大做了一年TA後，深感若要進一步提升學術造詣，必須要深造研究生課程。」於是他在1994年赴英國修讀碩士課程，「當時大學非常支持本地的老師赴海內外深造，以鼓勵本地人才向上發展。澳大當時還容許我停薪留職，讓我可以在碩士畢業後再回來教書。我記得在完成碩士學位後，姚教授問我還想不想繼續讀博士課程，我說當然想，但學費的問題讓我猶豫。幸好後來獲得了澳門政府的資助，而條件是完成博士學位後要回澳服務。」

海外深造歸澳發展

2000年取得博士學位後，高冠鵬回到澳大，任教至今。在他回澳的十年期間，澳大的師資力量不斷鞏固，在1999年至2008年間，澳大具博士學位的教授由23%提高到超過70%，教師總人數從229位增至378位。他說：「澳大在政府的支持下，資助了一批本地老師向上增值，教師隊伍規模及質量的提升，令到澳大整體教學水平都有提升。土木及環境工程系也為澳門特區政府培養了一批本地工程師，以滿足澳門政府對本土工程師的需求。」

高教授回憶說：「澳門特區政府在1999年成立後，社會 經濟發展迅速，很多大型建築項目相繼落成，澳門基建蓬勃發展，修讀工程專業的學生在市場上需求殷切，基本上在大學二、三年級時就有工程公司對澳大學生感興趣，希望學生畢業後能應聘。」

為澳門工程界作貢獻

澳大除了致力培養人才，以研究服務社會也是其重要使命。高冠鵬教授多年來在繁忙的教研工作之餘，一直參與澳大工程研究及檢測中心 （CERT）的監測工程服務，為澳門特區政府、本地機構和社區提供諮詢和顧問的服務等，還擔任環境諮詢委員會副主席、交通諮詢委員會委員等社會職務。

2003年，澳門特區政府有序地開展大型工程和基建項目，包括亞馬喇前地停車場、關閘停車場、西灣大橋等，當時澳門特區政府已預視工程監管和質量檢測方面的工作十分龐大。為了配合政府的工程監管工作，澳大在該年成立CERT，並結合土木及環境工程系的技術力量，支持和推進澳門特區政府大型基建的落成。高教授說：「CERT主要為澳門工程界服務，而澳大正正擁有一班實力雄厚的師資團隊作技術支援，包括檢驗、質量監管等。我們的檢測儀器是由專業公司調整，數據準確可信。近20年來，CERT參與了澳門各項大大小小的監測工程服務，在工程業界和行內都建立了聲譽。」

因應發展需要，澳大正計劃將CERT重新組建為澳大全資擁有的公司並更名為澳大工程研究及檢測中心有限公司（UMCERT），將全力提供工程品質及檢驗方面的專業服務，務求能為澳門政府及業界提供高素質的專業服務，推動澳門的社會經濟發展。

最大的成就

作育英才是高教授教學生涯中最大的成就感，「看著學生在大一時甚麼都不懂，到掌握專業知識後意氣風發，再經時間歷練後又變得謙虛恭謹。目睹學生在個人成長上蛻變過程，是我最享受，也是最開心樂見的事。」

高教授說：「我常常跟學生說大家都是澳門兒女，服務澳門社會是要用心去做的一件事，當擁有社會服務經驗再跟學生分享就會顯得更有底氣，更有說服力讓他們明白所學習的東西在社會上是如何應用。」在教學上，他除了希望畢業的學生能為澳門的建設作出貢獻外，更希望他們成為澳門重要的支柱，社會的棟樑。

來源：《澳大人》電子版