The Department is pleased to announce that the following Teaching Assistants/ Demonstrators have been chosen as recipients of the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award in 2025/26 Term 2: (Name in alphabetical order)
XIAO Bojun (CHEM2870) & ZHAO Xuan (CHEM3880)
This award is given each semester to Teaching Assistants/Demonstrators that demonstrates exceptional performance and devotion to duty while acting on behalf of the department. It is a prestigious honour that serves to recognise the best of the best within our ranks. The awardees’ teaching performance, contribution to Department and character are considered during the selection process. Each awardee will receive a $1,000 prize.
We are grateful to have our Department Chairman, Prof. Kwong Fuk-yee, to present the certificates and awards to the awardees.
What’s more, we are happy to have Bojun and Xuan to share with us their wholehearted feelings of receiving this achievement 🙂
Sharing from XIAO Bojun (Responsible course: CHEM2870)
It is my great honor to receive the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award. Although it’s my first time be a TA, I know what a student really want to be support their coursework. I alway encourage students to ask questions whatever how basic the question is, and guide them step-by-step through the example problems to establish their own thinking pathway. Moreover, I have learnt skills of communicating with students and time management, and these skills can benefit to my further PhD study. By seeing their faces and text reflecting their relief of understanding the knowledge, I was always happy and comforted, since my teaching is effective and significant, and this spirit will always be followed by me and brings me more energy to my future teaching duty.
Sharing from ZHAO Xuan (Responsible course: CHEM3880)
I am truly honored to receive this Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. As a demonstrator for CHEM3880 Quality Testing Laboratory, my approach goes beyond guiding students through standard procedures—I encourage them to think critically about every step. When unexpected results arise, such as an extra peak from contaminated solvent in GC-MS, I guide students to systematically troubleshoot running blanks, comparing retention times, and using mass spectra for identification. I also emphasize the importance of understanding the “why” behind each calibration and performance check. Seeing my students transform from following manuals into confident, independent problem-solvers is the greatest reward. This award inspires me to continue fostering curiosity and analytical thinking in every lab session.
Hearty congratulations to Bojun and Xuan, and many thanks to all nominators and our selection panels!