A note of thank-you

Last night I had the pleasure to attend the presentation of the 2018 Vice-Chancellor's Awards for Research Excellence. I am also pleased, honored, and very thankful to have received the UTS Chancellor's Medal for Exceptional Research. This award is, to me, a catalyst for doing more greater things in the future.

It was such a wonderful occasion to meet many amazing people who have made UTS a great university nowadays. The University has established 7 prizes to recognize individuals who have made substantive contributions to the University and Australia-wide. These prizes are for Research Support, Research Development (including supervision of graduate students), Research Excellence through Collaboration, Early Career Research Excellence Award, UTS Medal for Teaching and Research Integration, Deputy Vice-Chancellor's Medal for Research Impact, and finally the Chancellor's Medal for Exceptional Research (1). The ceremony last night was a salute to all finalists and winners, each of whom has made incredible contributions to the University and Australian higher education.

As I said in the short remark at the ceremony, I came to UTS (almost five years ago) with a big plan and burning ambition. Over the past five years, with the help of many colleagues and my students, I have realized part of the plan. However, much remains to be done. I want to put the UTS name in the map of osteoporosis research worldwide through important and transformative research.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Professor Joanne Tipper, Head of the UTS School of Biomedical Engineering, who has enthusiastically nominated me for the prize. I thank Professor Michael Blumstein, Associate Dean of FEIT, for heartily supporting the nomination. I thank Professor Ego Seeman (University of Melbourne), Professor John Eisman (University of Notre Dame Australia), Professor Roberto Civitelli (University of Washington in St Louis, USA), and Professor David Hanley (University of Calgary, Canada), who have written nice things about me and my works.

As part of the prize conferring ceremony, each of finalists was interviewed and given a chance to articulate their views. When asked what would be the role of a modern university, I invoked the Humboldtian ideal of a university as an answer. I consider that universities should function as (a) producers of ideas and knowledge through high quality research; and (b) catalysts for technological and knowledge transfer through teaching and collaboration with the industry, in our case, with health care institutions. As a member of the UTS academic community, I am working toward that ideal.

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(1) The Chancellor’s Medal for Exceptional Research honours the very best research achievement by an individual researcher.