Prof. Henry C. B. Chan

Prof. Chan received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Cambridge, England, and his Ph.D. degree from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada. He joined the Department of Computing at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in 1998 and has been serving as Associate Head since 2017. In this role, he has previously overseen Teaching and Learning and, in recent years, Collaboration and Partnership, including alumni engagement and the promotion of lifelong learning.

A dedicated computing educator, Prof. Chan has devoted more than 27 years to advancing computing education through innovative pedagogy, curriculum development, student mentoring, and service to the academic community. Central to his educational vision and teaching philosophy is the CARES model—Computing for Application, Research, Entrepreneurship, and Service. Through this novel model, he has nurtured generations of students. Under his supervision and guidance, students have received over 50 awards.

In recognition of his outstanding contributions to computing education, Prof. Chan has received two prestigious international awards: the 2022 IEEE Education Society William E. Sayle II Award for Achievement in Education, cited “for his contributions to computing education and the development of the TALE conference,” and the 2015 IEEE Computer Society Computer Science and Engineering Undergraduate Teaching Award, cited “for outstanding contributions through teaching, mentoring, and service to the education community.” Since 2000, the William E. Sayle II Award has been conferred on only 28 individuals worldwide, while since 1999, the IEEE Computer Society award has recognized just 25 recipients globally. At PolyU, his outstanding contributions have also been recognized through four President's Awards—including two for teaching and two for service—and seven faculty-level awards.

Over his 27+ years at PolyU, Prof. Chan has held numerous significant academic leadership/administration roles, including Associate Head, Chair of the Departmental Learning and Teaching Committee, Programme Leader, and member of the University Learning and Teaching Committee. He has made substantial contributions to shaping the Department of Computing's educational philosophy and curriculum, particularly through the CARES model. He also made significant contributions to the development of the Department's Computing scheme, helping to establish a strong foundation for programme design and student development. His contribution to this educational vision is further documented in his article in the Department's 50th Anniversary Booklet under the section "Transformative Education," where the CARES framework is presented as a foundational model for undergraduate curriculum development.

Prof. Chan has also developed innovative computing subjects. To foster computational, analytical, and creative thinking, he developed a pioneering e-commerce subject and authored one of the early textbooks in the field, E-commerce Fundamentals and Applications (Wiley), which integrates computing and business perspectives. The book has been adopted internationally and has received over 220 Google Scholar citations. Building on the CARES model, he also developed a project-based freshman seminar that engages students in application-, research-, and entrepreneurship-oriented projects, thereby enriching the first-year learning experience.

Beyond PolyU, Prof. Chan has demonstrated exemplary leadership in advancing the wider education and professional community, especially through his extensive service to the IEEE and his contribution to open educational resources (OERs). As Chair-Elect (2011) and Chair (2012) of the IEEE Hong Kong Section, he contributed significantly to the development of the Section. Under his leadership, the IEEE Hong Kong Section received the Outstanding Large Section Award 2012 from IEEE Region 10 (Asia Pacific)—the first time the Hong Kong Section had received this prestigious honour.

Prof. Chan has also made lasting contributions to the global engineering and computing education community through the IEEE Education Society. As founding General Chair, Steering Committee member, and Technical Programme Committee Co-Chair for several editions of the conference, he played an instrumental role in launching and developing the IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment and Learning for Engineering (TALE), which has since become the flagship conference of the IEEE Education Society and an important international platform for advancing engineering and computing education.

In addition, as part of his contribution to advancing the education community, he currently serves as Editor of the Computer Science Board for MERLOT, one of the world's largest open educational resource (OER) repositories. Endorsed by the IEEE Education Society and the IEEE Computer Society, the associated OER portal on MERLOT now offers more than 6,800 resources to nearly 5,000 members worldwide.