Yesterday, our graduates from class of 2013 returned to our campus from different corners of the world for their graduation ceremony. A good news to go with this joyful occasion is the release of a recent ranking on global graduate employability, in which HKUST has climbed to world no. 18 and is the only university in Greater China in the top 20.

This year, we have a record high number of Japanese students joining our full-time MBA class. A leading Japanese business media, Toyo Keizai Online, explores HKUST MBA’s advantages and the reasons behind the increasing number of candidates in Japan going for an Asian MBA.

Want to know more about our admissions criteria, career performance and scholarship application? Check out this interview by MBA Crystal Ball with our Head of Admissions, Sherring Ng.

There are so many MBA rankings with different results. So what happens if you combine all of them? HKUST is still Asia no. 1 and the only Asian school which is ranked in all the four major media rankings.

It is the first time we joined the Forbes MBA Ranking and we are no. 11 among the international MBA programs. Forbes’ ranking only measured the return on investment of an MBA by looking at the salaries of its alumni. For our graduates, their salaries 5 years after the MBA are 4 times their pre-MBA salaries.

HKUST was named the top university in Asia for the third straight year by the highly reputable QS University Rankings: Asia. With almost 500 universities examined and record response levels to its academic and employer surveys, this ranking represents the most extensive study of Asian institutions ever conducted.

The new partnership seeks to develop local talent and business leaders, meeting the needs of the growth of the oil industry and supporting the development of the region. This is the first company-sponsored MBA program offered by HKUST Business School.

HKUST MBA has been ranked No.1 in Asia and No.8 in the world by the Financial Times. It marks the program’s fourth consecutive year in the top ten of the chart, and the three-year average rank of the program stays at No.8.

Angela Ahrendts, the acclaimed CEO of the luxury label Burberry, was the star attraction at an HKUST MBA CEO talk where she engaged in conversation with Prof Ron McEachern and answered questions from students and alumni, who filled every seat in the venue.

Commonly known as the ‘Godfather of Business’ in China, Mr Zhang Ruimin brilliantly combines traditional Chinese philosophy with Western management in instituting an integrated framework for Haier Group, namely a Win-win Model of Individual-Goal Combination.

An announcement from QS released today states that HKUST aged just 21 years, tops the 2012 QS University Rankings: Asia league table for the second year in a row. With almost 500 universities examined and record response levels to its academic and employer surveys, the QS Asian University Rankings 2012 represent the most extensive study of Asian institutions ever conducted.

RTHK’s radio programme, Money for nothing, did a live interview with our Senior Associate Dean and Masters Programs Director, Prof. Steven DeKrey this week. In the show, Prof. DeKrey shared his thoughts on our latest Financial Times ranking, the diversity at HKUST MBA and leadership in general.

The HKUST MBA program is ranked in the world’s top 10 again by the Financial Times Global MBA Rankings 2012 despite changes in the ranking criteria. This brings the three-year average rank of the program to the 8th in the world.

“Think business school and Harvard – Stanford – Wharton – may come to mind. But watch out, there’s a new game in town – Asian MBAs. Take Hong Kong University of Science and Technology – it’s ranked number 6 in the world by FT’s global MBA rankings – up from 16 in 2009,” Reuters reports.

Four of the world’s most renowned business schools have joined forces again to recruit top North Americans and Europeans.

According to the highly reputable Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asian University Rankings released on 23 May 2011, HKUST’s ranking in Asia has risen to first place in 2011 while the University ranked second last year.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s (HKUST) MBA Finance Club today hosted the HKUST MBA Finance Conference in celebration of the University’s 20th Anniversary.

The HKUST MBA program’s global ranking hits its highest-ever placement as it is ranked 6th best in the world according to the Financial Times 2011 rankings of the top 100 full-time global MBA programs released today. The HKUST MBA program is ranked top 10 on a three-year average.

The Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA (EMBA) program tops the Financial Times…

Four of the world’s most renowned business schools have joined forces for the first time to recruit top North Americans and Europeans.

The Secretary for Education, the Hon Michael Suen, GBS, JP, joined the senior staff of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Business School in celebrating the recent advancement in the global ranking of its MBA program to No.9.

The quality and quantity of research output by the Management…

The international Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) has…

A team of our part-time MBA students were interviewed for their “Little MBA” project, which raises funds for those in need by offering a basic business training to primary school students.

Our full-time MBA students spent a fruitful morning at Microsoft Hong Kong in a company visit organized by our Tech Club. They met with the General Manager and National Technology Officer, and also enjoyed a friendly chat with 3 executives from enterprise sales, SMB sales and product marketing there.

Last month, our alumni and students got together in the beautiful Italian town of Santa Margherita Liguria to sail with over 500 students from more than 20 top global business schools, including Harvard, MIT, LBS, INSEAD and Booth.

Our Healthcare Club and General Management & Operations Club jointly organized an alumni speaker event for the class. Our alumnus, April Wong, shared her experience working at Abbott Laboratories, a global pharmaceutical and healthcare company. Albert Kim, also a graduate of our program and now working at J.P. Morgan, talked about the industry trend from a financial point of view.

Last Saturday, our Wine & Dine Club organized a wine education session followed by wine tasting. Business executives from various companies such as UBS, Burberry, Natixis, Svarowski and Richemont were also invited so that students can network while having fun.

The Club held its first speaker session last week, featuring Rui Ma, a Venture Partner at 500 Startups – a leading incubator where she is in charge of all investment activities in the Greater China region.

This year, we have 19 clubs – almost one club for every six students. The officers of each club joined road shows and presentations in our annual Student Club Orientation Day to compete for members and funding.

This is one of the most important festivals in the Chinese culture and a time to unite with your families. For our full-time MBA students who are probably miles away from their own families, they still enjoyed a terrific night partying with their classmates under the bright full moon.

The “RP” and “ELP” are the rite of passage for every HKUST MBA student. They are a challenging yet rewarding experience specially designed to prepare students for team work and leadership roles in a global setting.

Our Japan Club organized a workshop last month on Japan’s economy. The presentation was delivered by one of our five Japanese students this year, Tsubasa, who is a professional banker. He explained the Japanese economy and the policy advocated by its Prime Minister.

Before joining HKUST, Andy Possel worked as a Consultant at the Boston Consulting Group in Germany. He would tell you that deciding to become the President of Sports Club was one of the best decisions he made during the MBA.

The Japan Trek was the biggest event organized by our Japan Club this year, with more than 20 MBA students visiting 5 cities, 5 companies and a business school in Japan. In the feedback session, our students shared their experience during the trip and thanked Mr. Ogino, Chairman and founder of FENIX Group for his support to the trek.

Our students, Clément, Nicky and Simon, won the first prize and the best elevator pitch at the HKUST One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition. They were awarded a total of HKD325,000 in cash and other in-kind contribution and services for their new solar technology business.

The HKUST MBA Finance Conference is one of our program’s annual highlights. This year’s event, themed Investing in Asia: Opportunities in a post-GFC World, was co-hosted by our students and alumni to generate discussions on the fast growing finance and real estate industries in Asia. The conference was a great platform to gain more insights into the Asia market and network with senior executives from their target sectors.

Team HKUST won the Champion trophy for the football tournament held at the HKUST soccer pitch yesterday. A total of 10 teams from HKUST, Credit Suisse, CEIBS, Chicago Booth Singapore, Nanyang, NUS and Tsinghua competed for the championship this year.

The HKUST MBA team came 3rd in the 1st MBA Sailing Cup Asia in Singapore last weekend, beating other schools such as INSEAD and IMD! Similar to the European MBA Sailing League, this was a series of sailing races held in Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand between different business schools.

Last month, we organized our first-ever networking event for our current part-time students, alumni and prospective candidates to mingle with each other in a casual setting. It was a great opportunity for the candidates to personally experience the power of the HKUST MBA network, and for the students and alumni to catch up with each other and meet new people.

From the photos, it is clear that our students had a great time during their 7-day trip to Japan over the Easter break. More than 30 members from the HKUST MBA community, including students, alumni, newly admitted candidates, our Program Director and Career Head, visited 5 major cities, 5 companies and a Japanese business school.

Our student team who won the INNOVATEChina 2013 Entrepreneurship Challenge again came first in the NVC Lightning Round of the Annual New Venture Championship with their business idea, Solaris.

Andrew Warneck, Managing Principal from Korn/Ferry International, talked about the ever-changing landscape in Asia and how students can advance their careers in the region. Korn/Ferry is one of the world’s largest executive search firms, and Warneck, with over 15 years of experience in talent management, has worked in Asia for the past 7 years.

Our MBA students visited NTT Com Asia, one of the leading telecom and global ICT (Information & Communication Technology) solution providers, and met with the corporate executive members who lead and manage the ICT business in Hong Kong.

Another victory! Our students, Simon, Clément and Nicky, won the First Prize at the INNOVATEChina 2013 Entrepreneurship Challenge in Shanghai. Other finalists included top schools such as INSEAD, MIT, UC Berkeley, Columbia, etc.

We invited five current and former consultants to share with our students the life of a consultant, what kind of talents consulting firms are looking for, as well as how to get an interview and the job. Here are the five key takeaways from the event.

DaVita, a division of DaVita HealthCare Partners (a Fortune 500 company), met with our students and introduced their recruitment programs this month. As a leading provider of kidney care in U.S., DaVita offers two recruitment programs: the Redwoods Resident Program for full-time employment and the Redwoods Summer Associate Program for internship opportunities.

Our students, Karan, Janyawan and Christian, won the NUS Asian MBA Stock Pitch Competition 2013 in Singapore. The participating teams were required to compete and showcase their equity research and stock-picking skills in front of a panel of distinguished judges from the investment industry. HKUST emerged as the Champion after the finals against CEIBS, ISB and NUS.

They are chosen from more than 10,000 applications received from over 350 colleges and universities in 150+ countries. One of the teams will compete in San Francisco, the other in Dubai.

Nicholas Sallnow-Smith, the Chairman of the Board of The Link Management Ltd., spent an evening with our students sharing his extensive experience in the field and views of the property investment and management industry in HK. His company manages the first and largest real estate investment trust in HK. It was a great opportunity to learn more about the industry and to meet and be inspired by Sallnow-Smith.

Our Finance Club and career office co-hosted an MBA Career Forum to better prepare students for a career in banking and finance. Senior executives from financial institutions like ANZ, JP Morgan, UBS and Vortex Capital were invited to share their views on the industry trends and effective strategies for landing a job.

The US Intelligence predicted that in 2030, India could be the rising economic powerhouse that China is seen to be today in its report released last December. To prepare our students for the future of global business, our professor has led a group of 29 part-time students on a 6-day study tour to Mumbai and Bangalore.

Methanex, a global leader in the production and marketing of methanol, has hired two of our MBA graduates after their internships in recent years. One of them – now the Product Manager of Asia Pacific at Methanex – returned to our school in December with the company’s Commercial Director of Asia Pacific to talk to our students about the summer internship positions available at their company.

We have invited Leon Meng, the former Managing Director of D.E. Shaw, to talk about the finance industry. Other than establishing the Greater China Private Equity Unit at D.E. Shaw, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, Meng also served on JP Morgan’s Asia Pacific M&A Committee and China Business Engagement Committee.

With the support from the Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong, our Japan Club organized a workshop on ikebana, i.e. Japanese art of flower arrangement. Around 30 people including our alumni, students and their partners participated in this event held at the embassy.

A small group of HKUST MBA and exchange students from Berkeley who are interested in the IT and technology industry organized a tech trek to China in December. They visited a total of 11 firms in Shanghai and Beijing. The companies included multinationals such as Lenovo and The Boston Consulting Group, as well as local players like Baidu, baixing.com and RedAtoms.

Our MBA students spent a day in Shenzhen visiting three of the biggest high-tech players in China – Lenovo, Haier and Tencent. It was a good opportunity to get a first-hand experience of the fast growing high-tech industry in China and learn more about the strategies they use to succeed in the China market.

The International Night is an HKUST MBA way of celebrating thanksgiving and the global diversity of the student body. That evening, we had tables of national dishes prepared by the native students, dance performances from different cultures and sharing of fun facts about the 27 countries represented by our class.

Many MNCs like Amazon have recruitment programs specifically for MBA graduates. Recently, the senior management of Amazon China visited our campus to introduce their company and recruitment plan to our MBA students.

This week, the Japanese Ambassador and Consul-General in Hong Kong came to HKUST as a guest lecturer for our MBA course, China’s External Relations and Their Economic Impact, and expressed his views on the politics and trades of the two nations.

Japanese have always been known to greatly value their traditions and culture. The HKUST MBA Japan Club recently organized an informal training session on Japanese business customs and etiquette for the students over a tasty dinner.

This is the first time for us to co-host a movie networking night with our MBA Finance Club, featuring the Hong Kong-based financial thriller, SuperCapitalist. Around 230 participants enjoyed the movie together at a downtown cinema that evening.

The consulting firm’s Senior Principal, Nitin Goel, delivered a recruitment talk to our MBA students together with his team, including an HKUST MBA alumnus, Simon Choe, who is now working as a consultant at its Shanghai headquarters.

Our joint HKUST team of full-time MBA, Shenzhen MBA and alumni achieved amazing results during the China Cup International Regatta 2012 in Shenzhen, coming in 1st in the Audi Round Island Race and 3rd overall (HKPN 1 Division).

Anna Molero is studying at HKUST MBA and is the Vice President of the Entrepreneurs’ Association. Before going to Hong Kong, she was the Managing Director of Barcelona Activa, the economic promotion agency of the Barcelona city council between 2008 and 2012.

In a recent CEO talk, we have invited Y.C. Koh, the President, Asia, International Consumer and Small Business Services of American Express to share with our MBA students how the company manages to stay ahead of the keen competition in Asia.

Want to know how it is like to be a student at HKUST MBA? Our current Chinese students have launched a Chinese weibo page to share their daily experience at HKUST MBA. Remember to check it out if you have a weibo account.

Though 98% of our full-time students are from outside Hong Kong, they did not have a lonely Moon Festival. A BBQ Dinner Party was held for them on 27 Sep so that they could spend this special occasion in the company of their classmates. The China Club had kept the students occupied and entertained with activities and games which promoted the Chinese culture to their foreign classmates.

The HKUST MBA Sailing Club joined the 24 Hour Charity Dinghy Race 2012 earlier in Oct and managed to cover an overall distance of 130km, finishing 6th in the RS Feva boat class and 20th among 48 boats in total. What was even more special was that the team raised over HKD7,000 for the Children’s Cancer Foundation in this event.

This year we have a total of 17 clubs. To compete for members and funds, each club was required to set up a booth and delivered a presentation to gain the support of their fellow classmates and exchange-in students. It was definitely a fun afternoon as our students tried their best to attract people to their booths with wine, snacks, games and even photo shooting opportunities in pirate costumes.

What do HKUST MBA students do on weekends? Having adventures! (At least before classes began.) Check out this cool video made by our Media Club on the junk boat trip organized by the Adventure Club earlier this month.

The Residential Program is just a warm up. The ELP that follows is where the real action happens. Our full-time and part-time students were tucked away in remote campsites for two days, during which they had to complete a series of physical and mental challenges using their wits, strengths and, most importantly, teamwork.

Since most part-time students are already working in Hong Kong, local people (52%) make up a much greater portion of the class compared with the full-time class (2% only). Still, our new part-time class reflects what an international city Hong Kong truly is. Among the newcomers, 48% are actually non-HK people, who represent 16 different nationalities.

The Club held a terrific meeting inviting the best and brightest of the Toastmasters community to demonstrate what Toastmasters are about. There were a good mix of MBA students, alumni and external guests, providing a great opportunity not only to learn but to network as well.

The RP was an intensive experience for the new students as they were required to work with classmates vastly different from themselves from day one. We had arranged a lot of different activities, including case studies, presentations, networking meals, and even group games to keep them challenged in those three days.

This year represents new milestones since the team was formed 8 years ago. We joined 5 competitions, including the hyper-competitive Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Race in Victoria Harbor and the Stanley International Dragon Boat Championship.

Even though this is the first regatta our program had participated in, our students came in fifth out of 28 teams, surpassing other schools with a longer established sailing clubs such as INSEAD, Bocconi and MIP!

A 5-day trip brought HKUST MBA students face-to-face with a range of companies operating in Beijing. It was an intensive experience with company visits, executives meetings, forum with local entrepreneur, cultural activities, networking with alumni, etc.

Last week, the Nissan CEO, Carlos Ghosn, shared with our MBA students and alumni his management philosophy, which emphasizes on cultural sensitivity and an appreciation of diversity, and how it helped him to pull off one of the most important business turnarounds of all time.

Other than Singapore, our students also went to Shanghai, China’s most developed city, last month and visited a range of companies from consulting and FMCG, to hospitality, I.T. and pharmaceuticals. The companies include: Cisco, Roland Berger Consulting, Bayer, Nike, Eli Lilly, DuPont, Baosteel, Nu Skin, Sheraton Pudong Hotel, V Coffee, L’Oreal and Schenker.

35 HKUST MBA students flew to Singapore visiting over 20 companies during the Spring break. What exactly did they do and what were their takeaways from the trip? Learn more from Lars Rinne, our German student and the key organizer of this trek, which is one of the biggest student initiatives this year.

Organized by the Finance Club, this year’s conference brought together financial practitioners, regulators, students, alumni and faculty to explore the role of the Chinese currency, RMB, in stabilizing the global economy. The event began with a speech by the keynote speaker Andrew Sheng, the President of an Asian think tank called the Fung Global Institute.

This year, we have an interesting mix of people, including a doctor, an architect, a flight attendant and even a speed dating professional. With our global reputation, our part-time class is getting increasingly international with many foreign faces from Switzerland, France, Mexico, Italy, Korea, Slovakia and more!

One of our student clubs, Energy Alliance, organized a 3-day trip to Saudi Arabia visiting its national oil company, Saudi Aramco, which plays a pivotal role in the global energy sector. The visit was an excellent opportunity to gain more insights into the world’s largest oil producer and to explore career opportunities there.

In the spring break of 2012, a group of over 20 HKUST MBA full-time first year students embarked on a week long journey in the warm waters of Phuket bay. A total of three 44-feet sailing boats, led by the Sailing Club presidents and fully manned by the students, covered over 250km of open sea and visited more than 10 different islands in the region.

Playnote, the business set up by our alumnus, Eric Yung, won the Gold Award of the Best Lifestyle (Learning and Living) Award at the Hong Kong ICT Award 2012. It is one of the most respected forms of recognition in the Hong Kong ICT industry and the award winners are usually well established companies instead of new startups like Playnote.

Our students won the 1st runner up place at this case competition held in Barcelona. Other participating schools included LBS, CEIBS, Yale, IESE, etc. They were required to work towards a business solution on a relevant and current case, an exercise which simulated the reality of a career in Consulting.

A record 10 teams competed for this year’s title. They included CEIBS, CUHK, HKU, HKUST, INSEAD, Nanyang, Tsinghua and the event sponsor, Credit Suisse. After a long day of matches, the final was a spectacular game between INSEAD and HKUST with INSEAD snatching the Champion cup.

Shani Cohen is one of our current full-time MBA students from Israel. In February, his team won the first prize for the consulting panel in the 10th Annual Global Consulting Challenge hosted by the University of South California in Los Angeles. Here he talks about the event and shares some useful advice for anyone planning to join similar competitions.

Our full-time year two students won the Wayra competition against 329 teams in Barcelona! Rufino, Abdullah and Daniel come from three totally different parts of the world: Spain, Kuwait and Canada. The only thing they have in common is they are all HKUST MBA students from class of 2012.

All the MBA students had a blast getting to know their counterparts in the other two distinguished programs at the HKUST Business School. It was not only fun but also a good opportunity to expand their network both socially and professionally.

Following the success of our Entrepreneurs Conference last year, we had another exciting event for entrepreneurs lined up with well-known iconic speakers such as Jimmy Lai, Founder of the Apple Daily, Next Media and Giordano.

To offer prospective candidates a 360-degree look and feel of our program, we organized an open house event last week, with program intros, campus tour, lunch with students and sample class in the rundown. Around 30 of our students and alumni were there to share their MBA experience and advice with our candidates. We were happy to meet with all of the those who joined the event!

At HKUST MBA, we organize the International Night on the 4th Thursday of every November in celebration of the Thanksgiving Day. It was a night guaranteed to be fun and delicious. Apart from the usual turkey carving, we enjoyed food cooked and performances delivered by the students from different cultures.

“Everyone was excited to hear about the iPads, and they have been great! At the beginning of orientation, the MBA office organized an iPad effectiveness course, where we learned all the tricks to manage documents, mark up cases, collect news feeds, and what the hottest apps are. All the course materials are put on a common Dropbox folder by classmates so we are able to view all our cases and course lectures directly on our iPads.”

We are one of the 9 business schools in the world and the only Asian school where Standard Chartered has direct campus recruitment and a dedicated web page for its Management Associate Program.

Our students had a fun night celebrating this traditional Chinese festival with our Program Director and their fellow classmates. Not only did the Chinese students share the background of the festival with their international counterparts, they also taught them how to sing the famous Mandarin song, Moon Represents My Heart, and play games like Mooncake Gambling and Chinese Whispers.

A.k.a. the “RP” and “ELP”. These two programs, which are offered every August for the new intake, are the rite of passage of every HKUST MBA student. They are an challenging yet rewarding experience specially designed to let the students understand more about themselves and the others, and to prepare them to be a better leader and team player…

Even though there were still several months left before the program ends, the “graduation” dinner was the last opportunity for most full-time MBA students to see each other before departing on separate ways for internship or exchange elsewhere.

How does Hong Kong’s own theme park hold its ground against the world famous utopia, Disneyland, and thrive? Our MBA students learnt its secrets to success from the CEO, Tom Mehrmann, during a visit to the Ocean Park.

Over 60 of them joined the dinner gathering and received a warm welcome from our Program Director, Prof Steve DeKrey, current students and alumni.

Our MBA Association threw two parties inviting students from the Kellogg-HKUST EMBA and the MSc in Global Finance programs. All the MBA students had a blast getting to know their counterparts in the other two distinguished programs at the HKUST Business School.

To build a long-term collaborative relationship with our program, LVMH has again invited us to its company reception this year to share its philosophy, aspirations, style, vision and career opportunities with the MBA students.

In the annual dinner for alumni this year, other than to welcome the new executive committee of MBAAA on board, we also used the occasion (a poolside party this time!) to celebrate the world no. 6 ranking of our MBA.

On March 19th, the HKUST MBA Program hosted the 2nd HKUST Credit Suisse Asian MBA Football Tournament. A total of eight teams from leading MBA programs across Asia competed fiercely for the trophy. Participating teams included teams from CEIBS, CUHK, HKU, INSEAD, NANYANG and HKUST.

Not only did our alumni teams complete the 100-km race within 48 hours, they have also raised a total of HK$199,001 and HKUST MBA took the Education Fundraising Champion Cup for the 7th time in history!

Four of our current full-time year one students competed against other teams from schools such as CEIBS, Peking University and CUHK and won this regional event in Shanghai.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is pleased to announce the launch of the inaugural Entrepreneurship Competition (EC) to be held on May 17, 2011!

Two of our 2010 graduates were recruited into the “Program for Management Development (PMD)” at the Li & Fung Group, a market leader in the global trade of consumer goods. This year, they returned to our school together with senior executives…

Around 40 of our faculty, staff and students formed 3 teams to raise funds for Orbis and to celebrate our university’s 20th Anniversary in the “Run for Vision” event.

The Hong Kong Unit Director of Oxfam Hong Kong met with 6 MBA students earlier this month to share her insights and experience working in the international NGO sector at an executive meeting.

The best way to learn about an MBA is to get a firsthand look and feel of its people, teaching and campus atmosphere. This is the exactly what we had in mind as we organized our second and final open house event in this academic year.

Do you know we are the only Asian MBA that has an official Management Associate Program at Standard Chartered Bank…