Member Profiles

Dr Hui Su is a Global STEM Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, HKUST. She obtained a PhD degree in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Washington and B.Sc. from Peking University. She was a principal scientist and weather discipline program manager at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory before joining the HKUST. She received NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 2010 and again in 2022, and a number of awards at JPL. She is an Editor of Geophysical Research Letter and a fellow of American Meteorological Society. Her research interests are primarily in tropical convection and climate change.

Member Profiles

Professor Zhang is the Head and Chair Professor of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at HKUST, Director of the Geotechnical Centrifuge Facility (GCF), Associate Director of GREAT Smart Cities Institute, PhD Supervisor,Chair Professor under the ChangJiang Scholars Program by the Chinese Ministry of Education, recipient of NSFC-RGC (Hong Kong) Joint Research Program(Category B) , Former Chairman of Geotechnical Safety Network (GEOSNet),Vice Chairman of the International Press-in Association(IPA), Former Vice Chairman of Risk and Insurance Research Brach of China Civil Engineering Society(2009–2013) ,Chairman of ASCE Risk Assessment and Management Committee (since 2018), Former President of the ASCE Hong Kong Section,and committee members of four technical committees under the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE): Risk Assessment and Management, Limit State Design, Deep Foundations, and Forensic Geotechnical Engineering.

Professor Zhang has long been engaged in research on landslides, debris flows, geological hazard risk analysis and control, dam safety, engineering risk, centrifuge testing, and numerical simulations.

Member Profiles

Dr. Xiefei Zhi obtained his Bachelor and Master degree from Nanjing Insititute of Meteorology, and his PhD degree in Meteorology and Physics from the University of Bonn, Germany. Currently he is a professor and PhD supervisor at Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Executive Editor-in-Chief of Transactions of Atmospheric Sciences, Editorial Board Member of Torrential Rain and Disasters, Remote Sensing, Vice President of Jiangsu Provincial Science and Technology Journal Association; Chief Science and Technology Communication Expert of Jiangsu Province; Deputy Director of the Steering Expert Group of the Artificial Intelligence Technology Committee of China Meteorological Service Association; Executive Member of the Committee on Artificial Intelligence Oceanography of the Chinese Society of Oceanography.

He has presided over national key projects such as the 973 Program, the National Key Research and Development Program, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. He has authored 1 book and co-authored 6 books, published 284 papers, obtained 26 invention patents, 3 utility model patents, and 64 software copyrights. Awards include the First Prize of the Invention Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award of the China Invention Association, the Gold Medal at the 49th Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions, the Second Prize of Hunan Provincial Science and Technology Progress, the Third Prize of Jilin Provincial Science and Technology Progress, the Second Prize of Meteorological Science of the China Meteorological Administration, the Second Prize of Meteorological Science and Technology Innovation Award of China Meteorological Service Association, and twice the Top Prize of Scientific and Technological Progress of Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology.

Member Profiles

David is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mithera Capital and oversees the firm’s financial advisory, management consulting, licensing and investment platforms. He launched Mithera with the goal of partnering with innovative technology companies to overcome the unique challenges of cross-border mergers and acquisitions in East Asian markets.

Prior to assembling and leading the team at Mithera, David built a successful career as a technology and IP attorney at Morrison & Foerster. He subsequently went on to serve as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the Compal Group, a $30 billion R&D and manufacturing company, where he managed all global M&A activities, key strategic alliances, and prominent IP transactions.

Since retiring from Compal, David has been an active venture investor and continues to advise technology companies on cross-border M&A transactions. Some of the notable transactions he has executed include the $900 million acquisition and management of a global digital media and advertising company as well as the formation of a $300 million joint venture with a Chinese-owned global technology conglomerate.

In addition to serving as CEO of Mithera, David is the Chairman of Sirqul, Inc., a Seattle-based IoT company launched by a co-founder of the Amazon Web Services platform. He also continues to act as a senior advisor to Compal Group.

David received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hong Kong and graduated summa cum laude from George Washington University’s National Law Center where he earned his J.D. David is currently a member of the New York, California and U.S. Patent Bar.

When he’s not leading successful projects, David enjoys cooking and participating in triathlons.