Alumni Kaleidoscope: Derrick Pang - PhD(CIVL)

While living overseas, Derrick witnessed the popularity of crowdfunding platforms and wanted to see if this concept would work in the Hong Kong market. He decided that he wanted to dedicate his efforts to charity, and in 2014 he founded Lifewire, the first Hong Kong-based crowdfunding platform to support children's health and medical needs. Derrick is responsible for monitoring Lifewire's overall operations as well as setting its long-term development goals and the way forward.    

Outside of his work with Lifewire, Derrick has over 20 years of geotechnical design and construction experience in Hong Kong and the USA. He joined Chun Wo Development Holdings Limited (now known as Asia Allied Infrastructure Holdings Limited) in 2001 and holds several directorships in certain subsidiaries of the Group. He also holds four degrees under his belt, including a Bachelor of Science from the University of California, Berkeley; a Master of Engineering in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology; a Master in Business Administration from The Chinese University of Hong Kong; and a PhD in Civil Engineering from HKUST. He is a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, United Kingdom and the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers and a Registered Professional Engineer in California, USA. 

One of the most valuable lessons he learned at HKUST is that things can be completed step by step. While he was studying for his PhD, his father's passing and various family troubles made him consider giving up several times, but with encouragement from the people around him, he persevered and completed his PhD. He carries that mindset with him today: no matter the difficulty of the task, anything can be completed one step at a time.