• Professor Roy Chung co-founded TTI, a global market leader in power equipment, and has been called the “King of Power Drills”
• An alumnus and Industrial Professor at the University of Warwick, he says the institution encourages “entrepreneurship, innovation, and creative ideas – what an entrepreneur needs”
• Professor Chung says he learned a lot from WMG and founder Professor Lord Bhattacharyya – “a visionary leader” who was his “lifetime mentor”
• His advice on how to succeed: “stay focused in your area, and be innovative, creative. Think of something new.”

One of Hong Kong’s top entrepreneurs, Professor Roy Chung, has received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Warwick UK – his alma mater, and an institution with which he has forged many significant links throughout his career.

Crowned by the media as the ‘King of Power Drills’, Professor Chung co-founded Techtronic Industries Company Limited in 1985, a company that has become an international market leader in power equipment and owns numerous global brands.

Professor Chung is highly dedicated to the advancement of the Hong Kong industry, and was Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries and is now its Honorary President. He won the Young Industrialist Award of Hong Kong in 1997, and was further awarded the Industrialist of the Year in 2014.

He was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star and Bronze Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong SAR Government in 2017 and 2011 respectively. He was also appointed as Justice of Peace in 2005.

Professor Chung holds positions at universities across the world, including his role as Industrial Professor in WMG at the University of Warwick, where he also holds a Doctorate Degree of Engineering.

On becoming an Honorary Doctor of Science at the University of Warwick Summer Graduation ceremonies this week, Professor Chung commented:

“I feel very happy and very honoured to receive such a prestigious award from my alma mater, such an esteemed University.”

He talked about how Warwick encourages “entrepreneurship, innovation, and creative ideas – this is a good combination of what an entrepreneur needs.”

Professor Chung says his success is based on three factors: his sense of entrepreneurship, meeting his business partner, and “in the early 1990s I had the good chance to study the Integrated Graduate Development Scheme of WMG [University of Warwick] in Hong Kong – and that is how I came to know Professor Lord Bhattacharyya. Since then, he was my lifetime mentor.”

“With what I learned from this course, it gave me experience of how to do manufacturing better, and a global perspective.”

He has worked closely with the late Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, founder of WMG at the University of Warwick, on many projects through the years - including the establishment of a partnership between WMG and the Vocational Training Council in Hong Kong.

“What Professor Lord Bhattacharyya taught me was decision-making, entrepreneurship,” he reflected.

“Professor Lord Bhattacharyya was a visionary leader – I learned a lot from him. The Integrated Graduate Development Scheme was brought to Hong Kong by him, and through this programme I learned a lot, it opened my mind set. This course is very important to me.”

Professor Roy Chung is an advocate for vocational education and lifelong learning. On the importance of a quality technical education, like that offered at WMG, University of Warwick, he said:

“The concept of having work skills and academic knowledge as equally important – focusing on both of these areas – is the future. Work skills together with academic knowledge are very important, and that is what WMG is doing.

“The Integrated Graduate Development Scheme programme [launched by WMG in 1990] changed me into another person,” he continued.

Professor Chung established the Bright Future Charitable Foundation, which provides education, training and travelling opportunities for students across Hong Kong, mainland China and at the University of Warwick. He talked about what motivated him to set up the Foundation:

“I had very humble start. I was not very well educated in the beginning – I didn’t finish high school because of my family’s financial situation. Nowadays, there is a knowledge economy, so it is very important to gain knowledge […] so I really encourage young people to gain more knowledge – both academic knowledge and work skills.

“That’s why I try to sponsor some of the students who may not be doing well in academic areas but can still take up some kind of vocational training. Some people who do very well in vocational training, and I hope they can do something in academic areas – so I support them.

“That’s why I started this foundation […] I think that every young person should have a brighter future.”

Professor Dave Mullins, Interim Head of WMG at the University of Warwick, commented:

“I am thrilled to welcome Professor Roy Chung back to WMG. He is a person who embodies our founder Professor Lord Bhattacharyya’s vision of combining academic greatness with industrial innovation – and we are very proud of him.

“Professor Chung has achieved huge successes in business and industry, and he now uses his talents to help young people follow in his footsteps. His story is an inspiration to all of our students and graduates.

“I congratulate him warmly on becoming an Honorary Doctorate of Science, and look forward to our continued collaboration.”

Professor Chung shared some advice on how to succeed in life:

“Stay focused in your area, and be innovative, creative. Also, get ready for your future challenges. Studying at Warwick is to prepare yourself and get ready for those future challenges. Think of something new.”

Listen to the full podcast here.

Image 1: (L-R: Professor Christine Ennew, Provost of the University of Warwick; Professor Roy Chung, Professor Stuart Croft, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Warwick; Professor Dave Mullins, Interim Head of WMG at the University of Warwick. Credit University of Warwick - click for high res.

Image 2: Professor Roy Chung and Professor Dave Mullins. Credit University of Warwick - click for high res.

26 July 2019

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