Judging Panel
Eric C. YIM
Chairman
Hong Kong Design Centre
Hong Kong

Prof. Eric C. Yim is an UK-registered architect, furniture designer, industrialist, business innovation consultant, and adjunct professor in a number of design schools in Hong Kong and overseas universities.

Before coming back to Hong Kong, Prof. Yim practised as an architect for a number of international cultural projects in the London and Stuttgart offices of James Stirling, the 1981 Pritzker Architecture Prize winner. As a strong advocate of design and innovation, Prof. Yim is actively involved in the community of design and creative industries in Hong Kong. He is the Chairman of Hong Kong Design Centre and the Chairman of Advisory Committee of Hong Kong Polytechnic University (School of Design). He is also an advisor to Our Hong Kong Foundation; Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence in Design; Hong Kong Designer Association; and Hong Kong Architecture Centre.

Prof. Yim was the Chairman of the Advisory Board of Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation (2015-2019); Chairman of Design Council of Hong Kong (2011-2019); Chairman of Technology Voucher Program Committee of the HKSAR Government (2016-2022); Chairman of Hong Kong Furniture & Decoration Trade Association (2012-2018); Deputy Chairman of Federation of Hong Kong Industries (2013-2019); and Deputy Chairman of Vocational Training Council (2014-2021). He also served as a member of Hong Kong Chief Executive’s Council of Advisors on Innovation and Strategic Development between 2018 and 2022.

Prior to the conferment of a Master’s Degree in Architecture at the University of Cambridge, Prof. Yim graduated with a First Class (Honour) Degree in BA and a Distinction in B.Arch at the University of Manchester. In 2019, Prof. Yim was awarded Honorary Doctor of Design and appointed as an adjunct professor by Swinburne University in Australia. Prof. Yim is also a Professor of Practice at the School of Design of Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Prof. Yim has earned a string of accolades over the years. He was recognised with Hong Kong Institute of Marketing - Hall of Fame in 2022; Lifetime Achievement Award by Hong Kong Furniture and Decoration Trade Association (HKF&DA) in 2022; the Outstanding Achievement Award (Design) by Graphic Arts Association of Hong Kong in 2021; GBA Industrial Innovation Leadership Award in 2019; and Young Industrialists Awards of Hong Kong in 2005. Prof. Yim was appointed as Justice of the Peace in Hong Kong in 2015 and received the Medal of Honour in 2023.