Creative Sparks:
Tsz Fok
Tsz Fok
Tsz Yeung Fok
15 February 1985 - 18 April 2007
From the Guardian Other LIves
Tsz Fok, who has been killed in a bicycle accident in Oxford at the age of 22, was an outstanding student of engineering, a gifted musician, but above all else an engaging and personable young man. To say that Tsz was likeable is to understate the affection and high regard of all who met him, but it does convey something of the immediate quality of his friendship and his amiable manner with people.
Tsz was born and educated in Hong Kong until at the age of 12 he came to the UK and continued his education at Solihull School. His academic prowess was recognised early and his record of 8 Grade A GCSE A2 Levels clearly marked him as an outstanding student of his year. His passion for music was similarly reflected in high achievement with Grade 8 distinctions in piano and wind instruments.
A natural progression to Oxbridge and a mathematics first seemed certain, but Tsz took up the option of a Year in Industry, supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering, working for Caterpillar Inc. in Wolverhampton. The year in the engineering industry proved revelatory and prompted Tsz to a deeper understanding of the role of engineering in solving some of the problems and challenges of the future. Whilst with the company, Tsz recommended changes to the production process, saving over £75,000 per year.
Tsz took up his place at Worcester College Oxford in 2004 to study Engineering, Economics and Management. A year later he was nominated to NESTA, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, for an award under the Ignite! Creative Sparks programme. In arriving at the subject for his supported project, Tsz reflected on his own experience and journey towards engineering, and set about raising the profile of STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) as creative, exciting, challenging and important for more young people to follow as courses of study and as careers.
The booklet that Tsz wrote, and which was published just 5 weeks before he died, Shape the Future, comprises interviews and profiles of 20 leading figures in the worlds of science and engineering, including Sir James Dyson, Lord Sainsbury, Carol Vorderman and Emily Cummins. Tsz's ambition was to present to young people a series of role models they could emulate and follow; in truth, of course, the best role model for young people was Tsz himself, though he would be too modest to say so.
At Oxford his achievements reflected his wide range of interests, enthusiasm and energy; he played oboe in the University Orchestra, was Secretary of the JCR, Captain of coxes for the rowing club, and excelled at badminton and ballroom dancing.
As he said in a Guardian interview in November 2003, 'This period of my life is the most productive, mentally and physically. Both my parents went to university late and they've told me that, after a certain age, you start to think slower. If I can absorb as much knowledge and experience as I can now, it'll stand me in good stead later.'
And in an interview for New Scientist in June 2005, Tsz explained how to keep a balance at University between the demanding courses of engineering and a decent social life - 'I've never had a day when I've got nothing to do'.
Tsz Fok is survived by his parents.
Rick Hall
30 April 2007