With an outgoing personality and a keen interest in marketing, Irene's career development over the years leaped from being a public relations professional to an entrepreneur, co-running Radica, an eMarketing and big data solutions company, with alumnus Francis Kwok.

With her entrepreneurial experience and marketing wisdom, Irene led the company from a local start-up to its current position as a market leader in the IT industry in the region. "As a local start-up with very limited budget in the early stage, it was always very important for us to think of a creative but not "me-too" marketing approach to impress our target audience," recalls Irene.

Today, Radica is a leading regional e-marketing and big data solutions provider and the first HKUST spin-off company to set up headquarters in the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park. It has offices in Shanghai and Guangzhou, and its clients range from small and medium-sized firms to listed companies and the Fortune 500 global conglomerate. Irene is responsible for corporate branding, big data education and talent recruitment in different regional offices to cope with the company's expansion.

Irene herself is frequently invited by the University to share her extensive experience with students.