The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)'s first PhD graduate and Electronic and Computer Engineering (ECE) alumnus Prof Jack Lau was recently honored with the Directors Of The Year Award 2011 by the Hong Kong Institute of Directors (HKIoD) in recognition of his achievements in corporate governance excellence. Prof Lau is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of his founding company Perception Digital Holdings Limited.

The Directors Of The Year Awards aim to recognize directors and board of directors for outstanding director practices and corporate governance, to publicize the significance of good corporate governance and to promote awareness of good corporate governance and director professionalism in Hong Kong. The Awards were first launched in 2001 as the first ever such Awards organized in Asia. This year, 12 directors and boards received this award.

The citation by the panel of judges reads, “Dr Lau is an outstanding executive director who exhibits a strong business sense and good grasp of corporate governance practices. He is instrumental in strategic planning, setting the company’s technology direction and managing risks associated with the fast evolving technology business. His dedication in R&D investment, intellectual property protection and talents development has led the company to become a premium technology company.”

Prof Lau said, “I am deeply honored by the Institute of Director's Award. Perception Digital is a home grown Hong Kong technology company. As a former academic and engineer, I take tremendous pride in our ability to bring the latest hip consumer electronics for cloud content to the market. But, an accolade on governance and directorship takes us to another level of recognition. I have long believed that a company can only be successful if it has a solid footing in its board and company governance. I take this opportunity to thank my Board of Director for helping me build this wonderful company, and I thank HKUST for allowing me to carry a wild experiment in engineering entrepreneurship to its fruition.”

Perception Digital Holdings Limited is the first and largest listed company set up under the HKUST Entrepreneurship Program. It specializes in technological solutions for consumer electronics and technology commercialization. Major customers of the company include leading international brands and Fortune Global 500 companies. In June 2011, the company achieved further success by transferring its listing from the Growth Enterprise Market of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to the Main Board.