Prof Khaled Ben Letaief, Dean of Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), was honored with the distinguished 2010 Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award by Purdue University, USA on 10 September.

The prestigious award is bestowed upon Purdue University’s Electrical and Computer Engineering alumni who have, upon their Purdue education and through leadership, made extraordinary contributions to economic development, prosperity, and technological advancement.

The honor is presented annually to an exclusive number of alumni from a vast field of over 20,000 Electrical and Computer Engineering alumni. Up till now, only about 180 individuals worldwide have received this distinction and Prof Ben Letaief is the only 2010 recipient from outside the United States.

Prof Ben Letaief said, “I am deeply honored and humbled to receive this award from Purdue University, which is consistently ranked as one of the top 10 engineering schools in the United States.”

Prof Ben Letaief received his BS with Distinction, MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in the USA, and joined HKUST in 1993. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest professional association for the advancement of technology, and also Vice-President of the IEEE Communications Society.