HKUST- Qualcomm Joint Innovation and Research Laboratory celebrated its official opening in September 2013. The initiative represents a collaboration between the University and Qualcomm Inc, with a focus on talent development and R&D for next-generation Internet infrastructure. Qualcomm has donated US$200,000 (approximately HK$1.5 million) as initial funding. Prof Khaled Ben Letaief, Dean of Engineering; Prof Ross Murch, Head of Talent Development at Heart of New Initiative Electronic and Computer Engineering; Prof Patrick Yue, Associate Provost for Knowledge Transfer and Founding Director of HKUST-Qualcomm Joint Innovation and Research Laboratory; and from Qualcomm Inc, Dr Mingxi Fan, Senior Director, Engineering; Dr Jilei Hou, Director, Engineering; and Dr Xing Jin, Senior Manager, Program Management, all signed the commemorative banner to signify the official opening of the lab. The lab aims to nurture research and talent in areas of mutual interest between the partners under the nextgeneration Internet infrastructure pilot theme, an approach that can better utilize funding resources to create synergy between related projects and harness the expertise of multiple faculty. Qualcomm is a world-leading provider of wireless technology and services, headquartered in the US and with 175-plus locations around the world. HKUST has entered into a partnership with a leading global telecommunications giant that will create extraordinary innovation with true market impact. Industry Partnership Spearheads Research The University has signed a research cooperation agreement with Deutsche Telekom (DT), with a grant of €500,000 (approximately HK$5 million), to set up the HKUST-DT System and Media Lab (SyMLab) for cutting-edge research on mobile systems and media. The lab aims to bring pioneering system and media research to Asia. It provides an excellent academic research environment with strong ties to industry and has the capabilities to address real problems. Through this strategic partnership, DT is able to access the research and innovation environment in Greater China while the researchers are able to connect with the rest of the world. DT operates in around 50 countries, especially in Europe and North America. The arm involved in the HKUST venture is T-Labs, a world leader in telecommunication and networking research. The Director of the HKUSTDT SyMLab is Prof Pan Hui, Computer Science and Engineering, who has a wealth of industry experience, including with T-Labs. The accreditation team was led by Prof David Holger, Associate Provost for Academic Programs and Dean of the Graduate College of Iowa State University in the US. Prof Holger praised the School for creating an environment of creative, educational, and curricular innovation which was well in line with the increasingly complex demands on graduates seeking to prepare themselves for an engineering career. The accreditation team also highlighted the high quality of the School’s academic staff, and the School’s ability to secure resources to develop excellent educational programs, and the way the School had taken full advantage of Hong Kong’s education reform move to a four-year degree program to refocus on outcome-based education and continuous improvement. Those involved in the exercise included HKUST President Prof Tony F Chan, Dean of Engineering Prof Khaled Ben Letaief, management teams for departments and programs, students, employers and alumni. IN FOCUS 14
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