I attended Pui Ching Middle School here in Hong Kong and then went to college in the United States where I majored in physics for my Bachelor and Master’s at the University of Minnesota. For my PhD, I switched to Rice University in Houston and electrical engineering. I chose to move into engineering because I enjoy experimental research and making things work. I also felt that engineering had broader career prospects and my earlier studies in physics actually prepared me to be a better engineer. Making the connection between quantum mechanics and semiconductor physics can lead to the invention of novel electronic devices that become new products for our daily lives. Material and semiconductor physics are applied to produce integrated circuits, which are the heart and brain of mobile phones, computers, and most other electronic gadgets today. I find all my engineering research satisfying in terms of the challenges it presents. As the saying goes, one can always build a better mousetrap. Take my work on light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In the early days, most people believed LEDs could only be used for displays and indicators and were not good enough or cost-effective for illumination. I was one of those who took up this quest. Now, after years of research and refinement, LEDs will definitely be our dominant lighting source for many years to come. But perhaps the most satisfying aspect of my career so far has been to nurture successful engineering students. Sometimes students ask why we teach what we teach, with all the “useless” theories and complicated math involved. I try to explain our approach with the proverb: give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. What we are actually providing are the basic tools and training to think from an analytical point of view so students can solve engineering problems throughout their career. With technology changing so fast, we cannot just teach facts of current technology because, in a few years, things will no longer be the same. But if you know the fundamentals, you will know how to design new products that fit into the future technology. You can look for better ways of doing things and make innovative contributions. This is what ENGINEERING is all about! I also believe that women and men are equally competent and equally adept at problem solving, and both can become good engineers. Therefore, female students should not be discouraged from entering the engineering field. Indeed, in some senses, girls are more creative, and creativity is essential in engineering design. Engine We I was born in Shanghai to professional artist parents. They expected me to follow in their footsteps. However, I was also curious in many other subjects. When I was seven, I read a science fiction book that described a future world, where robots talk to you and you could shop at home via computers. I was fascinated and wanted to see such a world develop as quickly as possible. After we moved to Hong Kong, I watched sci-fi movies on television and was captivated by the universal translator in Star Trek, where anyone can speak any language into it and it will be translated into any other language. I also read in Ming Pao newspaper about Bell Labs in the US, where scientists had invented cool technologies such as the transistor Prof Kei May Lau Chair Professor, Electronic and Computer Engineering · Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers · HKUST Women in Science and Engineering Scholarship Group Chairman · Research interests: high frequency, high speed and photonic devices; lightemitting diodes and lasers Prof Pascale Fung Professor, Electronic and Computer Engineering · Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers · Chairperson and Co-founder, iVo Technologies · Research interests: building machines that can communicate and empathize with humans 7 In Focus
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