The School of Engineering is greatly saddened to report that alumnus Dr Bo Gao passed away on July , , aged . Dr Gao earned his bachelor degree at Tianjin University and his MPhil and PhD in Mechanical Engineering at HKUST in and respectively. He was an expert in Internet of Things (IoT) and radio frequency identi cation (RFID) and an outstanding academic researcher, contributor to his areas of specialization, and entrepreneur. His HKUST supervisor Prof Matthew Yuen, Professor Emeritus of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, remembers Dr Gao as a truly gi ed and kind young man, who possessed exceptional versatility and whose rst patent achieved the rare distinction of going through the US Patent and Trademark O ce without a single question asked. Dr Gao presented academic papers at eminent international conferences, including the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, IEEE Electronic Components and Technology Conference, and IEEE Electronics Materials and Packaging Conference. He served as a peer reviewer for IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, and Scienti c Reports, among other renowned journals. His research achievements in RFID tags and cost-e ective CMOS RFID chips were widely applied in the RFID industry and he held several patents in China and overseas. In , Dr Gao was among the award-winners at the prestigious China Technology and Entrepreneurship Competition for Overseas Talents. The same year, he co-founded Zhejiang Laxcen Information Technology Inc Limited. He went on to make tremendous contributions to the company’s development, establishing its core technology, nurturing the research team, and setting key business strategies for both China and overseas markets. An outstanding member of the HKUST engineering community, Dr Gao always gave his best in pursuit of his dreams in both his studies and the business world and served as a wonderful role model to others. We extend deepest sympathies to his wife, our Electronic and Computer Engineering alumna, and to other family members. Condolence Dr Bo Gao 31 IN FOCUS Simon was impressed by Michelle’s use of everyday components to deliver a unique product. He was also struck by her momentum and attention to detail. He recalled she had a notebook in which she wrote everything down. “My partners and I were inspired by her. She made us remember our younger days.” Excel decided to support the start-up nancially. In addition, Simon, who was already active in mentoring young engineers at the School, added the Aromeo team to his list of mentees, advising the young entrepreneurs in areas ranging from opening a bank account to guiding them on best practices in business, when to launch the product in the market, and on the need to nd the right distribution channel. Such assistance was invaluable, according to Michelle. The highly supportive culture on campus was another plus. While Michelle had initially chosen to take her bachelor degree at HKUST because of its young, dynamic and entrepreneurial image, she was surprised and happy to learn through actual experience how willing people were to lend a hand. “The night before we had to demo our product, it broke down,” she said. “I put out a call for a wi- module at am and a research student from one of the labs brought it over. It didn’t work. So at am I went down to the seafront canteen and looked for an engineering student to help. The electronic engineers who happened to be there helped out.” The young go-getter is now adding to her business understanding by undertaking an MPhil in Technology Leadership and Entrepreneurship at the School. In the future, maybe it will be Michelle who is in a position to help out the University’s engineering students and fellow alumni.
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