Annual Report 2004–05

• T he Microsoft-CUHK Joint Laboratory for Human-centri c Computing and Interface Technologies was inaugurated in May 2005. The joint laboratory draws upon the long-standing partnership between CUHK and Microsof t Research Asia to promote research collaboration , provide leading research infrastructure and nurture talent in the frontiers of human-centri c computing and interface technologies . The laboratory is managed by a M a n a g e m e n t Committee consisting of Prof. Peter Y u m, dean of engineering and managing director (CUHK), Prof. Helen Meng, co- director (CUHK), and experts from all engineering department s of the Faculty of Engineering . The Internationa l Advisory Board of the joint laboratory is chaired by Prof. Andrew Yao, distinguished professor-at - large at CUHK. • P r o f. Wu Ke-Li of the Department of Electronic Engineering led a research team to develop the world's smallest Bluetooth communication module. The overal l size of the module is 12 by 12 by 1 mm 3 . In addition to its compact size, it has great potential in reducing the cost of Bluetooth modules. • C a t e r i ng to the needs of an ageing population and patients suffering from chronic diseases, the Joint Research Centre for Biomedical Engineering (JCBME) has been focusing on the developmen t of wearable bio-sensor and systems for mobile healthcare. In 2004-05, JCBME successfull y developed the world's first mobile-based cuffless blood pressure m e a s u r e m e n t device. The device and several other significant development s have earned prestigious recognition for JCBME, including the championshi p of the Young Entrepreneur s Developmen t Counci l (YDC) E-Challeng 2005, first runner-up of the Vice-Chancellor' s Cup for Student Entrepreneur s 2005, and the champion of the Vice-Chancellor' s Cup for Student Innovation 2005 (postgraduat e group entries). In addition, 全球最小的藍芽通信模塊 The world's smallest Bluetooth communication module JCBME representative s won the Young Investigator' s Award (YIA), YIA Best Presentation Award and the YIA Applicants Encouragemen t Award at the 6th Asia-Pacifi Conference on Medical nd Biological Engineering held in Japan. The centre also completed its first Innovative and Technology Commission (ITC) funded project and was invited to share its experience under 'Success Stories' at the Innotech Portal launched by ITC in July 2005. It was granted by the Innovation and Technology Fund a new funding of HK$5,487,217 for its project on 'Wearable Medical Devices for E-healthcare' . • T he faculty helped organize the following major internationa l conferences during the year : - C r o u c h er Advanced Study Institute on 'Frontiers of Photonics R e s e a r ch — N a n o p h o t o n i c s , F e m t o s e c o nd Photonics a n d Biophotonics ' (6th-10th December 2004) - 4 th Internationa l S y m p o s i um on Chines Spoken Language Processing (15th-18th December 2004) - I n t e r n a t i o n a l Conferenc of Managemen t Science and Application (20th-22nd June 2005) - 2005 IEE Internationa l Conference on Robotics and Biominetics (29th June - 3rd July 2005) • T he Faculty of Engineering and the Hong Kong Technology Education Association jointly organized the IRIS: 1st Internet-based Robotics Inter- School competition with a sponsorship from the Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund. The competition consisted of two levels: IRIS-1 and IRIS- 2. IRIS-1 was open to P.6 - F.3 students. In IRIS-2, eight teams of senior secondary students designed and built their robots with self-formulated programming to competin soccer matches via the Internet . The cutting- edge Internet transmission technology used in the IRIS competition was developed with the participation f the faculty's researchers . The IRIS competition was also one of the major initiatives of the Faculty of Engineering to promote technology education and to arouse public interest in modern technology in Hong Kong. 學 術 發展 A c a d e m ic D e v e l o p m e nt 35