Newsletter No. 340

No. 340, 19.6.2009 十 方 吐 露 TEN QUESTIONS FOR 工 程學院機械與自動化工程學系黃捷教授獲國際自動 控制聯合會推選為院士，表揚他於非線性控制理論與 設計的研究及教學貢獻，以及其研究在飛機控制與導航、機 電系統、神經系統的應用。今年全球共有九位學者獲授該會 院士殊榮，黃捷教授是大中華地區唯一的獲選者。 黃教授的研究成果，無論在控制飛機的飛行、太空船的姿態 及機械人的動作各方面，皆可以廣泛應用，大大提升飛行器 的穩定性及安全，以及機械人操作的準確度。 黃捷教授於2004年獲選為國際電機及電子工程師學會（IEEE） 院士，並於2006年獲頒裘槎基金會優秀科研者獎。他還擔任 過多份國際學術期刊的編輯或編委，以及IEEE控制系統分會 理事及傑出學術講者。 P rof. Huang Jie of the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, has been elected Fellow of the International Federation of Automatic Control for his contributions to teaching and research on nonlinear control theory and design, and its applications to flight control and guidance, electro- mechanical systems, and neural systems. This year, nine scholars were conferred worldwide and Professor Huang is the only one from Greater China. Professor Huang’s research achievement in nonlinear control theory and design can be widely applied to the flight control of aircrafts, attitude control of spacecrafts and motion control of robots. It can significantly improve the stability and safety of a flying vehicle and the accuracy of robotic motion control. Professor Huang was elected IEEE fellow in 2004 and received the Croucher Senior Research Fellowship in 2006. He has served in different editorial positions at various international journals. He was also a member of the Board of Governors and Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Control Systems Society. 剛獲選為國際自動控制聯合會院士的黃捷教授 Newly-elected IFAC Fellow Prof. Huang Jie 改良去霧技術獲最佳論文獎 New Haze Removal Technology Wins Best Paper Award 中 大訊息工程學系湯曉鷗教授及其博士研究生何愷明， 聯同微軟亞洲研究院的孫劍博士，憑論文「基於暗原 色的單一圖像去霧技術」，在世界各地學者提交的一千四百多 份論文中脫穎而出，奪得頂尖國際會議IEEE電腦視覺與模式 識別大會（CVPR）本年度唯一的「最佳論文獎」，是該會議 創辦廿五年以來，首次獲這項最高殊榮的亞洲學者。 論文闡述了嶄新發現的「有霧圖像」特性。「有霧圖像」為受 霧氣或煙霞影響而變得模糊的照片，例如在空氣污染指數高 的日子拍攝，照片會因空氣中大量的懸浮粒子而變得模糊。 論文作者蒐集了大量分別受霧氣及沒有受霧氣影響的照片， 透過系統分析，發現了一套能識別霧氣濃度的暗原色統計規 律。根據這套規律，只需按霧氣的濃度局部修復相片各部分 的顏色，就能有效達致去霧效果，令相片猶如在天朗氣清的 環境下拍攝一樣。 去霧技術對於日常照片處理、戶外閉路電視系統及分析衞星 圖像等各範疇皆有廣泛及重要的應用價值，計算出的霧氣濃 度更適用於估計相片中景物之間的相應距離，從而可把二維 圖片轉化成三維模型；這亦是該領域的另一大突破。 P rof. Tang Xiaoou and his PhD student, Mr. He Kaiming, of the Department of Information Engineering, and Dr. Sun Jian of Microsoft Research Asia, beat some 1,400 papers submitted by scholars all over the world to win the only Best Paper Award for the paper entitled ‘Single Image Haze Removal Using Dark Channel Prior’ at the prestigious IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) 2009. It is the first time ever for Asians to receive this top honour since the establishment of the conference 25 years ago. The paper was awarded for its unprecedented findings on the characteristics of ‘hazy images’, referring to blurred photos degraded by fog or smoke. Photos taken on days with a high Air Pollution Index look misty due to abundant suspended particulates in the air. The authors of the paper collected and systematically analysed a large number of hazy and haze-free photos. A statistical law of dark channel prior was discovered to estimate the thickness of haze. According to this law, haze removal can be achieved by locally recovering the colours at different regions of the photo with reference to the thickness of haze. After processing, the photos will look as if they were taken on a sunny day. The haze removal technology has important and extensive applications in photo processing, outdoor CCTV systems and analysis of satellite images. The technology can also be applied to estimate the corresponding distances between different objects in a photo, enabling 2D pictures to be converted to 3D models, and is considered another significant breakthrough in the field. 訊息工程學系湯曉鷗教授（左）及其博士研究生何愷明 Prof. Tang Xiaoou (left) and his PhD student, Mr. He Kaiming, of the Department of Information Engineering 工程學院教授獲選為國際自動控制聯合會院士 Engineering Professor Elected IFAC Fellow 8 「我希望終有一天能夠山雞變鳳凰，Phoenix這名 字可時刻提醒自己。」為甚麼以山雞自比？ ‘The name “Phoenix” reminds me that one day I will transform from a rooster to a phoenix.’ –Why do you compare yourself to a rooster? 我的生肖屬雞，雞是不會飛的，鳳凰可會呢，會飛便更自由，去 得更遠。五百歲的老鳳凰還可以浴火重生，象徵遇到困阻也可 振作。還有，傳說鳳凰的眼淚有治療能力，我覺得很有意義。 I was born in the Year of the Rooster. A rooster can’t fly high, but a phoenix can, and can travel freely and afar. When a phoenix reaches the age of 500, it will burn to ashes and be reborn, and its tears have healing power. I’d love to be a phoenix, possessing perseverance and healing power. 9 潮流作興纖瘦，你可是因介懷自己的外表而減了 體重？ You recently lost weight. Are you following the slimming trend, or are you bothered by your appearance? 我的身體質量指數（BMI）當時太高了，三十多呢！我見過一個 BMI四十的病人必須動手術把脂肪掏出來，把胃縮小，我就 想，不行不行，為了健康，要減了。如果胖得來身體健康的話， 也還可以接受，不過，健康是大前提啊。而且，作為醫生也不 可太胖吧。無論那是「嬰兒肥」還是「成人肥」，都是脂肪，都 應該去掉。 I had a BMI of over 30, which was way too high. I met a patient with a BMI of over 40 and he had to undergo surgery to remove fat and trim his stomach. Seeing that, I told myself, ‘You can’t go on like that. You have to slim down for health’s sake.’ I can accept being fat and healthy. But in reality, health is an overruling factor. Being too fat will do no good to the image of a doctor, right? Be it baby fat or adult fat, it must go. 10 你的偶像是誰（可不能說沈祖堯教授）？可會考 慮歷史偉人？ Who is your idol, besides Prof. Joseph Sung? Any great souls in history? 哎呀，那可就沒有了。要封一個人作偶像可不是易事，歷史人 物或政治領袖太遙遠了，我沒有機會徹底了解他們，當中或 多或少總會有點吹捧的成分吧。沈教授最令我敬重的是他對 每一件事情都認真以心對待。對病人他以愛心關懷，對繁瑣 的行政事務，他處理得井井有條，對學生他投放了全副心思， 逸夫所有的學生活動他都抽空參加，醫學院或醫學院學生會 搞的活動他也盡量出席。我曾到他家吃飯，覺得他對家人也 很好。一個人要兼顧那麼多方面，而又都用心去做，是很難 的事。 Oh, then there’s none. It’s not easy to identify someone as an idol. Grand figures in history or famous politicians are too distant and too great to be true. I don’t have the opportunity to know them but I guess there must have been a certain degree of exaggeration in things said about them. I respect Professor Sung because he treats everything sincerely and seriously. He cares for his patients with a loving heart. He attends to meticulous administrative details in an organized manner. He gives students his full support in everything they do, be it Shaw College or Faculty or student association activities. I was invited to his house and found that he’s equally good to his family. How difficult it is for someone to attend whole-heartedly to all these aspects at the same time. Yet he can do it.