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Hong Kong
This page outlines Microsoft Research Asia's university projects and activities in Hong Kong.
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MSRA has established academic collaboration with universities in Hong Kong for years. The scope includes research collaboration, curriculum innovation, talent fostering and other forms of academic exchange; and great achievements have been made in each of the fields.
Joint Labs
In the year 2000, Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA) established a Joint Lab with The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). The lab that focuses on multimedia and other information technologies has been the fourth MSRA Joint Lab and the first outside China mainland. Since then, HKUST has been one of the closest academic partners with MSRA. In 2005, MSRA established the second Joint Lab in Hong Kong with The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). The lab focuses on research of human-machine interface. The two Joint Labs play key roles in MSRA university relations in Hong Kong.
In December 2006, MSRA and CUHK jointly hosted the "First Symposium of Microsoft Joint Labs" in CUHK campus. Delegations from eight MSRA Joint Labs met in Hong Kong. Status of each lab was updated and research projects were presented. Director General for the Department of Science and Technology of the Chinese Ministry of Education, Mr. Huanzhong Xie, remarked:
"The Microsoft Joint Lab Symposium not only provided a great opportunity for academic exchange among the labs but also created a communication channel for top universities in Hong Kong and China mainland."
Research and Curriculum Collaboration
MSRA sponsored some research projects in Hong Kong. In 2005 and 2006, we funded 5 research projects in the areas of
"Gaming and Graphics," "Trustworthy Computing," and
"Cognitive Networking." Results of the projects were presented in the MSRA Theme Workshop and/or other conferences and journals. Professor Lionel Ni and Yunhao Liu of HKUST published their results on IEEE Transactions on Computers, entitled
"Improving Unstructured Peer-to-Peer Systems by Adaptive Connection Establishment."
MSRA also collaborated with professors to create innovative curriculum, especially in the area of operating systems. Professor Jogesh Muppala of HKUST published a paper in Workshop of Embedded System Education 2005, entitled
"Experience with an Embedded System Software Course," where he shared his experience with designing and offering a senior undergraduate course on Embedded Systems Software based mainly on Windows CE.
This year, 2007, MSRA sent Invitation for Proposals (IFP) to some universities in Hong Kong. Scopes of interests include
"Internet Services" and "Mobile Computing in Education." We also recommended that universities responded to global Request for Proposals (RFP) prepared by Microsoft Research colleagues in Redmond.
Talent Fostering
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For the future of computer industry, it is to our interest that smart students would choose computer science as their major and receive best education. Therefore, MSRA working with universities provide internship, fellowship and other academic programs to talented students in computer science.
In past few years, MSRA has admitted more than a dozen interns each year from the universities in Hong Kong. The number continues to grow. In 2005, MSRA signed an agreement with HKUST, entitled
"Joint Doctorate Supervision Scheme" to nurture the region's next generation of IT talents.
Under the Scheme, MSRA will nominate candidates for admission to HKUST's doctorate program. Their research will be jointly supervised by HKUST faculty and senior MSR Asia research staff. Students will be required to fulfill all Ph.D. coursework and examinations at HKUST, and carry out research at MSRA under the guidance of the co-supervisors. Ultimately students will be awarded a Ph.D. degree from HKUST. This creative scheme has been well executed and copied to other universities.
Students from Hong Kong have been very active in the region-wide competition of
"Microsoft Fellowship" offered by MSRA on a yearly basis. HKUST has had 14 fellowship winners since 2000. Very few universities in the region could exceed that number. CUHK has at least one fellowship winner each year in past four consecutive years. It is also a remarkable record. In 2006, The University of Hong Kong (HKU) started to participate in MSRA Fellowship program. We look forward to its great performance in the future.
Academic Exchange
MSRA executives and senior researchers frequently visit universities in Hong Kong. In fiscal year 2006 alone, HKUST, CUHK, and HKU were visited twice each. Round-table meetings with faculty members and distinguished lectures delivered in EE and CS involved more than 50 professors and around 800 students.
Academics in Hong Kong participate in MSRA activities with enthusiasm. 15 professors from Hong Kong joined the 2005 MSRA Faculty Summit in Hangzhou; 9 participated in the 2006 MSRA Theme Workshop in Beijing; and 13 joined the 2006 MSRA Faculty Summit in Beijing.
"Computing in the 21st Century" Conference (21CCC) in Hong Kong was co-hosted by MSRA and HKUST in November 2005. Dr. Rick Rashid and Dr. Harry Shum of Microsoft Research and several world-class computer scientists delivered keynote speeches. More than 500 professors and students from most distinguished universities in Hong Kong fully packed the largest auditorium of HKUST.
With Joint Labs established with HKUST and CUHK, MSRA is also strengthening academic collaboration with other universities in Hong Kong. In October 2005, Craig Mundie, then Microsoft CTO, gave a distinguished lecture at HKU. Students fully packed its largest auditorium. Harry Shum, Managing Director of MSRA later gave a distinguished lecture there in May 2006; and Hsiao-Wuen Hon, Assistant Managing Director of MSRA, led a Microsoft delegation to visit HKU again in late 2006. We look forward to our work in Hong Kong growing in depth and breadth in following years.
Summary
The relationship between MSRA and universities in Hong Kong has been proven mutually beneficial. We look forward to its growth in depth and breadth in following years. |
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Contact Us
Please send us
email, or write to
Microsoft Research Asia, University Relations, 5th Floor, Beijing Sigma
Center, No.49 Zhichun Road, Haidian District,
Beijing 100080, P. R. China. |
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