Press Release

Delegates from Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), Portugal and Obducat, Sweden, led by Prof, Dr, Dr h c Lars Montelius (8th from right), Director General INL; Mr Björn Segerblom (9th from right), Senior Adviser & Member of INL Industrial Advisory Board and Chairman of Obducat Board; and Mr Patrik Lundström (10th from right), CEO of Obducat visited ASTRI on 31 August 2017. From ASTRI, Mr Wong Ming-yam (7th from right), BBS, JP, Chairman; Dr Meikei Ieong, CTO; and Dr CJ Tsai (2nd from right), Acting Director, Opto-electronics welcomed the delegates. They had a thorough discussion for future collaboration, and we shared our R&D projects on life science and intelligent manufacturing to the delegates. The delegates also experienced the live demonstrations on intelligent manufacturing, next generation network and smart city R&D projects in our newly developed Smart City Innovation Centre.

 

Mr Wong Ming-yam (5th from right), BBS, JP, explains our R&D initiatives to the delegates

Mr Wong Ming-yam, BBS, JP (1st from left) introduces our R&D projects to delegates

R&D expert explains projects to guests

Integrated Media Technology Limited (IMT) has received approval from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq) to list its ordinary shares on the Nasdaq Capital Market. Using the short-code IMTE, the trading of the company’s stock commenced on 3 August 2017. Dr Herbert Ying Chiu Lee, Chairman of IMT, was invited to ring the Nasdaq Stock Market Closing Bell on 25 August 2017. ASTRI, as a strategic partner of IMT, was invited to witness the special moment. Mr Li Yiu-kei, Senior Director, Advanced Digital Systems of ASTRI and Ms Tina Yang, Director, China Market of Business Development of ASTRI attended the ceremony.

 

IMT’s investments include a prominent company with whom ASTRI has had a long and fruitful partnership – Marvel Digital. Through its partnership with Marvel Digital, ASTRI’s naked eye 3D technology has been successfully applied into some commercially successful products, such as 3D mosaic walls, 3D phones and 3D flat-panel computer screens. ASTRI has also worked with IMT’s subsidiary company on naked-eye displays that are able to deliver ultra-high-definition 4K video content. Since June 2016, ASTRI and Marvel Digital have pursued the development of advanced 3D technologies for television movies and shows through a Joint R&D Centre. The Joint R&D Centre is supported by a highly capable professional IC design team, pioneering and developing globally marketable integrated circuits design. Dr MeiKei Ieong, Chief Technology Officer of ASTRI, congratulated IMT for their successful listing and hoped that “the two sides will cultivate more innovative initiatives in future, partnering for more meaningful contributions to the industry.”

Dr Herbert Ying Chiu Lee, Chairman of IMT at the Nasdaq Stock Market Closing Bell ceremony in the US

 

Mr Li Yiu-kei (2nd from left), Senior Director, Advanced Digital Systems of ASTRI and Ms Tina Yang (1st from left), Director, China Market of Business Development of ASTRI attended the ceremony with fellow guests.

Around 80 delegates from Broadlearning Education (Asia) Ltd led by Dr Charles Cheng (left), CEO and founder of Broadlearning Education, visited ASTRI on 11 August 2017. Dr Meikei Ieong (middle), CTO of ASTRI and Dr Vincent Lau (right), Director of Intelligent Software and System, ASTRI welcomed the delegates. They understood more about the latest development of ASTRI and our Intelligent Software and System R&D projects. The delegates also visited our newly established Smart City Innovation Centre and experienced the related live demonstrations.

 

Around 80 delegates from Broadlearning Education visit ASTRI

Around 20 participants from the visiting programme of Chung Chi College, Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Zhejiang University visited ASTRI on 11 August 2017. Mr Iftekhar Hasan (2^nd from left of the 1^st row), Senior Manager, Public Affairs of ASTRI and Mr Aaron He (1^st from left of the 1^st row), Manager, Business Development of ASTRI welcomed the group. They learnt about the latest developments in ASTRI and experienced the live demonstrations on blockchain, biometric authentication and intelligent manufacturing technologies.

A group of around 20 participants from Dragon Wish Youth Cross-Strait Exchange Program 2017 visit ASTRI on 31 July 2017. Ms Eunice Cheng (2^nd from left of the 2^nd row), Director of Public Affairs, ASTRI and Mr Aaron He (1^st from left of the 2^nd row), Marketing Assistant, Business Development, ASTRI welcomed the participants. They understood more about the latest development of ASTRI and experienced the live demonstrations on blockchain, smart investment platform and biometric authentication etc.

‘HKU Academy for the Talented’ is an enrichment and mentorship programme for secondary school students from Hong Kong and around the world run by The University of Hong Kong. The programme organised a Symposium on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education in Hong Kong from 28-30 July 2017, with over 120 students taking part. A part of the symposium involved spending an entire afternoon in ASTRI premises.

When inquisitive high school students ask questions like “How can Blockchain stop financial frauds”, or “Will sensors help cars to avoid road collisions”, it talks about a younger generation keen to learn about science and innovation. The world has been transformed by technological wonders – so it’s no wonder that the society’s future leaders are eager to learn about the disruptive power of technology. Mr Wong Ming-yam, ASTRI Chairman, encouraged the students to “embrace the wonders of technology and explore the unlimited potential of innovation” in their self and career development endeavours.

ASTRI’s technology professionals inspired the students to “become creators rather than mere consumers” and discussed the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. By discussing some of ASTRI’s own innovation and also the overall global tech-trends, the session highlighted how technology continues to touch and shape every aspect of our lives.

According to a 2015 study conducted by the US Government’s Department of Commerce, STEM occupations are growing at 17%, while other fields are growing at 9.8%. STEM professionals play a very crucial role in the sustained growth and stability of economies, and are a critical component to helping people to have better, easier, longer lives. Through this session, ASTRI’s professionals emphasised that “STEM education enables critical thinking, provides platforms for innovation, and creates the next generation of leaders.”

From “How can cars detect jaywalkers if they’re not carrying mobile phones” to “Can hackers sneak into antivirus company’s database” or “Should I study data science or computer engineering, if my ambition is to become a cybersecurity expert” – the questions were interesting and quite thoughtful. A student from Hong Kong’s St Paul’s Co-Educational College added that he will “take my science courses more seriously now and will definitely invest more efforts to have a future career in technological innovation.” Another student from the UK’s Sevenoaks School said that she will “follow the developments in Hong Kong and particularly in ASTRI after spending an intriguing afternoon here”.

Many of the visiting students were from outside Hong Kong, some in the city for the first time ever. They had a lot of queries about Hong Kong and the technology sphere of this region. Students from overseas were particularly interested about the global stature of Hong Kong – “What’s the secret behind Hong Kong’s international prominence? How does it leverage its international connectivity and its connection with China to attract so much global interest?” Their queries were answered by three of ASTRI’s Senior Engineers – all coming to serve here from outside Hong Kong. Edwin Monroy, Abu James and Nuwan Marasinghe – originally from Colombia, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka respectively – shared their experience in Hong Kong as expatriate professionals and how the city and its people embrace people, ideas and innovation from all over the world.

Innovation leads to new ideas, products and processes that sustain our economy. Touching upon that point, the session included presentations from Dr Vincent Lau, Mr Kolo Tsui and Mr Vincent Hou, from ASTRI’s Artificial Intelligence, FinTech and Next Generation Network teams respectively. Their demonstrations – including ‘out-of-the-box innovation in technological development’, ‘pressure-sensitive password protection for banking applications’, and ‘connected cars that use cellular-vehicle-to everything (C-V2X) technology’ drew exciting response from the students.

Mr Wong Ming-yam, Chairman of ASTRI speaks to the participants

Representative of HKU Academy for the Talented Programme presents a souvenir to Mr Wong

Enthusiastic students asking questions during the session

R&D experts coming from overseas share their experience in ASTRI

A student taking part in a live technology demonstration

On Thursday, 27 July 2017, Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) held a soft launch ceremony of the Smart City Innovation Centre (SCIC) at the ground floor of Photonics Centre in Hong Kong Science Park. Developed jointly by ASTRI and HKSTP with financial support from the SAR Government’s Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC), it has the state-of-the-art infrastructure to facilitate R&D and innovation for smart city solutions. Mr Wong Ming-yam – Chairman of ASTRI Board of Directors and Mr Albert Wong Hak-keung – Chief Executive Officer of HKSTP addressed the guests in a small ceremony at the Centre.

Mr Wong Ming-yam in his speech hoped that “the SCIC will pave the way for researchers, start-ups and industries to try new ideas and contribute to breakthrough innovation.” With its modern infrastructure and facilities, “the Centre should lead to strong public-private collaboration to facilitate the development of innovative smart city solutions for Hong Kong, and possibly beyond,” he added.

In his speech, Mr Albert Wong said, “Hong Kong is at the cross-roads of a new era of economic and technological transformation that offers a world of potential.” He commented that “Hong Kong must not miss out on the opportunities available in the new world order”, especially in terms of regional and transnational collaborations. “We are proud to be associated with the SCIC and hope that it will lead to meaningful, revolutionary innovation,” he said.

The SCIC will offer a common platform for R&D professionals, technology companies, business enterprises, start-ups and public service providers to test and develop innovative solutions using Internet of Things and other Information and Communication Technologies. From FinTech to 5G, smart governance to smart living, connected cars to citizen services – a wide range of Smart City applications will be explored in the Centre.

Officials from ITC, Board Directors and senior executives of ASTRI, senior officials of HKSTP, representatives from SCIC’s partner organisations attended the ceremony. Guests had an exclusive tour of the Centre to learn about its facilities and the R&D focus areas. After a period of provisional test-run, the SCIC will be formally launched to the public in near future.

 

Officials from ITC and business partner organisations join ASTRI’s Board members and senior executives at the SCIC soft launch ceremony. From left: Ms Cammy Yung, CFO of ASTRI; Mr Tony Choi, Board Member of ASTRI; Mr Sunny Lee, Board Member of ASTRI; Ms Alsa Choi, Senior Manager (Infrastructure) of ITC; Mr Johann Wong, Deputy Commissioner for Innovation and Technology of ITC; Mr Wong Ming-yam , Chairman of ASTRI; Dr Meikei Ieong, CTO of ASTRI; Dr Justin Chuang, VP (Next Generation Network) of ASTRI; Mr Alan Kan, Managing Director of Clever Motion.

From left: Dr Meikei Ieong, CTO of ASTRI; Mr Wong Ming-yam, Chairman of ASTRI; Dr Winnie Tang, Founder & Chairman of ESRI; Mr Sunny Lee; Dr Davy Lo; Ms Cally Chan; Mr Tony Choi, Board Members of ASTRI

Mr Wong Ming-yam, Chairman of ASTRI experiences the Head-up Display (HUD) live demonstration

R&D experts introduce the displayed projects to guests

Mr Wong Ming-yam, Chairman of ASTRI speaks at the ceremony

Mr Albert Wong Hak-keung, CEO of HKSTP speaks at the ceremony

Mr Wu Weizhong, Director, Zhuhai (National) Hi-tech Business Service Center led the delegation to visit ASTRI on 26 July 2017. From ASTRI, Dr Meikei Ieong, CTO; Dr Ryan Chung, Director, Business Development and Ms Tina Yang, Director, China market of Business Development welcomed the delegates. They visited the newly developed Smart City Innovation Center in ASTRI and exchanged views on the future collaboration between Zhuhai (National) Hi-tech Business Service Center and ASTRI.

Dr Meikei Ieong (1^st from right), Mr Wu Weizhong (2^nd from right) and the delegates visit the newly developed Smart City Innovation Center in ASTRI

The graduation ceremony for ASTRI’s 2017 summer internship programme took place on Monday, 24 July 2017. Over 30 graduating interns, from local as well as overseas tertiary educational institutions, celebrated the completion of their summer internship. The six-week programme provided the students with practical exposure to various parts of ASTRI’s operations most notably in our five R&D focus areas: Financial Technologies, Smart City, Next Generation Network, Intelligent Manufacturing and Health Technologies. In addition, some of the interns worked on other initiatives covering various support functions and departments. The learning journey entailed real-life projects, on-the-job coaching, and hands-on exposure to ‘Life@ASTRI’ in general.

 

As these interns go back to their schools, they take along the valuable experience, as well as fond memories to be cherished as ASTRI’s brand ambassadors. We hope that some, if not many, of these students will aspire to join our team after their graduation.

 

Summer interns share their happy moment together

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) jointly held the Fintech Career Accelerator Scheme (FCAS) Induction Day today (27 July 2017), welcoming the interns and marking the official commencement of their trainings and internships.

The HKMA and ASTRI held their first regulatory update and technical workshop respectively on the induction day, introducing the regulatory regimes and other relevant developments in financial and fintech regulations, and providing foundation fintech technical trainings to the FCAS interns to prepare them for internships. The interns also visited the HKMA Information Centre and learned about the recent major developments of the financial market in Hong Kong and HKMA’s main policy objectives and functions through guided tour.

The HKMA and ASTRI will hold more regulatory updates and technical workshops for the students during the internship period. These comprehensive trainings will help participants under the scheme to better understand the regulatory framework for the banking industry as well as the latest developments in fintech.

Mr Howard Lee, Senior Executive Director of the HKMA, said “The FCAS is one of the major initiatives by the Fintech Facilitation Office of the HKMA. Applications from students studying different disciplines were received under the scheme, showing that talents with diverse backgrounds are attracted to the prospect of fintech development and the scheme. Through the FCAS, we hope to attract and train suitable talents in order to build a fintech talent pool for the banking industry.”

Dr Meikei Ieong, Chief Technology Officer of ASTRI, said “Hong Kong being the premier global financial hub in Asia, it is imperative for us to groom and attract more fintech talents in order to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of fintech talents. ASTRI and the HKMA play an instrumental role through the FCAS – partnering with banks and tertiary institutions to nurture fintech talents in our city with industry-relevant technical skills.”

The 12 participating banks and the HKMA received over 3,000 applications from 421 students of 10 tertiary institutions. On completion of the recruitment exercise, 74 students were successfully employed. These students will undertake internships for six months or one year to work on various fintech projects at the participating banks and the HKMA. Some of the students have already commenced their internships while the rest will also start during the summer holiday.

The HKMA and ASTRI launched the FCAS last December to nurture talents to meet the growing need for fintech talents. The FCAS is the first fintech talent development initiative led by regulator and research institute and joined by banks and tertiary institutions in Hong Kong.

 

 

Fintech Career Accelerator Scheme

Eligibility

• Undergraduates in their second or third year, and postgraduates
• Studying in relevant disciplines, including Engineering, Computer Science, Sciences, Business, Finance and Law, in the participating institutions
• Strong interest and motivations to learn and explore fintech

 

Participating Banks* Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited Bank of East Asia, Limited (The) BNP Paribas Hong Kong Branch China CITIC Bank International Limited Citibank (Hong Kong) Limited DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited Hang Seng Bank, Limited Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (The) Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited Wing Lung Bank Limited

Participating Tertiary Institutions* Chinese University of Hong Kong City University of Hong Kong Hang Seng Management College Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong Shue Yan University Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Lingnan University Open University of Hong Kong University of Hong Kong

*in alphabetical order

Mr Li Shu Pui, Executive Director of the HKMA (upper photo) and Dr Meikei Ieong, Chief Technology Officer of ASTRI (lower photo), give welcoming remarks at the FCAS induction day.

Over 60 students gather at the FCAS induction day, marking the official commencement of their trainings and internships.

Students visit the HKMA Information Centre to learn about the recent major developments of the Hong Kong financial market and the work of the HKMA.