Program - 62nd CIRP General Assembly Hong Kong, China. 2012

Special Lecture I:
From “Made in China” to “Innovated in China”;
What is the Role of Universities?
Abstract
In three decades, China has become a manufacturing powerhouse in the
world. The unprecedented growth of productivity and wealth, brought by
Chinese production, has achieved impressive results in reducing poverty I
and improving quality of life for average people. Similarly, but less been
publicized, is the great transformation of higher education in China. In particular,
Hong Kong now claims to be the home of 3 of top 50 universities in
worldwide rankings and some of Mainland China’s top universities have also
dramatically increased their global competitiveness. In this presentation, I
would like to discuss the changing roles of universities; in particular, Science
and Technology as the enabling force in driving innovation, entrepreneurship
and growth for a sustainable future.
Lecture
Speaker: Prof. Tony F. Chan
Professor Tony F. Chan is the President of The Hong
Kong University of Science and Technology.
Professor Chan’s scientific background is in
Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering.
He received his BS and MS degrees in Engineering
Special
from Caltech and his PhD in Computer Science
from Stanford. He taught Computer Science at Yale
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before joining UCLA as Professor of Mathematics
in 1986. He was appointed Chair of the Department of Mathematics in 1997
and served as Dean of Physical Science. Professor Chan was Assistant Director
of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate at the U.S. National
Science Foundation (NSF) in charge of research funding in astronomy, physics,
chemistry, mathematical science, material science, and multidisciplinary
activities.
Session
He is an elected Fellow of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics
(SIAM) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He
is one of ISI’s most cited mathematicians. Professor Chan is currently a
member of the Board of Trustees of the King Abdullah University of Science
and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia, President’s Advisory Council of the
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Committee
of 100. He is also a member of the Selection Committee for the Shaw Prize
in Mathematical Sciences and a member of the Steering Committee of the
Innovation and Technology Commission of the Hong Kong Government. Opening
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