ASTRI Celebrates 10th Anniversary

April 28, 2010 - PRLog -- The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) kicked off its year-long Anniversary celebrations with a special commencement ceremony and an Open Day at the Charles K. Kao Auditorium in the Hong Kong Science Park on 23 April 2010 .

Mr John Tsang Chun-wah, Financial Secretary officiated at the ceremony together with Professor Liu Yingli, Chair of the Shenzhen side, the Steering Group on Shenzhen-Hong Kong Co-operation in Innovation and Technology, and Mrs Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development. They were accompanied by Dr Patrick Wang Shui-chung, Chairman of the ASTRI Board and Dr Cheung Nim-kwan, CEO of ASTRI.

In his opening address, Mr Tsang said, “In the comparatively short period of 10 years since its establishment, ASTRI has already made significant contributions to technological advancement, embracing the irreversible global trend towards knowledge-based enterprises and adding value to products and services through innovation and technology.” He cited many successful examples of ASTRI’s technology transfers to industry and he added, “Through collaboration with stakeholders, ASTRI is acting as a crucial catalyst in stimulating the growth of technology-based industries in Hong Kong and also facilitating the development of hi-tech products in the Mainland.”

Founded in 2000, ASTRI is committed to enhancing the competitiveness of the technology-based industry through applied research. Dr Wang said, “ASTRI has always been a prime source of innovations of an applied nature and technology transfers to industry. I am really proud of the many impressive progress and achievements it has made during the past decade. I am sure ASTRI will have an increasingly important role to play in enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness in the world market.”

ASTRI completed 260 cases of technology transfers since 2006. Some of the technologies have already been embedded by famous brands in their products and are very well-received in the markets. These include the set-top-box with full HD picture-in-picture function, 4G wireless network technology, peer-to-peer framework in e-book, noise cancellation IC for headphones, pico-projector and low field MRI, just to name a few.

Dr Cheung said, “ASTRI has been continuously nurturing research talents and transferring innovative and customer-focused technologies viable for commercialization to our industry. I pledge that as we strive for further developments, we will always bear the overall interest of the industry and community at heart.”

ASTRI currently has a team of nearly 500 research professionals. The number of research projects undertaken by ASTRI, research funding that ASTRI receives from ITC and the amount of  contributions received from industry have all gone up year by year. All these indicators have demonstrated that ASTRI is gaining recognition and receiving a very important vote of confidence from stakeholder.

Concurrently held at the venue was ASTRI’s Open Day. It has been the second year that similar event was held for university graduates who are interested in pursuing a career in applied R&D. ASTRI offers intern positions funded by the Innovation and Technology Commission’s internship programme as well as a number of vacancies for experienced engineers.

An exhibition showcasing ASTRI’s latest technology development with live demonstration was also staged to let visitors see and experience for themselves ASTRI’s innovations and the use of applied technologies in our daily lives.

To celebrate its 10th Anniversary, ASTRI will be organizing celebratory activities throughout the year including a series of road shows at universities and other public organizations and a series of seminars by renowned speakers as well as outstanding researchers from ASTRI. For more information about the activities to be held, please visit ASTRI’s 10th Anniversary webpage www.astri.org/10th.

# # #

The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI) was founded by the HKSAR Government in 2000 with a mission to enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness in technology-based industries through applied research.

Visit ASTRI's website for more information: www.astri.org.