Established by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Xilinx Inc, Xilinx-HKUST Joint Lab officially opened on 25 June 2012. Xilinx Inc donated a kickoff fund of over HK$2 million to equip the Joint Lab. Xilinx announced that Xilinx-HKUST Joint Lab will be the first in the world to receive a generous donation of the next generation FPGA platform with embedded ARM processors in September 2012. HKUST will share a core undergraduate courseware through the Xilinx University Program with universities and institutes around the world.
The Joint Lab celebrated its opening in the Council Chamber Foyer of HKUST, with the presence of Prof Joseph Lee, Vice-President for Research and Graduate Studies, HKUST; Dr Ivo Bolsens, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Xilinx; Fai Yeung, Vice President of Sales and Marketing in Asia Pacific, Xilinx; Prof Khaled Ben Letaief, Dean of Engineering, HKUST; Prof Ross Murch, Head of the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, HKUST; Dr Kevin Xie, Greater China Manager of the Xilinx University Program; and Dr Jiang Xu, Founding Director of Xilinx-HKUST Joint Lab. During the opening ceremony, the MOU of Xilinx-HKUST Joint Lab was signed by Prof Lee and Dr Bolsens, and the lab plaque was unveiled.
Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Ivo Bolsens, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Xilinx, said, “We are honored to work with such a prestigious academic institution as HKUST to establish a Joint Lab that will bring together the benefits of Xilinxs All Programmable technology, devices and design tools to a broad base of electronic engineering professors and undergraduate students today and in the coming years. Building from this strong foundation, we are excited about the new opportunities ahead for innovative approaches regarding interdisciplinary teaching and research between HKUST and Xilinx.”
Prof Joseph Lee, Vice-President for Research and Graduate Studies, HKUST, said, “We are delighted to establish the Joint Lab for the global academic community with Xilinx, the inventor of FPGA. Since HKUST puts great emphasis on internationalization and interdisciplinary research, the establishment of the Lab as well as the innovative Xilinx products and technologies that support cross-platform and cross-disciplinary research will play a powerful role in promoting international and interdisciplinary research.”
Fai Yeung, Vice President of Sales and Marketing in Asia Pacific, Xilinx, said, ”We are excited to collaborate with HKUST, the No. 1 university in Asia, to promote the development of reconfigurable computing technologies. We believe that HKUSTs research and education strengths and Xilinxs leading technologies, products and services will complement each other to accelerate innovations in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Prof Khaled Ben Letaief, Dean of Engineering, HKUST, said, ”The Joint Lab signifies a long-term collaboration between HKUST and Xilinx on research as well as education. It will provide resources to HKUST faculty and students on research projects and teaching activities in areas such as embedded systems, signal processing, IC design, network and control etc.”
Prof Ross Murch, Head of the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, HKUST, remarked, “I am very excited to be opening this Joint Lab today and working with Xilinx on teaching and research. Engaging with the industry and community is a critical part of the departments strategy. It helps provide real life experience for our students and exposes them to careers in the industry. It also helps energize our research and creates greater research impact. We believe we are a special partner as we have a unique location being close to the high tech area of Shenzhen while having a world class academic reputation. More importantly it is a crucial time to be engaging with the industry as Shenzhen is becoming one of the worlds centers for high tech research. We look forward to working with Xilinx over the long term through this Joint Lab.”
The opening ceremony was followed by an invited talk by Dr Ivo Bolsens on “Entering the Era of Crossover System-on-Chips”, which was well-attended by nearly 100 professors, staff and students from HKUST and various organizations. A two-day training workshop was also held in HKUST on 25 and 26 June 2012, and was well-received by about 50 faculty members, staff, and graduate students from Hong Kong and Mainland China.
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