HKUST to Showcase Cutting-Edge Technologies at ITU Telecom World 2006

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), one of the world's leading technology universities and a research powerhouse in telecommunication and information technology, will showcase a number of its latest IT and telecommunication innovations at the influential International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom World 2006, which will take place at AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong from December 4 to 8.

ITU Telecom World, originally held every four years and now every three years, is among the most significant Information and Communication Technology (ICT) events globally. It draws top names from the world's major ICT companies, key policy-makers, regulators and industry visionaries, who come together to network, do business and help shape the future of the world's ICT industry. This year's event in Hong Kong , organized under the theme of "Living the Digital World", marks the first time that ITU Telecom World has been held away from its traditional home in Geneva since its launch in 1971. Among the many senior figures scheduled to attend are Mr John Chambers, CEO Cisco Systems, Mr Kaoru Yano, President NEC Corporation, the Hon Henry Tang, Financial Secretary, HKSAR Government, Ms Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society and Media, and Serge Tchuruk, Chairman and CEO Alcatel.

The HKUST exhibition booth, located in the Hong Kong Pavilion (8019.008), will provide demonstrations of innovative projects covering multimedia technology, wireless communications, and wireless networking. These include the Wireless Sensor Network on Mobile Platform, which will demonstrate ad-hoc mobile sensor network (WMS) communication using a fleet of three mini-cars equipped with wireless sensors nodes; the digital watermarking method that produces two watermarked images which, when overlapped, reveal a hidden visual pattern; a flat fading 4 x 4 MIMO channel testbed explicitly for testing and characterizing MIMO antennas; and projects in Beyond 3G, Cognitive Radio, ASIC Design for UWB, and Peer-to-Peer IPTV, among others.

On Tuesday December 5, Prof Oscar Au from the Electronic and Computer Engineering Department will speak at the Exhibition's "Stage for Excellence" on "Audio Video Coding Standard (AVS) Technology", introducing a new video streaming technology, developed at HKUST, which enables mobile-phone users to receive any video source and play it on their handsets in real time with equally high quality but at significantly lower cost.

On Friday December 8, Zhu Jinhao, a postgraduate student from the Computer Science and Engineering Department and an eYouth Certificate of Merit awardee at the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2006, will present his winning project Soul Envoy (a highly interactive and powerful physics-based 3D game engine) at the "Stage of Excellence".

Representing HKUST at ITU Telecom World 2006 will be Prof Tony Eastham, Acting Vice-President of Research and Development, Prof Philip Chan, Dean of Engineering, Prof Khaled Ben Letaief, Head and Chair Professor of the Electronic and Computer Engineering Department, Prof Oscar Au of the Electronic and Computer Engineering Department, and Prof Qian Zhang of the Computer Science and Engineering Department. They will seek to share their vision and insights with influential figures and decision-makers in industry and government, enabling the University's research and development strengths to assist Hong Kong and the region in becoming a leading center for communication and information technology.