ASTRI Board appoints new Director

  • [Hong Kong, 4 March 2016]  Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI) has announced the appointment of Mr Andy Liu, Vice Chairman of Hong Kong Biotechnology Organization, to the ASTRI Board for a term of two years with effect from 1 March 2016.

    Mr Andy Liu has served as President of Asia Pacific and China for IMS Health, a TPG private equity portfolio company focusing on big data healthcare.   Mr Liu’s area of focus is commercialisation and M&A.  He has extensive experience in healthcare big data and healthcare technologies.

    Furthermore, commencing 1 March 2016, three serving Directors of ASTRI, namely Mr Cheng Cheuk-wing, Prof Ching Pak-chung and Mr  Ha Yung-kuen have also been re-appointed for another two-year term.

    ASTRI and Intel Help Mobile Network Operators Support Small Cell Networks

  • Network Function Virtualization (NFV) is a major R&D initiative of Networking Software in ASTRI to accelerate network evolution to virtualized network that delivers high performance, high availability and management agility.  Intel has invited ASTRI as an Ecosystem partner of the Intel® Network Builders programme which seeks to increase ecosystem alignment, leading to the design of world-class solutions by SDN/NFV vendors.

    Leveraging on the Intel® Open Network Platform Server (ONP Server), ASTRI has developed LTE core network solution, consisted of virtualized Small Cell Gateway and virtualized Evolved Packet Core (EPC).  The solution gives mobile network operators (MNOs) a flexible and high performance tool to build out dense small cell networks.  For details, please visit https://networkbuilders.intel.com/docs/Intel-and-ASTRI-Help-Mobile-Network-Operators-Support-Small-Cell-Networks.pdf.  

    The solution developed by ASTRI is now showcased in the Network Infrastructure Solutions Library of Intel® https://networkbuilders.intel.com/solutionslibrary. To learn more about Intel® Network Builders, please visit: https://networkbuilders.intel.com.

    AIR fellows featured in Ming Pao

  • Two teams of AIR fellows namely DecaSense and eScooter were featured in Ming Pao on 22 February 2016. The teams shared that the AIR program helps ease their financial burden in running their innovative projects and provides them with valuable mentorship.

    For more details, please visit: http://www.mpfinance.com/htm/finance/20160222/columnist/edb_edba1.htm
    (The article is available in Chinese only)

    AIR fellows’ field trip to Pearl River Delta

  • The ASTRI Innovation Runway (AIR) Entrepreneurship Fellow Programme organized a field trip to Pearl River Delta on 18 January, whereby the AIR fellows took a closer look at the entrepreneurship environment in the Chinese Mainland.

    Led by the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI), the AIR fellows visited a number of successful companies in Guangzhou Nansha and Shenzhen, including Huawei Technologies, Tencent, ZTE and APT Electronics, where the young entrepreneurs observed and learnt from the innovation, business models and strategies of these iconic enterprises in China.

    The AIR fellows also met with representatives from Shenzhen Micro & Nano Research Institute of IC and System Applications (MNI) and Micro & Nano Stone2Gold Angel Fund during the trip. MNI, ASTRI and Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks jointly established the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Micro-electronics Co-innovation Alliance in 2015 to promote the Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation microelectronics industry. Mr. Johnsheen Zhang, President of MNI and Executive Partner of Micro & Nano Stone2Gold Angel Fund, remarked that the field trip was an important platform for exchanging entrepreneurship ideas. Mr. Zhang urged AIR fellows to seize the opportunity to start their businesses and to stay focused upon their own strength. “As a young and small startup, it would be better to concentrate on small and innovative project with your competitive advantage.”

    The group also visited institutes and incubators that inspire and nurture young entrepreneurs, such as Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub, Galaxy Bothwin Research for Innovation, Startup & Investment, HKUST Fok Ying Tung Research Institute and HKUST Shenzhen Industry, Education and Research Base. During the visit, the AIR fellows met with some incubatees to learn from their start-up experiences.

    The AIR fellows were impressed by the establishment and supports provided to entrepreneurs in the Mainland. They found the trip inspiring as they could understand more about the entrepreneurship environment in the Pearl River Delta Region.

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    The AIR fellows meet with Mr. Johnsheen Zhang (front row, third from left), President of Micro & Nano and Executive Partner of Micro&Nano Stone2Gold Angel Fund.

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    AIR fellows visit the laboratory of Googol Technology at HKUST Shenzhen Industry, Education and Research Base.

    ASTRI’s Chairman attends Shenzhen-Hong Kong Co-operation Working Seminar

  • Mr. Wong Ming-yam, BBS, JP, Chairman of ASTRI recently attended the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Co-operation Working Seminar and met with Prof. Edward Chen Kwan-yiu, President of Qianhai Institute for Innovative Research as well as a number of industry leaders in the areas of finance, technology, education and professional services, to name but a few. In the meeting, the leaders had an in-depth discussion and explored new breakthrough on Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation.

    For details, please refer to http://t.cn/RbQ4lSe (Chinese only).

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    Mr. Ming-yam Wong, BBS, JP, Chairman of ASTRI

    Photo source: www.southcn.com

    ASTRI’s Technology Leader Appointed Adjunct Professor of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

  • Dr. Joe C.L. Chan, Director, Information Security, ASTRI has been appointed as Adjunct Professor of the Department of Electronic and Information Engineering by the President of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in January 2016.

    Prior to joining ASTRI, Dr. Chan received venture fund and co-founded an information security technology startup, leading the research and development of patented hardware security tokens, email and cloud encryption systems, and multi-factor authentication technologies, among others. Dr. Chan had also co-founded an IT consultancy company back in 2005 and was Director and Technology Leader of the company responsible for the advancement of technological development, establishment of new data recovery, reverse engineering and forensics function.

    Prior to his entrepreneur venture, Dr. Chan was devoted to the research and development of numerous data processing systems. These research and development activities include cryptosystems, DRM reverse engineering, semantics database systems, elevator control, distant video learning, audio compression, and many other areas. Dr. Chan has been granted 4 patents.

    Dr. Chan obtained his PhD degree in Electronic Engineering from City University London. He is also the holder of CISSP and CISA. Currently, he is the Vice-Chairman of Research in Cloud Security Alliance HK Chapter.

    ASTRI Joins 2015 China Science and Technology Finance Summit Forum

  • 2015 China Science and Technology Finance Summit Forum was held on 12 December at Foshan, Guangdong, China. The Forum aimed at discussing the problems that China faces and formulating solutions about how to upgrade the economy. One of the solutions is to focus on financial innovations, for examples, the technologies on crowd financing and securitization of intellectual property, and building platforms to promote and to commercialize the technologies so that innovators or inventors can obtain fair reward for their hard work. ASTRI’s Director of Internet Finance Prof. Jerome Yen was invited to give a talk about the valuation and securitization of intellectual property. For details, please refer to relevant news report (Simplified Chinese only).

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    Photo Source: Xinhua Net

    Prof. Jerome Yen (third from the right)

    Prof. Jerome Yen (third from the right)

    Photo Source: Xinhua Net

    Israel Minister of Science, Technology & Space leads a delegation to visit ASTRI

  • Israel Minister of Science, Technology & Space Mr. Ofir Akunus led a delegation to visit ASTRI on 17 December. Mr. Ming-yam Wong, BBS, JP, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ASTRI and Dr. Frank Tong, CEO of ASTRI extended a warm welcome to the delegation and introduced to them ASTRI’s latest technology development. The delegation also visited the ASTRI Security Lab and IC Design Demo Room and had a look at the live demonstrations of ASTRI’s technologies such as face analysis system and big data analysis platform.

    Mr. Ming-yam Wong, BBS, JP, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ASTRI (6rd from the right), Dr. Frank Tong, Chief Executive Officer of ASTRI (4th from the left), and technology leaders welcome the Israel Minister of Science, Technology & Space delegation to ASTRI.

    Mr. Ming-yam Wong, BBS, JP, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ASTRI presents souvenir to Mr. Ofir Akunis, Israel Minister of Science, Technology and Space.

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    The delegation visits the ASTRI Security Lab, IC Design Demo Room and looks at the live demonstrations.

    ASTRI receives “The Best Partner of Learning Enterprises” award presented by PVCHK

  • Chairman of the Board of Directors of ASTRI Mr. Wong Ming-yam, BBS, JP and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Frank Tong attended the Professional Validation Council of Hong Kong Industries (PVCHK) Learning Enterprise Award Dinner which was held on 14 December 2015.  ASTRI was named the “The Best Partner of Learning Enterprises”.

    Chairman of the Board of Directors of ASTRI Mr. Wong Ming-yam, BBS, JP (2nd from left) and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Frank Tong (2nd from right) represent ASTRI to receive the award of “The Best Partner of Learning Enterprises”.

    ASTRI has been named the “The Best Partner of Learning Enterprises”.