Committed to creating a core technology innovation platform for microelectronics, SUSTech and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) decided to establish the SUSTech-HKUST Joint School of Microelectronics in Shenzhen on Friday, June 1.

At a signing ceremony on SUSTech campus, President Chen Shiyi and HKUST Acting President Wei Shyy agreed to co-found the joint school and signed an agreement.

The ceremony was witnessed by faculty members from both universities and senior officials from Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government of HKSAR, Guangdong Provincial Department of Education and the Vice Mayor of Shenzhen Municipal Government.

The joint school will be the first HK-Mainland joint research and education center in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It will also serve the needs of the local economic development, especially integrated circuit industry, and strive to build a research-based international school  that will reach the national demonstrative standard. It will also provide an innovative, university-industry cooperation-oriented, as well as talent-training model, that can leverage the academic resource from higher education sectors in Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland to jointly train undergraduate as well as postgraduate students for microelectronics.

As the co-founding partner of the joint school, HKUST will provide its strong research support, whereas SUSTech will invest various resource on the institutional development. Relying on the solid foundation of Shenzhen’s industry, this partnership will help strengthen its leading position in device processing, integrated circuit design and system application in the Greater Bay area.

“Jointly establishing an international, high-level, and research-oriented national demonstrative microelectronics institute will bring new and huge opportunities and prospects to the two universities. It will become a benchmark for the demonstration of Shenzhen and Hong Kong cooperation in the construction of the Greater Bay Area. ” Chen Shiyi said.

“The project will play a strongly supporting role in the development of the integrated circuit industry in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau, even across the country,” he added.

“The cooperation with SUSTech is a favorable opportunity for the school to grasp the construction of the Greater Bay Area. It is to strengthen the cooperation in between and provide mutually beneficial outcomes for the two schools. It will also jointly promote the research and development of core technologies as well as personnel training while supporting the construction of the Greater Bay Area,” said Wei Shyy, a professor with over two decades of experience at University of Florida and University of Michigan.

Xing Feng, Deputy Director of the Guangdong province’s education department, also addressed the ceremony, where he pointed out that the relationship between SUSTech and HKUST is relying on the advantage of Shenzhen and Hong Kong’s integrated circuit industry and university. With the close cooperation between the two universities, it will establish the first joint school of microelectronics between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Li Lu, Director of the Education and Science and Technology Office of the Liaison Office, pointed out that the Liaison Office has actively supported the relevant co-operation between the SUSTech and HKUST.

Gao Zimin, Vice Mayor of Shenzhen Municipal Government, addressed that the cooperation will also advance the comprehensive development of the integrated circuit industry in Shenzhen, and will eventually make greater contribution to the creative innovation of China’s integrated circuit industry.

As a young public research-oriented university at Shenzhen, SUSTech is pleased to establish strong connections with leading companies in China and renowned universities across the world. In the “Nature Index 2016 Rising Stars” rankings, SUSTech was ranked 62nd among the global top 100 institutions with the most significant growth in high-quality research publications, and was ranked as the third fastest growing institution in the world.