In mid-July, SUSTech’s Office of Communications and Public Relations (OCPR) had the privilege to interview Professor Jamal Deen from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at McMaster University. Two weeks before the interview, Her Excellency the Right Honorable Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada announced Professor Deen’s membership of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honors. He was appointed for his advancements in the fields of electrical engineering and applied physics, and for his leadership of multiple academic and professional institutions.

However, like most faculty members and students who have worked with him, the OCPR staff believe Professor Deen’s noble characters, especially his empathy and community spirit, are the reason why he stands out among the many academic talents across the globe. Before entering his office, the interviewer had read many heartfelt comments about Professor Deen like these:

 “Dr. Deen… knows the people, their abilities, and limitations. He is capable of assigning the right research topic to the right person.”

  “He has inspired in me a sense of identity and attachment to our countrymen and colleagues in Mexico… His high-quality personal skills and dedication to the improvement of other people is his main value… He has been helping… people in many ways. His support goes beyond the professional area, where mentoring has always been a way of caring for his friends… Dr. Deen helps students in improving personal quality, social commitment, and becoming better people in a current society with needs for socially responsible people.”

 “Dr. Deen… served as a judge in the British Columbia Science Fair and volunteered to develop and teach a ten-week Science/Engineering enrichment program at an elementary school. He also served as an elementary school representative to the Carleton Council on Education… He continued his community involvement by volunteering to coach soccer for the West Hamilton Children’s Soccer League… he has also served as a periodic volunteer at Mission Services, especially during Christmas…”

 “Dr. Deen has served as an External Examiner at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and for doctoral students from the Americas, Asia and Europe… Dr. Deen gives generously of his time in mentoring students from developing countries, and to the professional/academic community in these countries through invited lectures.”

 When the interviewer saw Professor Deen for the first time, he was greeted with an infectious smile, which instantly broke the ice between the two parties. Knowing Deen is spending his academic leave at SUSTech’s Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) this summer, the interviewer asked him the reasons for coming here and his thoughts on the campus.

Professor Jamal Deen and his SUSTech contact person — Associate Professor Cheng Qingsha

Q: What did you think of SUSTech before you got here? Any new discoveries after staying for a while?

A: Based on what I heard in academia and my encounters with SUSTech colleagues in Canada, I had formed a very positive impression of SUSTech: youthful, innovative, focused and determined.

When I arrived on campus, I found it modern and beautiful, with many academic resources at hand for faculty and students’ improvement. People here are quite friendly and helpful to me. In the past few months, I have given a series of four distinguished invited lectures in EEE, and a couple of these lectures were especially for the younger faculty members. Through these lectures, I see the high quality and infinite potential of the EEE faculty team.

Q: Why chose SUSTech to spend your academic leave?

A: In Canada, I knew some of the professors and researchers who are now working at SUSTech. The information they provided indicated that it would be an interesting and exciting place to spend my research leave. I visited SUSTech in early 2017, gave a distinguished research lecture, met with several EEE professors and senior administrators, and became excited about the prospects of coming here. These colleagues politely suggested that I spend my research leave here to promote and enhance SUSTech’s reputation, especially at EEE. Since I admire their work ethics and am interested in the work they do, I made the decision to come from summer 2017, and I am the first Distinguished Visiting Professor in EEE. So far, it has been an enjoyable and interesting experience for me. I am very grateful for the opportunity to spend my research leave here.

Q: Since you have been to SUSTech before, what progress has SUSTech made in your opinion?

A: I am happy to see major positive changes taking place on campus, especially the advanced infrastructure and research equipment, and attractive buildings. Moreover, the faculty team is quite strong, and my expectation is that SUSTech will get even better under the current strong visionary leadership.

Q: What characteristics of SUSTech attract you the most?

A: First, many of SUSTech’s faculty members are young, dynamic and ambitious. They are highly professional in their fields of expertise. Second, they are hard-working professors who devote much time to research and academic activities. Third, SUSTech has very strong leadership which implements progressive policies well. Fourth, there are strong international connections and outreach programs. In addition, SUSTech is continually evolving in a strongly positive way, and I am impressed with its pace of development.

Q: Have you had in-depth communications with your colleagues at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering? What are your impressions?

A: I am communicating with some colleagues at the department on a regular basis, especially Professors Cheng Qingsha, Shi Hongjian and Chen Fei. With Prof. Cheng, our working relationship dates back to his time at McMaster University. He spares no efforts in helping me to get used to life at SUSTech. As I mentioned, my colleagues here are hard-working, focused, determined and also very helpful. I truly think they reflect the SUSTech spirit, and I expect that they will make great achievements in academia. It is a pleasure to work collectively and collaboratively with SUSTech colleagues. I can feel their passion for research and education.

Q: Speaking of collaborations with SUSTech colleagues, what research project are you working on?

A: Currently, we are working collaboratively to put together a strong, forward-looking, high-impact interdisciplinary research program. Our project is on high-technology applications to human health. The project is progressing well, and we expect to have a working proposal ready by the end of summer.

Q: Do you know about the SUSTech-HKUST Joint School of Microelectronics, which was launched in June? Based on your teaching and research experience at HKUST, can you offer some suggestions for the future development of this school?

A: Yes. Microelectronics and information and communications technologies are already playing a pivotal role in solving many of the grand challenges we face globally. Examples include health informatics, personalized and lifelong learning, clean water, new tools for scientific discoveries and reverse engineering the brain.
HKUST is very strong in microelectronics and other areas in electrical and computer engineering. SUSTech is progressing very fast in these areas. This initiative – the SUSTech-HKUST Joint School of Microelectronics – will be beneficial to both universities as well as Shenzhen and Hong Kong. By working collaboratively, faculty members from both Universities would be in an even stronger position to better train students and researchers, apply for larger grants for high-impact research and technology development, team teach “advanced” courses and work to help the high technology industries in Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Q: Any advice for the future of SUSTech, especially from the perspective of your academic expertise?

A: I am impressed with what SUSTech is doing. In particular, SUSTech has become a magnet in attracting top talent as faculty members. The SUSTech faculty is also working very hard to attract the excellent students from China and abroad. In the long term, I believe that SUSTech will make significant contributions in high technology developments – both at the research front as well as in training top students.
However, one area that needs more efforts is in having more lectures and seminars in English which will make it easier for foreign students and faculty members to attend SUSTech and engage in these amazing academic experiences. Therefore, I hope SUSTech will further work on bilingualism and strive to become a university with more international characteristics and recognition.