The University of Macau said in a recent statement that its State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI Interim Director and Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Mak Pui In made the list of the Xplorer Prize 2022’s recipients.
According to the statement, the prize was initiated in 2018 by Tencent Foundation founder Ma Huateng and 14 well-known scientists such as Chen Ning Yang and Rao Yi. It is among funding schemes with a “high number of sponsorships” for science and technology’s young talents in the mainland, with the awards covering “ten areas of basic sciences and cutting-edge technology”, the statement noted, adding that 200 winners were chosen over the last four years.
Among the 50 young scientists recognised this year, the statement underlined that three come from Hong Kong and Macau, with Mak being the first and only scholar from Macau to receive the award.
The statement pointed out that over 900 academics from different countries and more than 30 university presidents took part in the Xplorer Prize’s nomination, recommendation, and evaluation processes, while over 20 winners of international awards were involved in the nomination process.
The statement said that Prof Mak’s award-winning project “Battery-less Intelligent Electronic Chips” is expected to solve two technical bottlenecks in the massive Internet of Things’ (IoT) development in the mainland: “manual battery replacement and batteries not being environmentally friendly”.
Mak was quoted in the statement as saying: “Scientific research in Macau did not have a high starting point, but with the support of the country in various aspects and the frequent interaction with other parts of the Greater Bay Area [GBA] in the past few years, we have been making rapid progress. We will continue to work hard with a focus on quality over quantity to contribute to scientific innovation in China”.
Prof Mak, the statement added, is currently UM’s Institute of Microelectronics Deputy Director (research) and holds titles such as being a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He has also been awarded various prizes such as a commemorative medal for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and is an internationally recognised expert in the integrated circuits field, specialising in radio frequency and analog integrated circuits.
This undated handout photo recently provided by the University of Macau (UM) shows Prof Mak Pui In.
