The University of Macau (UM) will hold the first Doctor honoris causa Lecture Series for this year on Wednesday 14 November. Renowned material scientist Prof. Arden Lee Bement, Jr. will open the lecture series with a talk on “Change Masters for the Twenty-first Century”. On the same afternoon, renowned computer scientist Prof. Andrew Chi-Chih Yao will give a lecture on “Quantum Computing: A Great Science in the Making”. Dr. Ambrose So Shu Fai, a distinguished figure in the business world, will give a lecture on “Macau’s Evolving Tourism Brand: Integration and Diversification” on Tuesday 27 November.

 

The rate of new scientific knowledge generation is accelerating with a doubling period today of five years and shortening periods in the future. University students today will lose much of the value of contemporary scientific knowledge shortly after they graduate. How can they continue to learn and assimilate new knowledge, which will be critical to their success as change masters in the twenty-first century? Prof. Bement will help students find their own answers to this crucial question in his lecture to be held on 14 November, at STDM Auditorium, UM’s Library. On the same afternoon at UM’s Cultural Centre, Prof. Yao will give a lecture on “Quantum Computing: A Great Science in the Making” to discuss the advantage of quantum computing and the secrets in the atoms that could potentially unleash such enormous power, to be used for computing and information processing. The two lectures will begin at 11:00 and 16:30 respectively.

 

Prof. Bement, recipient of the Degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa, is a member of the United States National Academy of Engineering. Prof. Bement has made outstanding contributions in his many important leadership roles in industry, academia, and government agencies. He was director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Under his directorship, NSF opened its office in Beijing, China, which has played a positive role in advancing Sino-U.S. collaboration in science and technology.

 

Prof. Yao, recipient of the Degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa, is recognized as one of the

 

world’s leading scholars in computation theory. He has made significant and original contributions to the niche scientific areas of data organization, the complexity-based theory of pseudorandom number generation, cryptography, communication complexity, quantum teleportation as well as computation. He was awarded the Turing Award in 2000 by the world’s leading Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), becoming the first and the only overseas Chinese computer scientist to date to have won this award since its founding. He studied under Prof. David Liu Chung Laung, a world-renowned computer scientist and recipient of an honorary doctorate from UM.

 

Should you have any inquiries about the press release, please feel free to contact Ms. Kay Lai at(853)8397 4325 or kaylai@um.edu.mo or visit UM webpage www.umac.mo.