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Upon the approval of the University Council, the University of Macau (UM) has decided to appoint Prof. C. L. Philip Chen as the new Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST). Prof. Chen is due to take office next January. Like the recruitment of the new Rector and Vice Rectors, recruitment of the new Dean of FST has also been a global process which attracted applications from more than a dozen renowned scholars all across the world. After several rounds of evaluation, the judge panel reached a unanimous decision that Prof. Chen be appointed the new Dean of FST.

Prof. Chen was born in Taiwan. He received his M.S. degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA in 1985, and his Ph.D. degree from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, in 1988, both degrees in Electrical Engineering. He was with Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, from 1989 and 2002 as an assistant, associate, and tenured full professor before he joined the University of Texas, San Antonio, where he currently serves as a Professor and Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He has also been the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies of the College of Engineering. His current research interests include theoretical development in computational intelligence, intelligent systems, robotics and manufacturing automation, networking, diagnosis and prognosis, and life prediction and life-extending control.

He has been a visiting research scientist at the Materials Directorate, US Air Force Wright Lab, a senior research fellow sponsored by the US National Research Council, and a research faculty fellow for NASA Glenn Research Center for several years. Prof. Chen has been involved in professional service for twenty years. Currently he is the Vice President on Conferences and Meetings and has been the Vice President on Technical Activities in Systems Science and engineering of IEEE Systems, Man, and Society (SMCS). He is an elected IEEE Fellow in 2007 and received the “Outstanding Contribution Award” from IEEE SMCS in 2008. Meanwhile, Dr. Chen is a program evaluator for Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology in the US.

It’s been nearly three decades since he left Taiwan, and Prof. Chen has scored remarkable achievements recognized by the academic circle in the US. He has accepted UM’s offer to serve as the new Dean of FST because of his desire to utilize what he has learned to make contributions to China and his belief in UM’s potential to become a leading university in Asia given its rapid development in recent years. After taking up the office, he will further improve UM’s “strength” areas, such as information security system, structural and environmental engineering, and medical science and engineering, in hopes of propelling UM to a leading status in Asia in such areas.

Prof. Chen notes that one of the keys to achieving sustainable development for a university is to gain international recognition of its research achievements. To reach this, he plans to encourage professors to publish papers on top international academic journals and invite young lecturers with the potential to become masters in their chosen fields to teach at FST. He will also make efforts to provide postgraduate students with the opportunity to go abroad for short-term research programme in collaboration with renowned scholars so they can learn the most cutting-edge technologies. He also plans to hold press conferences periodically to promote significant research achievements by FST faculty and students and invite representatives of top hi-tech companies from Macao and surrounding areas to attend such events so as to update the industry on the latest development of UM’s scientific research and explore more opportunities to collaborate with the industry in developing cutting-edge technologies.

UM is about to launch curriculum reform and strengthen general education. Prof. Chen notes that general education is very important for FST students because it not only can help increase students’ knowledge in humanities and arts, but also can help inspire creative ideas. To this end, FST is planning to launch more inspiring and innovative courses in hopes of nurturing more talents with creativity and passion for scientific research.