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Dean of IDEAS Prof. George Du Served as a Special Guest in the "Training Course for Macao’s Workers in Science and Technology" in Hefei

2024-07-05

05

Jul

05/07/2024

The “Training Course for Macao’s Workers in Science and Technology” organised by FDCT and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, aimed to provide experts and scholars from Macao’s universities and enterprises with an in-depth understanding of the national policies and plans for the development of scientific and technological (S&T) innovation, and facilitate Macao’s integration into the overall national development.

The Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) jointly held the “Training Course for Macao’s Workers in Science and Technology” in Hefei, Anhui Province from the 23rd to 29th of June 2024, in an effort to provide experts and scholars from Macao’s universities and enterprises with an in-depth understanding of the national policies and plans for the development of scientific and technological (S&T) innovation, and facilitate Macao’s integration into the overall national development. 
 
Through this initiative, Macao can benefit from Hefei’s experience in promoting high-quality economic training for Macao’s S&T workers in S&T innovation-driven development, and strengthen S&T worker exchanges and cooperation between Macao and the mainland.
 
The training course has a total enrolment of 13 trainees, including elite researchers from universities, administrative directors, as well as representatives from youth innovation hub and key technology enterprises in Macao. Among them, Prof. George Du, the Dean of the Institute for Data Engineering and Sciences (IDEAS) of USJ Macao, participated as a special guest of the training course. Dr. Raymond Lam, Head of the Research Development Office, also participated in the training class.
 
Training Course for Macao’s Workers in Science and Technology
[Photo: Guests including Prof. George Du (second from left in the front row) took a group photo with Dr. Raymond Lam, Head of the Research Development Office (seventh from left in the back row) and other participants.]
 
On the 2rd of June, Luo Yunfeng, Mayor of Hefei, held a working meeting with Che Weng Keong, President of the Administrative Committee of FDCT, and all training course participants. The meeting was also attended by Lu Jun, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Hefei Municipal Committee; Liu Yexun, Deputy Director of Anhui Provincial Department of Education; Professor Im Sio Kei, Marcus, Rector of Macao Polytechnic University; Professor Hun-wei Lee, President of Macau University of Science and Technology; Professor Ge Wei, Vice Rector of the University of Macau; Professor George Du, Dean of IDEAS of the USJ; and Professor Li Xi, Associate Dean of the City University of Macau, among others.
 
The opening ceremony took place on the 24th June. Che Weng Keong; Liu Jianguo, President of Hefei Institute of Physical Science, CAS; Li Fangfang, Director of the Hong Kong, Macao & Taiwan Affairs office, Bureau of International Cooperation of CAS; and Lu Bo, Deputy Director of Hefei Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, attended and addressed the opening ceremony.
 
Che Weng Keong
[Photo: President Che Weng Keong addresses the opening ceremony]

According to Che Weng Keong, Macao is now facing a major development opportunity in the midst of the S&T development. In the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area; and the Master Plan of the Development of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin promulgated by the country, it clearly indicates the direction of Macao’s S&T development and expands the development space for the S&T industry.

In 2023, the Macao SAR Government released the Development Plan for Appropriate Economic Diversification of the Macao SAR (2024-2028), which clearly lists high-tech as one of the four key industries. To align with the SAR government’s policy address, FDCT will ramp up efforts to build an industry-university-research ecosystem to improve the environment for innovation; give priority to applied research and promote R&D in enterprises; drive the transformation of research achievements in line with the development of the Cooperation Zone, thereby conducting various tasks upon the implementation of the collaborative model of “Research and development in Macao, and achievement transformation in Hengqin”. Mr. Che expressed hope that the trainees would cherish this training opportunity, and deepen their understanding of the mainland’s S&T policies and development situation, believing that Hefei’s valuable experience will certainly enlighten Macao on its S&T development, help Macao come up with new ideas and spark new thoughts to achieve new outcomes.

The training course has rich content, focusing on the national S&T innovation, the integrated regional development of the Yangtze River Delta, the S&T innovation and development in Hefei, and other topics. Besides, a number of field visits are arranged, including visiting several national major scientific research facilities and institutions, such as nuclear fusion, Hefei Light Source; visiting research institutes, such as Hefei Institute of Physical Science, University of Science and Technology of China; visiting top-notch enterprises, such as iFLYTEK, BOE, NIO. During the training, renowned experts in related fields are also invited to give lectures. During the trip, at the invitation of Professor Zhang Li, Dean of the School of Mathematics of Hefei University of Technology, Professor George Du gave a lecture on “Artificial Intelligence Interpretability” which was warmly welcomed by the graduate students and professors of the School of Mathematics.

 
China's first superconducting tokamak device HT-7
[Photo: Prof. George Du and Dr. Raymond Lam took a photo in front of China’s first superconducting tokamak device HT-7]
 
(Source of some information and photos: Macao Science and Technology Development Fund)