ASU, City University of Hong Kong team up in education, innovation

A new partnership between Arizona State University (ASU) and the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) will open up opportunities for students, scientists and entrepreneurs alike.

The two universities signed a Memorandum of Understanding during a ceremony on April 21 at CityU. Through this partnership, the universities will develop collaborations that could lead to establishment of joint research centers around topics of mutual interest including flexible systems, digital media and sustainability.

In addition, ASU SkySong and CityU’s Shenzhen Research Institute will explore ways to cooperate on entrepreneurship and innovation. Finally, the partnership offers potential for joint education programs focusing on interdisciplinary study and globalization.

“When I visited Hong Kong in October 2009, I discovered that City University’s vision and mission align beautifully with ASU’s,” said ASU President Michael Crow. “This partnership will open up opportunities for us in Asia and help us provide a truly global education to our students.”

CityU President Way Kuo added, "Working with Arizona State is a major step for City University of Hong Kong to strengthen its international collaborations."

The joint research programs will merge areas of strength for both universities.

“There is enormous strength at ASU in advanced materials and flexible electronics,” said Sethuraman “Panch” Panchanathan, ASU’s chief research officer. Gregory Raupp, vice president (research and technology) at CityU, was the founder and former director of ASU’s Flexible Display Center. The FDC is a collaboration between ASU and the U.S. Army designed to accelerate commercialization of flexible, lightweight electronic displays.

“The Flexible Display Center is a flagship program that has garnered national and international attention,” said Panchanathan.

In the digital media realm, the partnership will draw upon the strengths of ASU’s longstanding Arts, Media and Engineering program and CityU’s School of Creative Media and its unique Applied Laboratory for Interactive Visualization and Embodiment (ALiVE).

With regard to sustainability, Panchanathan noted that the two institutions share a “natural synergy.”

“ASU is looking at sustainability from the perspective of dry regions. City University is looking at oceans and coastal cities,” he explained.

“Our partnership with City University of Hong Kong will allow for an exchange of faculty, researchers, students and most importantly, ideas,” said R. F. “Rick” Shangraw, ASU’s senior vice president for Knowledge Enterprise Development.

Raupp added: “We are looking at each other as portals to the East and West. Here in Hong Kong we very much want to leverage our history and geography to be the ‘East meets West’ hub that brings the U.S. and Asia together in new and exciting ways.”

Written by Diane Boudreau, Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development