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Automation aims to build
machines that can alleviate human workload effectively,
efficiently and reliably. Automated machines may
be sizeable robots assembling automobiles in a
factory, or minuscule precision devices manipulating
molecules in a biological cell. Automated machines
may also include self-guiding vacuum cleaner at
home, or a rover roaming on the surface of Mars.
These machines can replace humans for working
in hazardous environments, or assist them in performing
surgeries on operating tables. Automation today
is taking big strides forward due to rapid advances
in computing technology. Computers are expediting
all aspects of the automation process – from design
to communication and to the implementation of
complicated algorithms. This is how automation
and computer-aided engineering come together.
Automation is about tailoring and integrating
a diversity of technologies for the autonomous
operations, and computer-aided engineering is
about empowering the smooth and optimal running
of individual components and the integrated system.
The CUHK Department of Automation
and Computer-Aided Engineering is committed to
innovate and develop automation technologies and
their novel applications, as well as to educate
the next generation of engineers on this important
and growing field. To this end, we have a dedicated
and energetic team of faculty members working
in unison. The Department ranks top in the University
in terms of successful applications to the HKSAR
Research Grant Council Earmarked Grant. We are
awarded over HKD10 million of research and technology
funds on average each year from government and
corporate sources. The Department also has an
excellent track record in technology transfer
with industries in Hong Kong and Pearl River Delta
region through active collaboration in joint projects.
Our students will learn
the key technologies of sensors and actuators,
control, materials, computational methods, CAD,
micro-systems, and manufacturing, and system integration.
Our graduates will have the advantage of a sound
and versatile engineering background, as well
as a keen sense of technological trends and development
in the automation field. They are uniquely positioned
to become future leaders and entrepreneurs of
their professions. Just this summer, a team from
our Department won the Best Engineering Design
Award in the Hong Kong preliminaries of the Asia-pacific
Robocon 2004 Competition. We are also proud to
announce Sengital, a recent spin-off company started
by one of our PhD graduates, who was also the
first divisional runner-up at the prestigious
Global Moot Corp Competition at the University
of Texas in USA in May 2004.
Another exciting development
this past summer is our Department's move to the
new Engineering Building Phase II. We now enjoy
appreciably more space and brand new facilities
and laboratories for teaching and research. I
welcome our young friends to browse through our
website for more information on the curriculum,
admission, staff members, facilities and projects
of our Department as they contemplate their future
plans. Feel free to visit us at Room 213 Engineering
Building Complex – Phase II at the CUHK campus,
or call us at 2609-8343. We will be happy to talk
to you.
Yeung Yam
Chairman
Department of Automation and Computer-Aided Engineering
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Biography
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