Graduates from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) have swept up most of the prizes in the Best Paper Awards at the 6th IEEE (Hong Kong) Antennas and Propagation/Microwave Theory and Techniques Postgraduate Conference.

 

This year's competition was so keen that there were two champions in the Antennas and Propagation Section: Teresa Mak Ka-ming and Vinci Chang Wan-si, who both graduated from the Department of Electronic Engineering (EE) at CityU this year.

 

Last year's graduates from the same department Kong King-cheung and Cheng Tsan-fung were the 1st runners-up in the Antennas and Propagation Section and the Microwave Theory and Techniques Section, respectively.

 

These outstanding achievements by the EE graduates once again demonstrate that CityU excels in both teaching and applied research.

 

Ms Mak won her award with her research paper entitled “Wideband Shorted Bow Tie Antenna” in which she simplifies the design and structure of the existing bow tie antennas and reduces energy wastage in the process of propagation. Such antennas can be used in various kinds of wireless communications systems, such as 3G mobile networks and wireless LANs.

 

"I never thought I’d win any awards," Ms Mak said. “My main priority is to work hard on my research projects.”

 

She added that professors and senior fellow students from her department gave her a great deal of guidance and support while she was studying at CityU. She especially wanted to thank her supervisor Chair Professor Luk Kwai-man, Head of EE. Ms Mak now works as a research assistant in the department.

 

Ms Chang is equal champion in the Antennas and Propagation Section with Ms Mak. Her paper, entitled “Retrodirective Array for Radio Frequency Identification and Microwave Tracking Beacon Applications,” doubled up as her final-year project.

 

The system outlined in Ms Chang's paper helps safeguard data security in wireless communication, making sure no messages are sent to a third party. The system can be applied to radio frequency identification systems for large-scale stocktaking at container terminals or logistics centers, and in military communications and intelligent transport systems. 

 

Ms Chang is now a hardware engineer with a technology company that focuses on the development and design of wireless portable products.

 

Looking back, Ms Chang said she really missed campus life at CityU.

 

“I was involved in a lot of student activities in my first year,” she said. “And I really enjoyed working on my final-year project.”

 

In August, Ms Chang also took home the championship, and Ms Mak earned a merit award, in the Undergraduate Section of the IEE Hong Kong (Younger Members Section) Paper Contest 2005.