Professor Wang Cheng from the Department of Electrical Engineering at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK), was given the 2024 Alibaba DAMO Academy Young Fellow Award for his research on microwave photonic chips. Professor Wang is one of several young scholars from Hong Kong to receive the highest prize of up to RMB 1 million, marking the first time Hong Kong scholars have been awarded the highest prize since the award’s inception.

One of 15 awardees this year, Professor Wang was recognised for his development of a world-leading microwave photonic chip, which is capable of performing ultrafast analog electronic signal processing and computation using optics.

Professor Wang’s breakthrough development, which is 1,000 times faster and consumes less energy than a traditional electronic processor, has a wide range of applications in areas such as 5/6G wireless communications systems, high-resolution radar systems, artificial intelligence, computer vision and image/video processing. His research findings were published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, under the title “Integrated Lithium Niobate Microwave Photonic Processing Engine”.

Professor Wang expressed his gratitude for the DAMO Academy Young Fellow Award and said he hoped to inspire more students to push the boundaries of innovation. "This award is a recognition of years of research by my team and me,” he said. “As a young scientist honoured with this award, I hope that our research achievements will have a positive impact on society and inspire other young scholars and students to innovate, explore different possibilities, and contribute to society and the nation.”

He also acknowledged the room for development and opportunities provided by CityUHK for young professors and thanked the University for its support, which has allowed him to focus on scientific research and contribute to society.

The DAMO Academy Young Fellow Award, established by Alibaba DAMO Academy in 2018, is now in its 7th year. Over the years, it has recognised more than 170 outstanding young scholars aged 35 or under, encouraging them to conduct cutting-edge scientific research.