To strengthen the collaboration and academic exchanges in higher education between Macao and the United States, together with the goals of fostering scientific research activities, promoting teaching quality, and broadening the students’ horizons, Professor Jayathi Y. Murthy, Dean of the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, has visited the Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI) recently and received a warm welcome from Professor Marcus Im, the Vice-President of MPI. During her visit, she exchanged views with the faculty staff and the students from the Computing Programme of MPI. Professor Murthy congratulated MPI on its success in the academic and research achievements, both of which have obtained international recognition through acclaimed accreditation organisations. She hoped that the visit would further deepen the collaboration between the two universities.

Academic exchange partnership between UCLA and the Computing Programme of MPI has been successfully established over the past few years, according to Professor Im. The partnership has been very productive, completing several outstanding scientific research projects and joint academic programs. In 2010, both universities jointly set up a “Joint Research Center in Ubiquitous Computing” at MPI in order to facilitate research work in cutting-edge ubiquitous computing technologies and their applications. Every year, students from MPI’s Computer Programme are given the opportunities to perform scientific research work at UCLA. Through this instrumental visit of Professor Murthy, it is hoped that it will pave the way for deeper ties and more groundbreaking research work in the computing technologies.

Professor Murthy also praised the academic and research development of MPI. In particular, MPI has been accredited by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) of U.K. while the Computing Programme has been accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). As a result of the fruitful cooperation between MPI and UCLA over the past few years, she hoped to deepen the collaboration and explore new areas of cooperation, especially through the Joint Research Center in Ubiquitous Computing which was set up in line with the overall strategic goals of both sides.

Professor Murthy is one of the international authorities in the mechanical engineering field.  In 2016, she became the seventh dean of the UCLA Henry Samuel School of Engineering and Applied Science. She is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the author of more than 280 technical publications. She serves on the editorial boards of Numerical Heat Transfer and the International Journal of Thermal Sciences. She is an editor of the second edition of the Handbook of Numerical Heat Transfer.

The other guests who accompanied her visit included Mr. Brandon Baker, the Director of Development at UCLA and Professor Giovanni Pau of UCLA, and the hosts at MPI included Dr. Rita Tse, the Director of School of Public Administration and Dr. Chan Tong Lam, Coordinator of the Computing Programme, among others.

Professor Jayathi Y. Murthy (third from left), Dean of the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, commends MPI on its academic developments