Swinburne welcomes Chinese minister

Date posted: Thursday 24 Mar 2011

The Chinese Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Wan Gang, will visit Swinburne today to tour the university’s world-class research facilities.

The visit will highlight Swinburne’s new Advanced Technologies Centre (ATC) as well as the research that Swinburne’s Centre for Micro-Photonics is undertaking with a number of Chinese institutions.

Director of the Centre for Micro-Photonics, Professor Min Gu said the visit would allow the minister to experience Swinburne’s research first-hand.

“This is an opportunity for Swinburne to showcase its research excellence, specifically in the areas of optical data storage and solar cell technology,” Professor Gu said.

“In cooperation with Tsinghua University in China, we will deliver the first generation of terabyte capacity multi-dimensional CD drives and discs by 2015, which can hold more than 200 DVD quality movies.

“This data storage technology is not only a breakthrough - it will have a huge social and economic impact on our way of life and fundamentally change our current education, remote medicines and national defence.

“It is important for the minister to understand the impact of the technology and the importance of the collaborations we have formed with institutions in China.

“Tsinghua University is the top technology university in China and a good match for Swinburne’s technology focus. With the minister’s assistance, we hope to develop more linkages with industry in China, particularly in the Shenzhen and Guangdong provinces where the best ICT industries are located.”

Acting Swinburne Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andy Flitman said the landscape of Swinburne’s campuses had changed rapidly over the past year.

“The Advanced Technologies Centre is now an iconic building in Melbourne and has intrigued many people in what we are doing here. We have certainly grown significantly in 2011 and these developments have changed the way we move ahead. We now have a very good platform to move into next tier of world-class universities," Flitman said.

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