Nobel Laureate sheds light on technological entrepreneurship

[Sponsored article] With the generous support from The D. H. Chen Foundation, the Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles (FAST) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) invited Prof. Dan Shechtman, 2011 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, to speak at the PolyU 80th Anniversary Nobel Laureate Lecture Series with the title "Why Should We Teach Technological Entrepreneurship in Universities?". 

Prof. Shechtman believed that the dropping birth rates in developed countries nowadays inevitably pose threats to the countries for maintaining stable and economically advanced societies. Apart from opening borders to waves of immigration or encouraging families to have more children, he pointed out that skilled entrepreneurs can fill the gap by starting hi-tech businesses with high return on investment and human capital, and hence is the key to building up thriving economies. He believed motivating university students of engineering, medicine and science as a start would help set up a group of role models of successful entrepreneurs who will then kick start a process leading to a huge difference in the life of a country.

Prof. Shechtman's Nobel Prize-awarded discovery of the Icosahedral Phase by TEM (Transmission Electro Microscope) opened the new science of quasiperiodic crystals. He is now Philip Tobias Professor of Materials Science at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University.

PolyU has invited renowned Nobel Laureates from various fields to share their insights on a wide range of topics to the local community. The Nobel Laureate Lecture Series is one of the celebratory events for PolyU's 80th anniversary.