Nobel prize goes to HK scientist

interesting report, pay attention to how Kao is depicted as a HKer.


EDTEDT1,EDT2
南華早報
Alex Lo and Phyllis Tsang2009-10-07
headline


Fibre optics expert wins physics award
When Charles Kao Kuen first proposed his revolutionary idea about fibre-optic communications more than four decades ago, he was laughed at and ignored. Today, the technology underpins the information superhighway and makes the internet possible. For his pivotal contribution, he became the first Hong Kong scientist to be awarded the Nobel Prize in physics yesterday.
The retired head of the Chinese University shares the prize with two Americans, Willard Boyle and George Smith, for their pioneering work on semiconductors and digital imaging. Kao, 75, will receive half the prize money, about US$500,000, while his US counterparts will split the rest.
"[Kao's] groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibres for optical communication, has shaped the foundations of today's networked societies," the Nobel jury said in a statement.
"If we were to unravel all of the glass fibres that wind around the globe, we would get a single thread over one billion kilometres long - which is enough to encircle the globe more than 25,000 times - and is increasing by thousands of kilometres every hour.
"[Kao's discovery means] text, music, images and video can be transferred around the globe in a split second."
Kao and his family are out of the city. In a statement released by Chinese University last night, Kao said: "I am absolutely speechless and never expected such an honour. The Nobel has never been given out for applied sciences before. This is very, very unexpected. Fibre optics has changed the world of information so much in these last forty years. It certainly is due to the fibre-optical networks that the news has travelled so fast."
Meanwhile, hopes are high that dissident mainland poet and perennial Nobel contender Bei Dao will finally win the literature prize this year, to be announced tomorrow. And activist Hu Jia, now serving 3?years in prison in Beijing for subversion, has been nominated for this year's peace prize, which will be announced on Friday.
Celebrated for decades as "the father of fibre optics", Kao has been a longtime proponent of making Hong Kong a knowledge-based economy and education reforms to secure the city's economic future and competitiveness.
Tributes flowed last night to congratulate Kao on being awarded science's most prestigious prize.
Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said: "The Hong Kong people and I extend our heartfelt congratulations to Professor Kao on receiving the honour. An outstanding scientist aside, Professor Kao is a true gentleman and a committed educator. We are immensely proud to have such an eminent figure in Hong Kong."
Chinese University vice-chancellor, Professor Lawrence Lau Juen-yee, said: "This is an honour to Chinese University, Hong Kong and all Chinese."
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology president, Professor Tony Chan Fan-cheong, said the award was well-deserved. "This is fantastic. He is a truly Hong Kong home-grown scientific giant."
Kao graduated from St Joseph's College in Mid-levels in 1952. He went to London to study electrical engineering and received a doctorate in the field in 1965. As a young researcher in 1960s London, Kao competed with some of the most talented engineers of the time on how to transmit large amounts of information over long distances without losing too much data. Systems using microwaves, lasers and other mediums were proposed. In 1966, Kao and research partner George Hockham presented a landmark paper proposing the use of optical fibres to transmit data through light pulses while maintaining high fidelity.
Their idea was elegant, ground-breaking and cost-effective: strands of glass fibres thinner than human hair and cheaper to produce than fishing line could transmit near-limitless amounts of digitised information. It was laughed at, however, by much of the engineering community, which looked on the pair with a high degree of scepticism.
The reaction was not just entrenched arrogance directed at two upstarts. Rather, manufacturing standards at the time limited the distance over which fibre optics could carry light. Light pulses could travel only a few metres before losing signal strength and therefore the data.
Kao's central insight was that the loss of data was due to impurities in the fibres. Once these imperfections were removed, there should be no limits on how far data could be sent without losing signals. In 1970, manufacturers made their first breakthrough in making fibres so pure they could turn Kao's dream into reality. Almost overnight, the engineering community embraced the visionary proposal it had initially scorned.
The Chinese University scored a major coup in the early 1980s when it lured Kao from prestigious research posts in Britain and the US to become a full-time engineering professor at its Sha Tin campus. He headed the university as vice-chancellor from 1987 to 1996. During his tenure, he helped turn the university into a powerhouse in engineering and science, a field long dominated by the much-older University of Hong Kong.
After he left academic life, Kao continued to promote science and technology as a means to transform Hong Kong's economy. He did this through his own company that specialised in technology transfer, as well as being non-executive director of several hi-tech companies.
He also supported education reform and helped found the ISF Academy, an independent primary and secondary school in Pok Fu Lam that combines the best practices of international schools with an emphasis on teaching the Chinese language and culture. Since last year, however, he has given up all his official posts.
Kao's wife, Wong May-wan, confirmed early this year that the Shanghai-born scientist was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
In a 2006 interview with the BBC, Kao recalled the excitement he felt with his breakthrough research on fibre optics despite intense scepticism from his peers. "I only hope that my opening of the 'Pandora's box' will bring much joy to the world and not the reverse," he said.