Prof. Ming Yu, Department of Electronic Engineering has been selected for the 2020 Microwave Application Award of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) for his contribution to the development of computer aided and robotic tuning for filters and multiplexers.  The award recognizes an individual or team of no more than five individuals for an outstanding application of microwave theory and techniques, which has been reduced to practice nominally 10 years before the award.

Filters and multiplexer are widely used in high frequency circuits in wireless communication systems. It is an important constituent of building reliable microwave communication network such as 5G build out and Satellites. Prof. Yu has a distinguished track record in the electronic engineering industry for decades before joining CUHK. He is well recognised for his work on developing the computer aided tuning (CAT) software for COM DEV in Canada in 1995, which was the first industry application of CAT.  He received the COM DEV CEO’s Achievement Award for the development of computer-aided tuning for microwave filters in 1995 and 2006 respectively, becoming the first person to receive the highest honor in COM DEV International Ltd twice. His pioneer works are widely followed worldwide in industries, specially in wireless applications. In 2003, he demonstrated the world’s first robotic filter/diplexer tuning system at an IEEE MTT-S conference workshop in Philadelphia, PA.

Prof. Yu received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada, in 1995. He joined COM DEV International, Cambridge, ON, Canada, as a Member of Technical Staff since 1993 and was involved in designing passive microwave/RF hardware for both space and ground-based applications.  He was a Principal Developer of a variety of COM DEV's core design and tuning software for microwave filters and multiplexers. He was a Manager of Filter/Multiplexer Technology (Space Group) and a Staff Scientist of Corporate Research and Development.  Until 2016, he was the Chief Scientist and the Director of Research and Development overseeing the development of company's research and development roadmap and next generation products and technologies, including high-frequency and high-power engineering, electromagnetic-based CAD and tuning for complex and large problems, and novel miniaturization techniques for microwave networks. Prof. Yu has also led the Advanced Technology Group, Cambridge, as the Chief Scientist and an Engineering Fellow. He was later promoted to Senior Honeywell Engineering Fellow, highest honor in a 140,000-employee organization.

Since joining CUHK in 2017, Prof. Yu has secured about $20M research funds, mainly from leading industry players. He has set up a joint Faculty lab named SpaceLab. He is focusing on developing high performance RF and microwave devices and systems for terrestrial and space communication systems. His team is working on Advanced electromagnetic CAD, synthesis, modeling and low-cost manufacturing technique for filters, multiplexers, antennas and other passive devices; applied machine learning for microwave engineering. He is also helping industry to solve many immediate issues such as IC designs and high-power problems.  

Prof. Yu is an IEEE Fellow and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. He was an IEEE Distinguished Microwave Lecturer from 2010 to 2012. He is now a member of IEEE speaker's bureau. He served as an IEEE MTT society Filter Committee Chair (MTT-8) and Chair of MTT technical committee TPC-11. He was an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques. Prof. Yu is the TPC Chair of 2020 Asia Pacific Microwave Conference in to be held in Hong Kong Science Park. He published over 30 patents. He has authored or co-authored over 150 publications and numerous proprietary reports.

The award will be conferred at the annual Society Awards Meeting for August 2020 at the International Microwave Symposium to be held in Los Angel, California.