Honorary Chairmen

Mrs Mak has over 30 solid years of experience in information technology. Prior to joining Hong Kong Productivity Council, Mrs Mak founded her own IT consultancy business. She also has extensive working experience in both private and public sectors having held key posts in various communication companies as well as statutory body.

Along with her full-time career, Mrs Mak has been very active within the Hong Kong IT Community. She was the President of Hong Kong Computer Society (1995-1998), Chairman of the Advisory Committee of Science Faculty of Hong Kong Baptist University (2008-2014), Chairman of Committee in Information Technology Training and Development of Vocational Training council (2008-2013), Vice Chairman of the General Support Program Vetting Committee of the Innovation and Technology Fund (2007-2010), Vice Chairman of Employee Retraining Board (2007-2010), Board member of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (2009-2010), Member of Hong Kong Councils for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (2008-2011)and Member of the Social Welfare Advisory Committee (2008-2013).

In addition to being an enthusiast in promoting the quality of higher education and enriching vocational education, Mrs Mak is also an advocate in advancing professional recognition for IT professionals in Hong Kong. She has assumed Chairman of the Information & Communications Technology / Industry Training Advisory Committee under the Education Bureau of HKSAR Government. Under her leadership, the Specification of Competency Standards for the IT industry was successfully developed. She has also taken up the position of Director In-charge of the Hong Kong Institute for IT Professional Certification which pioneers the first IT Professional credentialing scheme in Hong Kong. 

In 1995, Mrs Mak was recognized as one of Ten Most Outstanding Young Persons in the Hong Kong community that made significant IT contributions. In 1999, she was conferred Distinguished Fellow of the Hong Kong Computer Society. In 2002, she was appointed as a "Justice of Peace". In July 2007, she was awarded "Medal of Honor" by the HKSAR Government. And in November 2008, she was conferred Honorary Fellow of Vocational Training Council.

Dr Franklin Tong Fuk-kay serves as ASTRI’s Chief Executive Officer starting 1 September 2014. Prior to joining ASTRI, Dr Tong was Deputy General Manager and Chief Technology Officer of Hisense Broadband Multimedia Technologies Co. Ltd and Chief Executive Officer of Archcom Technology Inc., a subsidiary of Hisense. While at Hisense, he led the acquisition of Multiplex, a US venture-based semiconductor laser fab, with most of its staff from Bell Labs. As CEO of Archcom, he completely overhauled its management and system and launched several new products.

Before joining Hisense in February 2013, he was a Vice President of SAE Magnetics (HK) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of TDK Corporation focusing on the provision of all range of storage solutions and products. During his eight-year tenure at SAE, he was the pioneer in the establishment of its optical component business unit. By the time of his departure, SAE had launched many advanced optical products that were used in data centre and data communication, as well as for consumer electronics market. Together with other key members of the group, he also successfully built the laser capability of TDK/SAE.

Dr Tong took up the position of Head of Optical Communications Component Group at ASTRI in 2001, under a secondment arrangement with the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). While at ASTRI, he brought to fruition in 2004 SAE’s acquisition of his research team as well as the technologies his team developed, making it the first successful spin-off case of a government funded research and development centre.

Earlier in his professional life, Dr Tong had a successful sojourn at IBM Research from 1987 to 1996, first working on blue-green emitting solid-state lasers for optical recording and later on multi-wavelength optical communications modules and systems. He received numerous awards from IBM, including the prestigious IBM Outstanding Innovation Award in 1995.

Dr Tong was a Professor at the Information Engineering Department of CUHK from 1996 to 2004. He currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of the same Department, thus maintaining a close tie with the academia.Dr Tong obtained his PhD degree from Columbia University in 1987 with his thesis research conducted at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory in the US.

Dr Tong has been very active in community and professional activities. Apart from serving as a Director of the ASTRI Board from March 2012 to May 2014, he was also consultant to several local and international companies, including Lucent Technologies in 2000. From 1993 to 2004 Dr Tong was an Associate Editor for IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, and served as programme chairman and technical committee member for numerous conferences. He has authored and co-authored about 200 papers and was awarded 19 patents.