Professor Horace Ho-Shing IP

Prof. Horace H. S. Ip received his B.Sc. (First Class Honours) degree in Applied Physics and Ph.D. degree in Image Processing from University College London, United Kingdom, in 1980 and 1983 respectively. Presently, he is the Chair Professor of the Department of Computer Science and the founding director of the Image Computing Group and AIM tech Centre (Centre for Innovative Applications of Internet and Multimedia Technologies) at City University of Hong Kong. His research interests include multimedia and image analysis, pattern recognition, IT in education interactive multimedia and virtual environment. Prof. Ip is a member of the Editorial Boards of the IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, Pattern Recognition Journal (Elsevier), The Visual Computer (Springers), the International Journal of Multimedia Tools and Applications (Kluwer Academic), the Chinese Journal of CAD and Computer Graphics (The Chinese Academy of Science), and a guest editor for the international journals Real-Time Imaging (Academic Press) and Real-Time Systems (Kluwer Academic). In 2005, he has been appointed an Area Editor for the Pattern Recognition Letters journal.

Prof. Ip serves on the International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR) Governing Board and served as founding co-chair of its Technical Committee (TC12) on Multimedia Systems. He is currently the Vice-Chairman of the China Computer Federation, Technical Committee on CAD & Computer Graphics. He was the Chairman of the IEEE (Hong Kong Section) Computer chapter, a Council member of the Hong Kong Computer Society and the Founding President of the Hong KongSociety for Multimedia and Image Computing. He has published over 180 papers in international journals and conference proceedings. Prof. Ip is a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE), a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), United Kingdom and a senior member of IEEE. Prof Ip has been awarded in 2004 the prestigious Fellow of International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR) for contributions to the field of Pattern Recognition.

Prof. Ip's applied R&D and consultancy work has won him many local and international awards, including City University of Hong Kong Applied Research Excellence Awards (1995), the Hong Kong Computer Society IT Excellence Awards (2002), Prix Ars Electronica, Ars Electronica, Austria (2002), the Hong Kong SAR Hong Kong Awards for Industry (2003), Asia-Pacific Information and Communications Technology Award (2003), the 2005 Hong Kong Outstanding Software Applications Competition, Platinum Award for Manufacturing Category, jointly organized by Oracle, HP and Intel.

Locally, Prof. Ip also actively involves in the promotion of IT in teaching and learning and IT Professional certification. He chairs the Dissemination and Promotion Subcommittee of the HKSAR Quality Education Fund (QEF), the organization committee for Teachers' Professional Experience Sharing Month in 2006 and 2007, and the Organization committee of the QEF Expo 2005. He is the Deputy Chairman of the Information Discipline (INF) of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) and the scientific advisor for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, HKSAR Government. Prof. Ip is currently actively involved in the development of an IT Professional Certification System and IT Manpower Roster for the local IT industry, he serves on the newly established IT Professional Certification Board of the Hong Kong Computer Society (HKCS), and the Professional Assessment Panel for Reciprocal Recognition on Professional Qualifications for Membership between HKCS and HKIE.

In addition to his technical contributions to the field of pattern recognition, computer graphics and multimedia technology, Professor Ip has been recognized as one of world's distinguished innovators by the TIME magazine in 2007 and has pioneered novel applications of digital and interactive media technologies in visual art, psychotherapy of physically and emotionally abused children, Chinese calligraphy, rehabilitation, and e-learning. Professor Ip's work has won awards in electronic arts festival and invention symposiums, such as Prix Ars Electronica at Linz, and the Geneva International Invention Symposium. His innovations such as Body Brush, Smart Ambience Therapy, Body Baton, have been shown at premium venues of digital media arts and technology such as SIGGRAPH, Ars Electronica, International Symposium of Electronic Arts, and ACM Multimedia and have been extensively reported in various languages by international press, such as CNN, BBC, Spanish TV (Telecino), Russia, Japan, Vietnam.