Name Otto C.C.Lin | ||
Otto Chui Chau Lin (Chinese: 林垂宙) was born on August 8, 1938, in Shantou, Kwangdong, China.
He is Senior Advisor to the President of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Senior Advisor to Industrial Technology Research Institute, and Adjunct Professor of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). He served HKUST as Vice President for Research and Development from 1997 to 2003 and as Senior Advisor to the President from 2003 to 2007.
In 2005, he served as CEO of China Nansha Technology Enterprises Ltd. in Hong Kong, which managed the development of the Nansha IT Park, dedicated as a center of technology and innovation for the Pearl River Delta. He spearheaded this collaborative program of HKUST, the Fok Ying Tung Foundation, and the Guangzhou City Government from its start in 1999.
Lin was President of Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Taiwan (1988–94). Prior to that, he served as founding Director of ITRI's Materials Research Lab (1983–1988). ITRI's innovative work in the research, development, and transfer of industrial technology is widely acknowledged as providing the foundation for Taiwan's high-tech economy. During Lin's presidency, ITRI successfully developed and transferred technologies for micro-electronics (ULSI), notebook PCs, automobile engines, carbon fiber composite bicycles, HBLED, specialty chemicals, and others.
He received his BS (Chem Eng) from the National Taiwan University (1960) and MA and PhD from Columbia University (Physical Chem, 1963 & 67). He completed the Advanced Management Program of the Harvard University Graduate School of Business (AMP 101, 1987).His industrial experience in the USA totals 17 years with the E. I. Du Pont Company (Wilmington) in many R&D capacities and later,with the Westlake Group (Houston) as Senior Vice President and CTO.
He was Dean of Engineering (1977–79), Professor of Polymer Sciences (1977–78) and Professor Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (1994–95) of the National Tsing Hua University (Hsinchu). He has held Visiting/Advisory/Honorary Professorships at: National University of Singapore, Tsinghua University (Beijing), University of Science and Technology-China (Hefei), Beijing Institute of Technology, Shanghai JiaoTong University, Xian JiaoTong University and Southwest Jiaotong University (Chengdu). He has lectured and chaired several core sessions of the Salzburg Global Seminar on subjects related to national innovation systems and entrepreneurship during 1995 to 2008.
He was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (Stockholm), Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Science, and Asia Pacific Academy of Materials. His honors included the TWNSO Award in Technology of the Third World Academy of Sciences (Trieste), CIE-USA Outstanding Achievement Award, Medal of Chemical Engineering (CIChE-Taipei), Distinguished Leadership Award of Drexel University (USA), Lu Zhi-Hon Medals of Materials Sciences and others.
He served as President of Asia Pacific Confederation of Chemical Engineering (APCChE), 1993–96, and President of the Chinese Society of Material Sciences, and was on the Board of Directors of many public corporations and universities.His research interests include management of technology and innovation, national innovation systems, science and technology policy, knowledge transfer, science parks, and polymers for electronic applications.
Lin has authored many technical papers, keynote presentations, plenary speeches and book chapters in both Chinese and English. His two most recent books are written in Chinese:
- China on the rise:Competition of Soft Power in the Globalization Era, Hong Kong University Press, 2010, Hong Kong “中华崛起未? 全球化时代软实力的竞赛”, 香港大学出版社, 2010. ISBN 978 988 8028 95 5
- The Technology Innovation Quartet: Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurship, Commerce Culture Press, 2013, Taipei “科技创新四重奏: 成功创业故事解密”, 商讯文化, 2013. ISBN 978 986 5812 02 7
A 2010 oral history -“Otto C. C. Lin: Promoting Education, Innovation and Chinese Culture in the Era of Globalization" - is housed at the University of California-Berkeley. http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/collections/subjectarea/sci_tech/engineering.html