Electronic and Computer Engineering alumnus Mr Frank Wang, BEng (2006), MPhil (2011), has been named one of the Top 10 Innovators in China by Forbes magazine China edition and one of his company's products selected as a Top 10 Gadget for 2014 by TIME magazine. Frank started to design unmanned aerial vehicles while studying at HKUST. He founded DJI Innovations in 2006, which has gone on to become a world leader in developing and manufacturing high-performance, reliable, and easy-to-use small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for commercial and recreational use. DJI now has over 1,500 employees and is among the largest businesses of its kind in its market. The TIME accolade was for the company's Phantom 2 Vision+ flying camera.
In a 2014 lecture at HKUST, more than 140 School of Engineering faculty, students and staff attended a presentation by DJI staff member and Electronic and Computer Engineering alumnus Mr Mingyu Wang, BEng (2009), MPhil (2012). Mingyu explained the technologies inside the unmanned aerial vehicles they have developed and provided a live demo of recent products.
Prof Zexiang Li who mentored Frank and Mingyu while at HKUST, also gave an overview of entrepreneurship opportunities in the electronic and computer engineering area at the presentation and introduced students who have successfully started their own companies based on the knowledge and ideas gained from course projects, participation in Robocon robotics contests, and final year projects.