Andrew Kusiak, professor and departmental executive officer of mechanical and industrial engineering, has been appointed visiting research professor at the University of Hong Kong.

Kusiak will be helping develop a research program in big data through a proposed Asian Institute of Open Innovation, research in the design of digital awareness devices, and big data research in health care.

The institute will serve as an incubator of innovation science leading to large commercial impact involving University of Hong Kong faculty, the local Hong Kong business community, and government agencies.

The research in digital awareness device design will involve smart human-centric devices such as wearable devices, smart home solutions, devices and systems supporting and enhancing the quality of life, solutions improving human and animal well being, virtual systems enhancing decision making, and systems enhancing safety.

The health care big data research will focus on classification of patients, disease prognostics, disease diagnosis support, patient specific treatment recommendations, and alerts of adverse effects.

The University of Hong Kong (informally known as HKU or Hong Kong University) is a public research university located in Pokfulam, Hong Kong, founded in 1911 during the British Colonial era. It is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong, originally established to compete with other countries that had opened higher learning institutions in China at the beginning of the twentieth century. Today, HKU is organized into 10 academic faculties, exhibiting strength in scholarly research and education of humanities, law, political sciences, and biomedicine.