Research Areas:
Digital Video, Internet, Multimedia, Wireless and Satellite Communications

Dr. Zhang Ya-Qin received his ScD degree from George Washington University in 1989. He is currently Corporate Vice President of Microsoft, leading its research and development efforts in the Asia-Pacific region. He also serves as the Chairman of Microsoft China Corporation providing leadership and governance across all of Microsoft’s organizations in the Greater China Region. Before joining Microsoft in 1999, he had worked at Sarnoff Corporation and GTE Laboratories (now part of Verizon).

Dr. Zhang has been an IEEE Fellow in 1997 at the age of 31. A holder of more than 60 US patents, he has published more than 500 refereed papers in leading international conferences and journals. He was a key contributor to the ISO/MPEG and ITU standardization efforts in digital video and multimedia. He has served as editor-in-chief for influential IEEE journals and publications.

Dr. Zhang is highly regarded as a technology and industry visionary. He received many awards from US including IEEE “Industry Pioneer Medal”, “IEEE Centennial Medal”, “IEEE Fellow Award”, “2004 Young Engineer of the year” for his pioneering contributions on digital video, mobile communications, and Internet technology and industry. He is one of the most visible industry leaders in China with distinctions including “Top ten CEOs”, “IT Leader of the year”, and “Top 10 innovators of the year”, "50 Most Influential people" in China. He has served on the Board of Directors of several high-tech IT companies in China (SOHU, CRIC, China Soft, Wicresoft) and is an advisor to five provinces and central government agencies in China. He holds honorary/guest/adjunct professorship of some 20 universities in China, Australia, Hong Kong, and US.