“Success is an attitude rather than a utilitarian description. Success requires you to keep optimistic all the time,” Dr. Zhang Hongjiang, CEO of Kingsoft Corporation Limited, said in a talk on the afternoon of 24 April during his visit to UIC.
Dr. Zhang Hongjiang says success is an attitude
He said that even during the Cultural Revolution he did not put out the flame of aspiration to knowledge, and was admitted to Zhengzhou University with honours in the first year of the resumption of the National College Entrance Examination. After graduation he worked in a research institute in Henan, where he stood out from over 4,000 people to get access to the Technical University of Denmark as a visiting scholar.
A year later, by virtue of his remarkable research results, he convinced his tutor and the academic committee to exceptionally provide a Ph.D programme for the Chinese who did not even own a master’s degree. He always says that sometimes destiny is not in our own hands, but when an opportunity presents itself, we may increase the possibility to clasp it and become successful on the basis of profound accumulation and positive attitudes.
The talk given by Dr. Zhang appeals to a full room of audience
After receiving the doctorate degree, Dr. Zhang Hongjiang gave up a life of ease in Denmark and resolved to be a researcher with more passion and freedom at the Institute of Systems Science, National University of Singapore. At the time of the emergence of multimedia technology, he seized the chance to make some achievements. "The determined pursuit in where your passion is located and the full understanding of where a technology is developed can lay a grounded foundation for your career," said Dr. Zhang of his choice of career.
An audience member raises a question
He then went to the Silicon Valley in the U.S., where he gradually led a comfortable life. Behind the success, however, he began to feel that he was trailing Chinese culture and had lost contact with the homeland. Thus he was pleased to accept the invitation to join Microsoft Research Asia.
Why would Dr. Zhang have abandoned an agreeable life in the U.S. and instead chosen a relative downgrade of life quality after his return? “In a society of material desire, a decision can be hardly made through intuition, but what you need when making a big decision is exactly your intuition. That you make the big decision and take actions is much better than doing nothing but splitting hairs and getting obsessed with every possible outcome,” explained Dr. Zhang.
Prof. Ng Ching-Fai, President of UIC, presenting a souvenir to Dr. Zhang
Dr. Zhang was the deputy managing director and a founding member of Microsoft Research Asia. His outstanding leadership and achievement have made him one of the 10 Microsoft Distinguished Scientists.
“We bring something good, rational technologies and good notions for the world, not just for patents and awards," he said.
He greatly appreciated UIC’s liberal arts education, and believed that people who received such education would make big contributions to society. He also expressed his admiration for the courage of the founders of UIC.
Dr. Zhang Hongjiang visits the Shadow Puppet Drama Pavilion
Dr. Zhang afterwards entered the Zhuhai software industry seminar held at UIC, of which attendees included senior managerial personnel from the Zhuhai Information Association, Dell Zhuhai Software R&D Centre, Eastcompeace Technology Co., Ltd., YGsoft Inc., Zhuhai WangYiDa, Zhuhai Dwarf-artisan and Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai Campus.
Outstanding leaders of Zhuhai software industry exchange their thoughts at UIC
Late in the evening at the High Table Dinner, Dr. Zhang Hongjiang delivered a speech on the opportunities and challenges in the era of mobile Internet. He said that China is at the forefront of the reform of mobile Internet and the Kingsoft is transforming itself to the direction accordingly. He also looks forward to further cooperation with UIC.
Dr. Zhang at the High Table Dinner
Kingsoft has been setting up collaboration with UIC since 2011, and the two sides signed an agreement of establishing a practicum base at the company in 2012.
Photographers: Irene Yu and Chen Qijie
Editor: Deen He
(from MPRO, with special thanks to the ELC)
