Lei Ka-Meng, a PhD student from the University of Macau (UM) State-Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI and Faculty of Science and Technology (FST), recently received a Distinguished Design Award for his research paper at the IEEE Asian Solid-State Circuits Conference 2015 (IEEE A-SSCC 2015).

Lei’s research paper, titled ‘A µNMR CMOS Transceiver Using a Butterfly-Coil Input for Integration with a Digital Microfluidic Device Inside a Portable Magnet’, concerns a handheld nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) transceiver for chemical/biological diagnostics using the CMOS integrated circuit (IC) technology, which can serve as a low-cost, light-weight, high-sensitivity tool, suitable for a wide range of chemical/biological diagnostic applications.

As an annual international event aimed to provide a platform for participants to present the latest and most advanced chips and circuit designs in solid-state and semiconductor fields, this year’s conference attracted many students from prestigious universities in Europe and Asia. Candidates were required to perform onsite hardware demonstration, and only three of the 13 shortlisted candidates received the award. The other two award-winning students are from Aalto University in Finland and KU Leuven University in Belgium.

‘It is very important recognition of the student’s work, and with this award, Lei can be considered a young “star student” in this area,’ says Prof Mak Pui In, who supervised Lei’s research project with Dr. Man-Kay Law and Prof. Rui Martins.

After completing his undergraduate studies at UM, Lei went straight to PhD studies at his alma mater. Lei was also among the first group of students to graduate from UM’s Honour College.