With the project entitled: “Building a Foundation for Sustainable Development: ''Networked Societies” for the Cities of Tomorrow”, Dr. Duong Quang Trung from Queen’s University Belfast in the UK and Dr. Vo Nguyen Son from Duy Tan University were awarded the 2017 Newton Prize Vietnam worth £ 200,000. The award was announced at a ceremony in Hanoi on November 16th to celebrate the Newton Program Vietnam, with the attendance of Mr.Giles Lever, the UK Ambassador to Vietnam.
Mr.Giles Lever, the UK Ambassador to Vietnam and Deputy Minister for Science and Technology Tran Quoc Khanh award the Newton Prize 2017 to Dr. Duong Quang Trung (second from right) and Dr. Vo Nguyen Son (second from left)
The British Council is one of 15 UK delivery partners for the Newton Fund, which builds research and innovation partnerships with 18 partner countries to support their economic development and social welfare, and to develop their research and innovation capacity for long-term sustainable growth. It has a total UK Government investment of £735 million up until 2021, with matched resources from the partner countries. The Newton Prize is awarded for the best research that promotes economic development and social welfare in developing countries by an independent Newton Prize Committee, chaired by Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society and Nobel Prize winner.
Four other projects by Vietnamese researchers nominated for the prize were also presented.
The project also wins a prize for the most outstanding research project at the 2016 IEEE GLOBECOM in Washington D.C., the US
The Integrated Heterogeneous Wireless System (IHWS) allows the transmission of wireless communications in disaster situations, especially when communications networks are seriously impaired, power supplies are disrupted or disabled, or communications networks congested. The system also provides early warning of natural disasters by detecting changes in water levels, seismic vibrations and wind speeds, in locations vulnerable to natural disasters. In big cities, the system can also detect sudden increases in dust concentrations, temperatures, noise levels and CO2 gas emissions, allowing quick solutions and limiting the impact of urbanization on daily living standards.
“From 2005 to 2014 alone, Vietnam was affected by 649 natural disasters, making 10 thousand casualties and destroying 1.5 million homes. Although Vietnam has been making great efforts to reduce the impact of natural disasters and to limit pollution, scientific and technological solutions are not being effectively researched and implemented.”, said Dr. Duong Quang Trung. The project “Building a Foundation for Sustainable Development: ''Networked Societies” for the Cities of Tomorrow” provide residents in locations vulnerable to natural disasters with better warning to help them reduce losses. We are so happy to have won the 2017 Newton Prize. Research at DTU is growing strongly both in research capacity and in number of international publications. Winning the Newton Prize 2017 proves that DTU’s workforce are establishing their quality and prestige, and are capable of collaborating with research groups and scientists at famous universities around the globe to carry out international-level research.”
Dr. Vo Nguyen Son said: “The results of this project are very successful, with 27 publications in international ISI journals and 18 presentations at international conferences. The project also won a prize for the most outstanding research project at the 2016 IEEE GLOBECOM conference, the biggest international telecommunications event. The Integrated Heterogeneous Wireless System has been deployed in locations with recurring natural disasters, in Quang Nam and in the rapid urbanization of Danang. Financed by the Newton Prize of 2017, the system will be optimized even further. My DTU colleagues and I are even more excited to continue our research and are confident that our university will enter the Time Higher Education (THE) top 300 list by 2022.”
The Newton Prize winners were also announced at celebratory award ceremonies held in each of the partner countries: India on 1 November; Thailand on 22 November and Malaysia on 28 November.