A STUDENT AT University College Cork has been honoured by the Chinese government as the most outstanding PhD student in Ireland, writes Dick Ahlstom.
Zhipeng Ye is a third-year postgraduate who finishes his degree in microelectronic engineering later this summer. He was among a group of 10 Chinese entrants to the competition who flew out to China for part of the adjudication process. "I had to enter the competition and apply by myself through the embassy in Ireland," Ye says.
Once there, they were interviewed by a committee of the China Scholarship Council, which includes members of the Chinese Science Academy plus invited experts.
China started the National Awards for Outstanding Self-financing Overseas Students in 2003 and the programme now includes students studying in 28 countries, he says. The awards cover all disciplines from science and engineering through medicine, the arts and commerce.
Seven of the group from Ireland received awards worth about €3,300 each and Ye was ranked highest of these. This year, 301 awards were presented to Chinese students studying abroad.
Ye already holds a BEng from the Harbin Institute of Technology in China and a master's degree in microelectronic design from UCC. His PhD research has been in UCC's Tyndall National Institute, working under the college's vice-president of research, Prof Peter Kennedy.
It has been a particularly noteworthy collaboration given he has published two papers in peer-reviewed journals, has won prizes for his presentations at international conferences and has filed for a patent on an aspect of his work in Cork.
His PhD research focuses on a device known as a frequency synthesizer. These are found in devices that handle digital information including mobile phones, MP3 players and wireless communications.
"If you look at mobiles, in order to transmit a signal the signal should be either at 900 megahertz or 1.8 gigahertz. The frequency synthesiser is used to generate the 900 megahertz or 1.8 gigahertz signal and then mix it with the information you are transmitting," Ye says.
"My research focuses on a type of frequency synthesiser known as a delta-sigma fractional-N frequency synthesiser. We are trying to improve the performance of the device."
Working under Prof Kennedy, Ye developed a new synthesiser and also new methods for characterising and assessing its performance compared to other synthesiser designs.
The new device has improved performance, but it does so using 20 per cent less hardware and also lower power consumption, he says.
He hopes to remain here for a time after completing his thesis and PhD. "I would like to stay in Ireland to get some working experience, so I am looking for a job."
Ye comes from Daqing in Heilongjiang Province, tucked up against its northeast border with Russia.