With support from a prestigious Steacie Fellowship, Simon Fraser University computing science professor Jiangchuan Liu will spend the next two years investigating how massive media content can be efficiently generated, processed, and distributed among crowd-sourcers and consumers via the latest social, mobile, and cloud computing and communication platforms.

“Networked social media services are drastically changing the content distribution landscape and reshaping our life, particularly for the younger generation,” says Liu.

Rather than passively receiving media content, people are increasingly engaging in digital media generation and collaborative production, he says, noting that given this rapid evolution, there is a pressing need to find solutions that can accommodate diverse communication platforms, and power-hungry mobile devices and cloud data centres. “Together with my team, I will develop a flexible and energy-efficient framework for media sharing by anyone, anytime, and anywhere.”

Liu’s research focuses on diverse aspects of computer networking and multimedia, from computing science theory to practical issues involving system design, development and optimization.

With funding from national and international sources, he has produced more than 90 refereed journal papers and 130 conference papers. His team’s expertise with the new generation of cloud, social, and mobile computing and communication platforms has prepared them for exploring these new research frontiers. They will make use of their extensive collaborations with both academic colleagues and industrial partners to identify key challenges and develop workable solutions and technical applications.

Up to six E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowships are awarded across Canada each year by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council to outstanding young faculty members with high potential for impactful original research. Liu will receive a $250,000 research grant over two years, and SFU will receive a contribution of up to $90,000 per year toward his salary.

“This award enables Professor Liu to make leading contributions to knowledge and innovation while enhancing SFU’s research environment in computing science,” notes SFU VP Research Joy Johnson, who is attending the awards ceremony today at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. “The anticipated project outputs, in terms of both technology innovations and product transfers, will also help raise Canada’s global profile in the area of information and communication technologies.”

Liu obtained his BEng (Cum Laude) from Tsinghua University, China, in 1999, and PhD from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology with a scholarship from Hong Kong Jockey Club. Upon his graduation in 2003, he was presented with the Hong Kong Young Scientist Award by the Hong Kong Institute of Science for his research excellence and outstanding promise. While at SFU, he has continued to demonstrate an outstanding record of research that is driving industry standards in his field, as well as a strong commitment to mentorship and service.

Liu is the third SFU researcher to receive this award, after chemists David Vocadlo in 2011 and Neil Branda in 2005.

As Canada's engaged university, SFU is defined by its dynamic integration of innovative education, cutting-edge research and far-reaching community engagement.  SFU was founded almost 50 years ago with a mission to be a different kind of university—to bring an interdisciplinary approach to learning, embrace bold initiatives, and engage with communities near and far. Today, SFU is a leader amongst Canada's comprehensive research universities and is ranked one of the top universities in the world under 50 years of age. With campuses in British Columbia's three largest cities—Vancouver, Surrey and Burnaby—SFU has eight faculties, delivers almost 150 programs to over 30,000 students, and boasts more than 130,000 alumni in 130 countries around the world.

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Simon Fraser University: Engaging Students. Engaging Research. Engaging Communities.

Contact:
Jiangchuan Liu, 778.782.4336, jcliu@cs.sfu.ca
Melanie Monk, VP Research Office, 778.782.7058, melaniem@sfu.ca
Karen Lee, Faculty of Applied Sciences, 778.782.8923, k_lee@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl, University Communications, 778.782.9017,  Marianne_Meadahl@sfu.ca

Photos: http://at.sfu.ca/CzceIQ

Link to NSERC release: http://at.sfu.ca/ItgkHc

Link to SFU University Communications release: http://i.sfu.ca/SZbLAG