HONG KONG, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- City University of Hong Kong's Paul Chu Kim-ho has become the first ever Hong Kong scholar to win the 2007 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers/Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society (IEEE/NPSS) Merit Award, announced the university here Thursday.

Chu is the professor of the university's department of Physics and Materials Science, who won the award for his outstanding technical contributions to the field of plasma science.

He has become the first Hong Kong academic, and the only one from an Asian institute, to ever receive award ever since it was established in 1972, which aims to commend researchers around the world making major contributions to nuclear and plasma sciences.

Since joining City University in 1996, Chu has been committed to researching the basic theories of plasma and plasma implantation and the applications to semiconductors and biomedical materials.

The award is IEEE/NPSS's most prestigious honor and is given out to just one person each year.