On September 30, Rui Martins, currently Vice-Rector of the University of Macau (UM) and Director of the Institute of Microelectronics, was distiguished the 2025 Chinese Government Friendship Award. This prize is the highest national honor granted by the Chinese Government to foreign experts working in China, in recognition of their significant contributions to the country's development and the promotion of international cooperation. The ceremony took place at the Great Hall of the People and the news was shared by the Government Information Bureau of the Macao SAR.

The Macao SAR Government highlighted that Rui Martins "said he was deeply honored by the recognition from the Chinese Government" and that he sees the award as an additional motivation to continue contributing to China's development and the well-being of its people. For over three decades, the Vice-Rector of the University of Macau has been actively engaged in scientific research and higher education.

Rui Martins obtained his Bachelor's, Master's, PhD, and Habilitation degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (DEEC) of Instituto Superior Técnico (IST). He is an IEEE Life Fellow and Full Member of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences. In Macau, he has played a key role in training highly qualified professionals, following international standards. In 2003, he founded the Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI Research Laboratory at the University of Macau, which is now recognized as the State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI. "Since its establishment, the laboratory has trained over 370 master's and 200 PhD students, and 88 research papers have been accepted and published by the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), placing the laboratory first nationally in terms of cumulative publications," according to the Government Information Bureau of the Macao SAR.

In the field of higher education cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, Professor Rui Martins has promoted various exchange and academic collaboration initiatives, strengthening talent development and joint research between China and Lusophone countries. In 2021, he was named an Honorary Member of the Association of Portuguese Speaking Universities (AULP) – a distinction awarded to only five individuals worldwide.

Throughout his career, Rui Martins has received multiple honors from the Macao SAR Government, including the Medal of Professional Merit (1999), the Honorific Title of Value (2001), and the Medal of Merit in Education (2021). He has also received several science and technology awards from the Macao SAR. In 2023, he was honored with the Author Recognition Award by the ISSCC, and in 2024 he received the National Award from the Portuguese Order of Engineers in the category of Electrical Engineering.

News and photos: Government Information Bureau of the Macao SAR