'VinUni promotes scientific research on the environment'

Prof. Laurent El Ghaoui (VinUni University) established the Center for Environmental Intelligence with the aim of promoting scientific research in this field.

He is the Vice President in charge of scientific research and innovation, and the Director of the Institute of Engineering and Computer Science of VinUni University. The professor proposed the establishment of the Center for Environmental Intelligence with the expectation of building a place to monitor and propose new solutions for the future on urgent issues such as climate change, environment, etc.

Here, faculty, students and research partners from around the world can come and work on Vietnam’s issues. Below, he shares more about the ideas surrounding this center:

- What is the significance of the Center for Environmental Intelligence?

- Issues such as climate change, climate adaptation and the environment are strongly affecting Vietnam - a country with outstanding development speed. Therefore, the need to monitor and propose new solutions for the future is very urgent.

Prof. Laurent El Ghaoui - Vice President in charge of scientific research and innovation, VinUni. Photo: VinUni

The center’s primary mission is environmental monitoring. The lab is located on campus. In addition to research, partners can test their solutions. However, to achieve this expectation, we will have to solve two challenges: attract funding and convince foreign partners to send students and professors to VinUni for collaboration.

- What else do you want to develop at VinUni ?

- I have never led a research institute or a department or university before. However, I am very excited and have received a lot of support at VinUni. In the past two years, the number of lecturers and staff at the institute has doubled. We have started to attract talent. Many Vietnamese people went abroad and now come back to work. I always support this trend.

Along with that, the approach to research has also changed. We are trying to focus on large projects that have an impact on life, instead of focusing on narrow research issues and only "competing" with research groups abroad.

The institute wants to combine technology with many life sciences to solve these problems through research centers. Previously we only had the Center for Smart Health, now we have the Center for Environmental Intelligence.

Professor Laurent El Ghaoui welcomed parents and students at the recent opening ceremony. Photo: VinUni

- As a scientist in the field of optimization, holding many prestigious awards in the world in Mathematics, why did you come to work in Vietnam?

- VinUni invited me to be the Director of the Institute of Engineering and Computer Science two years ago, and then to become the Vice President in charge of scientific research and innovation. I think I was assigned this responsibility because the school highly values quality scientific research activities, with the goal of becoming a high-class university on the world map.

Maybe I can help VinUni in a way that instead of trying to copy exactly the way the world's top universities like Cornell, Stanford, Berkeley... do, we will apply more practical, less expensive and clearly more effective methods.

Professor as a speaker at scientific events. Photo: VinUni

In addition, I have experience in start-ups. Meanwhile, VinUni supports the spirit of improvement and innovation. The school recognizes the enthusiasm in me. The motivation for me to come to Vietnam is because I have a lot of work to do in this country, not seeing it as a trip. I was born in Vietnam so I see myself and this country as having a connection.

My mother was born and raised in Hanoi . My grandfather was a mining engineer in Hon Gai. Then, my mother moved to Ho Chi Minh City and became a teacher at Lycée Marie Curie (now Marie Curie High School). My father was also a teacher there. My family lived here for 7 years.

In 1964, when I was two years old, my family returned to France. My mother had passed away, and my father was still living in France. In 2010, I returned to Vietnam and began to develop an interest in Vietnam. In early 2022, when I was invited by VinUni, I did not hesitate to accept.

- What do you think about inspiring students in scientific research?

- I continue to teach. Through this, I want to convey my passion for optimization and applied mathematics in general to students. Besides, I create opportunities for them to participate in research.

Currently, our students are working and making great contributions with a famous chemist at Berkeley (USA), who won the VinFuture Prize.

Professor Laurent El Ghaoui talks with students. Photo: VinUni

As a teacher, I also want students to think about how the purpose of research can solve problems in life. In this way, we can truly instill the entrepreneurial spirit as Vingroup's slogan. Students also have the opportunity to find research inspiration and continue to pursue research in the long term.

Nhat Le

Professor Laurent El Ghaoui has been recognized by the world applied mathematics community through many prestigious awards such as the Bronze Medal for Science and Technology, National Center for Scientific Research, France, 1999; Okawa Foundation Research Grant, 2001; NSF Career Award, 2002; SIAM Optimization Award for the best scientific paper of the 2008 review period.
He has more than 20 years of practical experience in the corporate sector. He is the co-founder and chairman of SumUp Analytics, a company that builds real-time text analysis software. He also speaks at events for Google, Amazon, Exxon, Walmart, Twitter, etc.
Professor Laurent is ranked 2,561st among the world's best scientists, according to the Research.com rankings and top 300 scientists in the field of Industrial Engineering & Automation in the world according to the Stanford University (USA) Ranking List, built on the basis of exploiting the Scopus database.

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