WInternet: From Net of Things to Internet of Things

Wei Zhao completed his undergraduate studies at Shaanxi Normal University, China, in 1977, and then received his MSc and PhD degrees in Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA in 1983 and 1986, respectively. In 2008, Professor Zhao was appointed as the 8th Rector for the University of Macau. Prior to this position, Professor Zhao also served as the Director of the Division of Computer and Network Systems at the US National Science Foundation, the Dean of Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the Senior Associate Vice President of Research at Texas A&M University, making him one of the few scholars from Mainland China who have ever held such senior posts in the US federal government and high education institutions. An IEEE fellow, Professor Zhao is internationally acclaimed for his research in the areas of Internet of Things, distributed computing, real-time systems, and cyber-physical systems. His research team has won numerous awards from international research community. In recognition of his outstanding achievements in scientific research and contributions to higher education, he has been conferred honorary doctorate degrees by twelve world-renowned universities. In 2011, he was appointed by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology as the Chief Scientist of the Internet of Things - a national 973 project. In 2012, he was elected to be an Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences.