Professor Way Kuo, CityU new president, delivered his debut talk on 22 May at the City Cultural Salon organised by the Cultural and Sports Committee of City University of Hong Kong (CityU). In his talk, titled "Reliability Since Time Immemorial", Professor Kuo shared his professional interpretations on reliability with about 40 guests from government departments, business and industry sectors, as well as CityU colleagues.

Professor Cheng Pei-kai, Director of the Chinese Civilisation Centre and Chairman of the Cultural and Sports Committee, welcomed guests and praised Professor Kuo for his support. "The Cultural Salon provides a stimulating platform for guests and participants to exchange views on cultural issues and stimulate creative ideas. Professor Kuo is a renowned scholar. I'm sure we will benefit tremendously from his professional insight on the subject," said Professor Cheng.

Reliability is an evaluation method. According to reliability analysis, no system is durable forever. With the advance of technology, reliability and maintainability is becoming increasingly relevant. Professor Kuo discussed the close links between reliability and mankind from a historical and social point of view, including the influence on architecture, treatment of human illnesses, the guarantee period of automobiles, the maintainability of aircraft and nuclear power and the value preservation rate of financial assets.

Afterwards, guests shared their views on Professor Kuo's informative presentation. "There are professionals from different fields with us tonight. Your points of views and ideas on reliability definitely inspire me," said Professor Kuo.

Professor Kuo is renowned for his achievements in designing and modelling reliability for electronics systems and products. He is a Foreign

Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) in recognition of his contribution to the field of reliability design for microelectronics products and systems. He is also an elected member of US National Academy of Engineering, International Academy for Quality, and Academia Sinica in Taiwan. Professor Kuo is a recipient of the IEEE Reliability Society Lifetime Achievement Award and Austin Bonis Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Advancement of Reliability Research, ASQ. He serves as editor of IEEE Transactions on Reliability.

Established in 1998, City Cultural Salon invites renowned scholars and artists to exchange views on art, music, history, literature, philosophy and science with guests and participants.