China

Feng Deng

Co-founder of Northern Light Venture Captical and Netscreen - the latter acquired by US-based Juniper Networks for $4 billion - Feng Deng holds an MS degree in computer engineering from the USC Viterbi School, an MS degree in electronic engineering from Tsinghua University, and a MBA from Wharton Business School.

Simon Cao

Co-founder of Arasor, Simon Cao is directly responsible for the invention and commercialisation of fibre-optic products. Named by Forbes the “Godfather” of WDM technology, Cao holds PhD and M.S. degrees in both electrical engineering and physics from the USC Viterbi School.

Andrew J. Viterbi (Italy) has received honorary doctorates from universities in the US, Canada, Italy and Israel

Iraq

Azzam Alwash

Director of the Eden Again/Iraq Nature reconstruction project, Azzam Alwash graduated from the USC Viterbi School with a master's degree in civil engineering. After 20+ years of experience in the US, Alwash is back in Iraq, where he seeks to protect, restore and preserve Iraq's natural environment and the rich cultural heritage it nourishes.

Ming Hsieh (China) is co-founder and CEO of Pasadena-based Cogent Systems

South Korea

Dae-yeon Park

Dae-yeon Park's journey from war-ravaged South Korea to global high-tech leader went through the USC Viterbi, where he earned a PhD. in computer science. Today, Dae-Yeon is the founder and CEO of Tmax Soft - the largest software developer in South Korea, with global offices in China, Japan and the US.

Sung Woo Lee

A USC Viterbi graduate with a master's degree and Ph.D. in civil engineering, Sung Woo Lee has been named president of Kookmin University (2008) - a major university and leader in information technology in South Korea. Read more >>

Los Angeles developer Sonny Astani(Iran) nurtures a vision of "megacities"