Inventor of Touchscreen Technology for Mobile Devices Receives Meffys Outstanding Contribution Award

Dr. Andrew Hsu created the complex technology “Transparent Projected Capacitive Touch Screen” which is the basis for the modern touchscreen handset. Dr. Hsu’s groundbreaking technology has revolutionised the mobile media landscape, turning the modern day smartphone into a key media discovery and consumption touch point. In 1999, Dr Hsu filed his ground-breaking patent and spent the next seven years trying to convince the industry to adopt the technology. In 2006, handset manufacturer LG trialled it for the first time on their Prada phone, predating the iPhone. Dr Hsu’s employer since 1996, Synaptics, in the Silicon Valley, is one of the leading suppliers of Projected Capacitive Touch technology to handset manufacturers worldwide.

Andrew Bud, MEF Global Chairman, commented: “I am delighted to announce Dr. Andrew Hsu as the winner of this year’s Meffys Outstanding Contribution Award. This touchscreen technology, which can be found throughout today’s new generation of smartphones, has transformed the mobile media industry, driving the discovery and take up of applications and fuelling mobile internet usage.”

Dr. Andrew Hsu commented:”It is a great honor to accept this year’s Meffy for Outstanding Contribution. The ClearPad capacitive touchscreen technology, beyond its ability to improve industrial design, enables users to interact with their handset in ways not possible with earlier technologies. This use of touch gestures now enables all of us to quickly and intuitively interact with mobile content and cloud computing services with our mobile handsets.”