Sierra Wireless Expands R&D and Business Operations in Hong Kong Science Park

(Hong Kong, 9 June 2015) - Canada-based Sierra Wireless, a world leader in the internet of things (IoT) and maker of cellular wireless solutions for M2M, has expanded its R&D facilities and business operations in the Hong Kong Science Park to support its fast-growing products and solutions business.

Sierra Wireless has been a key partner company of the Information and Communications Technology Cluster of Hong Kong Science Park for ten years. The latest expansion is a major step forward which attests to the close relationship between the two corporations. The new facility serves as Sierra's Asia-Pacific headquarters as well as engineering centre, in which majority of the employees are engaged in R&D, primarily in designing cellular machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity modules using the advanced lab facilities provided by Science Park, and with the advantages of being close to a pool of talents, suppliers and customers through the cluster development services of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation ("HKSTP").

"Sierra Wireless' Science Park-based operation is an important part of our strategy as we expand our position in the IoT value chain. At Hong Kong Science Park, there are great technology clusters which attract a significant flow of quality talent, customers and suppliers," Jason Cohenour, CEO, Sierra Wireless said. "HKSTP has provided us with great service. Our experience has been that it is beyond an office complex - it's more a pro-active collaboration, facilitating the hiring of the skillsets required for our R&D through Science Park's annual Career Expo and fostering connections between key actors in the industry through their cluster connect platform," added Mr Cohenour.

"Sierra Wireless is our important partner. Their expansion in Science Park further testifies the robust synergies and ecosystem for IoT-related development. We are pleased to see Sierra Wireless's growth here and greatly appreciate their contribution to accelerating Hong Kong's development into a hub for IoT development. This has included the development of the local talent pool with the offering of precious internships to local university students, bringing in international experts from several countries and regions to deepen their research and testing here and building partnerships with companies in Science Park to fuel greater cross-cluster innovation," Allen Ma, CEO, HKSTP said.

"Its strength in IoT is the kind of technology and expertise we aim to attract to Science Park to build out our R&D value chain. Sierra Wireless's world-leading technology also has the ability to impact on key focus areas for a smart Hong Kong such as intelligent lighting, smart transport and health care," Mr Ma added.

Sierra Wireless' engineering site in Science Park is part of the company's global R&D network that includes facilities in Vancouver, Shenzhen, Paris and Toulouse. Residing in Science Park, the Sierra Wireless R&D team also conducts part of their product testing using the high/low temperature chambers, humidity chambers, temperature cycling chambers and thermal shock chambers in the Reliability Lab for Design Verification Test (DVT) in Science Park. It also takes advantage of Science Park's Wireless Communications Test Lab to carry out 3GPP testing services for mobile devices.

Sierra Wireless' comprehensive range of 2G, 3G and 4G wireless modules are widely applied in various applications and market segments, including industrial, automotive, mobile computing, energy, healthcare, transportation and payment, among others. The company works closely with OEMs, enterprises and mobile network operators around the world to deliver end to end device to cloud wireless solutions. As Hong Kong is taking on smart city initiatives, Sierra Wireless and HKSTP will collaborate to address the opportunity ahead to accelerate the City's IoT development.