Agora, a platform for real-time engagement APIs, has announced the appointment of Sheng (Shawn) Zhong as its chief technology officer (CTO), effective immediately. 

Zhong has served as Agora’s chief scientist since January 2018 and will be responsible for managing Agora’s global research and development organisation and strengthening Agora’s technology leadership in his additional role as CTO.

Before joining Agora, Zhong served as the chief executive officer of Hisense Microchip Company and had held several senior technical roles at Broadcom Inc. and LSI Corporation.

“Since joining Agora as chief scientist more than four years ago, Shawn has played a critical role in driving our technology innovation and advancement. The breadth and depth of Shawn’s expertise in our industry, coupled with his proven track record in managing complex research and development projects, will further strengthen our global leadership in providing best-in-class real-time engagement APIs,” said Tony Zhao, founder, chairman and CEO of Agora. 

“On behalf of our board and the management team, we are delighted to have Shawn take on additional responsibilities as our chief technology officer.”

Zhong holds more than 100 technology patents, of which more than 60 technology patents are in the United States. He was a key member of International Organisation for Standardization (ISO)’s MPEG/JVT team, INCITS and IEEE, and has published more than 30 papers in the field of video processing and computer vision. 

Zhong received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and PhD in applied mathematics from Peking University and was a post-doctorate research associate at the University of Maryland, College Park from 1996 to 1997.