HANOI, VIETNAM – Media OutReach Newswire – 28 September 2026 – Phenikaa University, a member of Phenikaa Group, a diversified Vietnamese conglomerate, has announced a VND 80 billion (approximately US$3 million) investment in STEM education in 2026. The University has also launched Phenikaa Planetarium, a new international-standard facility dedicated to astronomy education, public engagement with science and experiential learning.
Phenikaa University campus, with Phenikaa Planetarium set against the twin 30-storey towers.
The Planetarium is serving as a key venue for the 19th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA 2026), which Vietnam is hosting for the first time. The Olympiad brings together nearly 500 international delegates from 64 countries and territories, including more than 300 outstanding high-school contestants, as well as team leaders, scientists and educators.
The investment forms part of Phenikaa University's broader strategy to strengthen STEM education by integrating learning, research, technology and hands-on scientific experience.
Designed to take science education beyond the classroom, Phenikaa Planetarium enables students to explore astronomical phenomena through immersive visualisation and observation. In addition to supporting university teaching, the facility will give high-school students access to astronomy and hands-on STEM learning, while also serving teachers and the wider community.
The Planetarium features a 16-metre-diameter dome, a projection system of 5 Sony GTZ380 projectors and SkyExplorer simulation software, enabling detailed simulation of the night sky under controlled conditions. These technical capabilities also enable the facility to host the planetarium-based observational examination of IOAA 2026.
Prof. Dr. Ho Xuan Nang, Chairman of the Phenikaa University Council, said: "This VND 80 billion commitment is ultimately an investment in the next generation of scientists and innovators. Through Phenikaa Planetarium, we want young people not only to learn about science, but to experience it first-hand, to ask bigger questions and to develop the confidence to pursue discoveries of their own."
Inside Phenikaa Planetarium, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Building a stronger platform for STEM
Astronomy offers a naturally interdisciplinary setting for STEM education, bringing together physics, mathematics, computing, data analysis and engineering. By hosting IOAA 2026, Phenikaa University is connecting its new STEM infrastructure directly with an international community of young scientific talent.
Beyond the Olympiad, the University plans to develop Phenikaa Planetarium into a long-term platform for STEM education, astronomy outreach and academic activities, as well as for collaboration with schools and international partners.
The investment comes amid growing international recognition of Phenikaa University's academic and institutional development.
In April, Phenikaa became the first Vietnamese university to win the "Leadership and Management Team of the Year" award at the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards Asia 2026. The University was also placed in the 401–600 band globally in the THE Impact Rankings 2026, which assess universities' contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The University currently offers more than 130 academic programmes from bachelor's to doctoral level, including 5 ABET-accredited and 6 medical residency programmes.
Phenikaa is also one of 12 higher education institutions selected under a scheme approved by Vietnam's Prime Minister to develop leading universities in Hanoi, with the goal of ranking among Asia's top 150 universities by 2030. The scheme reflects broader efforts to strengthen research capacity, international engagement and the global competitiveness of higher education in the Vietnamese capital.
For Phenikaa University, the new STEM investment is intended to translate these ambitions into lasting capacity through modern infrastructure, internationally benchmarked education, stronger research and greater opportunities for young people to engage directly with science.
As IOAA 2026 brings the international astronomy community to Hanoi, Phenikaa Planetarium provides an immediate demonstration of that strategy in action and will continue to open the universe to Vietnam's next generation of scientists.
MEDIA CONTACT
Phenikaa University | Communications & Admissions Office | truyenthong@phenikaa-uni.edu.vn
Hashtag: #PhenikaaUniversity #PhenikaaPlanetarium #STEM
https://phenikaa-uni.edu.vn/en
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
ABOUT PHENIKAA UNIVERSITY
Phenikaa University is a private, comprehensive university in Hanoi, Vietnam, and a member of Phenikaa Group, a diversified Vietnamese conglomerate whose portfolio spans advanced manufacturing, development of technology, education and healthcare.
Serving more than 44,000 students, the University brings together education, applied research and industry practice within a multidisciplinary ecosystem built around key research pillars in semiconductors, robotics and automation, advanced materials, new energy and biomedical sciences.
Since 2019, its research community has produced more than 3,700 international publications, supported by more than 150 laboratories across multiple disciplines. Phenikaa has maintained a leading position among Vietnamese higher education institutions in the Nature Index for six consecutive years. Learn more: https://phenikaa-uni.edu.vn/en
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First smartphone to run HarmonyOS 7 and include chip design breakthrough LogicFolding
SHENZHEN, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 28 September 2026 – Huawei released the HUAWEI Mate XT 2 | ULTIMATE DESIGN trifold smartphone on September 7. The phone is the first to run HarmonyOS 7, and is the slimmest and largest foldable smartphone in the industry. The Mate XT 2's Kirin 9050 chip also includes a major breakthrough in semiconductor design. As the first smartphone to feature the LogicFolding Tau (τ) Chip, the Mate XT 2 marks the chip's official entry into mass commercialization.
World-class engineering and design
The device is proving popular with consumers due to its foldable wing-like form, which means it can be opened up, transforming the phone into a tablet.
The engineering to make this possible is unprecedented. The glass screen must be tough enough to withstand daily use, whilst being able to fold thousands of times. The hinge to allow the screen to fold is the first of its kind. Once open, the handset is just 3.5mm thick. However, the screen is not the only remarkable folding technology in the device.
The first chip with semiconductor design breakthrough, LogicFolding
The Mate XT 2 Ultimate Design includes a major breakthrough in semiconductor design. The phone is the first to use Huawei's LogicFolding Tau chip Kirin 9050 Pro. Designed by engineers in Huawei's HiSilicon team, the chip offers a solution to the problem of geometric scaling.
With Moore's law (the historical observation that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles approximately every two years) believed to be reaching its physical limit, making chips smaller is becoming more challenging and costly.
For Huawei, faced with external restrictions, the need to find a solution came sooner than expected.
Huawei releases world’s slimmest and largest foldable smartphone
In May this year, He Tingbo, President of Huawei's HiSilicon division, unveiled a new way of designing and making chips, alongside a new law to measure their performance, the τ (Tau) Scaling Law. The work led to Ms He being recently named one of the world's leading AI innovators by Time Magazine.
The point of shrinking transistors was never the smallness itself, it's what the smallness delivered. Shoppers looking to buy the latest smartphone don't care if the chips inside have 7, 5 or even 2-nanometer nodes, they care about the performance of the device in their hands. What matters to consumers is the time it takes for a task to be completed, a video to be shared or a game to load. The performance of the chip should be measured in the same way: by time, not size. This is why Huawei proposed τ (Tau) Scaling Law as an alternative to Moore's Law.
Breaking through barriers to improve performance
The Kirin 9050 Pro uses 3D integration to boost performance. Traditional chip advancement focussed on packing more and more transistors into a linear plain by making each one smaller. LogicFolding uses 3D integration to reduce the distance between transistors by stacking them on top of one another, increasing the number of transistors whilst reducing the distance between them.
In fact, in the Kirin 9050 Pro transistor density has risen from approximately 155 to 238 million transistors per square millimetre. That's an equivalent increase to what was achieved in the previous three years using geometric shrinking.
It was thought that stacking active transistors on top of each other and sealing them inside a solid mobile device would present an engineering challenge. Power turns into heat, which in a confined space would raise the temperature and ultimately break the device.
The key to the solution came in recognising that integrated chips have both transistors and circuits. As He Tingbo explains in her IEEE article, Huawei's τ Chip Was Supposed to Melt?, the inner workings of a chip can be compared to an office worker's day of work. Many office workers will use more energy on their commute to and from the office than they do at their desk because they are moving around more on the road. The 'work' part of their day is not the most energy intensive part as they are often seated at their desk.
The same is true for chips. The most energy intensive part of the process is the 'commute', moving data from point A to point B, not processing it. Integrated circuits use power in two main ways. The first is switching, flipping a transistor gate to change a bit from 0 to 1 and back. The second is the transmission of that data, moving the bits from one part of the chip to another.
This is important in mobile phones where a lot of performance requirements are asked of a single chip. Equally, however, in a large AI cluster 80% of the energy is used in the moving the data, not processing it. In both cases, LogicFolding reduces the space between transistors which in turn reduces the power used. The previous assumption that packing transistors on top of one another would increase the heat turned out to be false. In fact, even with a higher transistor density per millimetre, LogicFolding chips run cooler per unit of work. The result is Huawei's most powerful smartphone ever.
The first phone to run HarmonyOS 7
The Mate XT 2 is the first smartphone to run HarmonyOS 7. Forty-two percent more powerful than the previous generation, it remains the slimmest and largest foldable display in the industry when open. The cover screen spans 6.5 inches, boosting the screen-to-body ratio from 86.4% to 92.8%. Enhanced with 70% better anti-reflection, the screen exhibits a deeper, cleaner black when off, and pure, crystal-clear transparency when lit.
The Huawei Mate XT 2 also introduces the world-first Smart Shield Privacy Screen on a foldable screen. Two independent pixel sets co-exist within the 10.2-inch display at a micro-pitch of just 9 μm. When Privacy Mode is activated, the screen seamlessly switches from a wide viewing angle to a narrow one while maintaining identical resolution and clarity, protecting your privacy in public spaces without compromising your view.
Industry first ECG analysis
Health tech is increasing important to consumers, and so the Mate XT 2 is the industry's first smartphone to introduce ECG analysis. Capitalising on the innovative tri-fold form factor, users can simply hold both side frames with both hands while unfolded to capture a 30-second ECG signal. Paired with the medically certified analysis software, it generates detailed ECG reports to help identify Sinus Rhythm, Atrial Fibrillation, and Premature Beats.
Huawei releases world’s slimmest and largest foldable smartphone
The launch of the Mate XT 2 marks a significant moment in Huawei's journey. The company's R&D has delivered industry leading, and industry changing innovation. More than half of Huawei's employees work in R&D. That's over 100,000 people. The company currently holds 160,000 active patents worldwide. In the first half of 2026 alone, Huawei's R&D investment was over RMB 121 billion, accounting for 25.94% of revenue, up 25.2% year on year.
The HUAWEI Mate XT 2 | ULTIMATE DESIGN starts at RMB 19,999 and is now available for purchase, along with a stylus set, following its official sales launch at 10:08 on September 12th.
Hashtag: #Huawei
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
** This press release is distributed by Media OutReach Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **
