A Chinese-born entrepreneur has been honoured in a global business hall of fame after inventing the world’s first multi-function antenna for laptops and smartphones.

Dr Sampson Hu has been selected as one of the all-time top 50 entrepreneurs by SetSquared, a leading university technology growth body.

Dr Hu, 33 and originally from Guangdong, in China, set up Smart Antenna Technologies (SAT) in 2013 after inventing the MIMO antenna system while completing his PhD at the University of Birmingham.

Earlier this year, SAT became the first company to receive direct funding by the University of Birmingham’s Spinout Investment Reserve (SIR) – receiving £250,000  as a part of a £1.2million investment raise.

Dr Hu, from Birmingham said: “I am honoured to be recognised by the world’s leading university incubator as one of their 50 all-time entrepreneurs. Building SAT up from nothing has been hard work for SAT’s team and myself but it was made easier with the help from SetSquared.”

SetSquared Partnership selected Dr Hu from over 1000 entrepreneurs that the organisation has helped grow over the past 15 years. SetSquared was voted the world’s top ranked university technology incubator by UBI Global, a firm of technology incubator analysists.

Dr Hu was honoured by MPs at the House of Commons (29 Mar) by the SetSquared Innovation Director Simon Bond, who said: “When I look back on the last 15 years, I am overwhelmed by the talent and achievements of the entrepreneurs that SetSsquared has supported. They have brought world-leading innovations to market and these have been exported across the globe.”

Currently smartphones and laptops have up to five separate antennas for Bluetooth, Wi Fi and 4G connections. SAT technology combines all those antennas into one single system and can extend device battery life by up to 10%. The single antenna fits into the extremely limited space of the laptop’s hinge cavity.

The antenna system structure wraps all functionality into one simple assembly, reducing the cost and size, as well as improving data download rates. SAT’s device combines Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth and 3G/4G LTE and WiGig 60GHz wireless standards in one unit.