Alumni Association of Lakehead University

Roger Lee ('81) - To Lakehead and Back 

LU graduate Roger Lee (1981, Engineering) was only 17 years old when he embarked from his native Hong Kong; alone, full of hope and destined for Canada. His family had arranged for him to attend boarding school in Vancouver and hoped that he would complete his education and benefit from the experience he gained in the most moderate of the English speaking countries in the Western world. When considering his options for education abroad, his parents were deterred by the high crime rate in the USA and perceived Britain to be too conservative. Canada, Roger says, was a "happy balance." And, as it turns out, a gratifying experience for the adventurous and optimistic teen, who still recalls that he could not speak a word of English when he presented himself to the immigration officials.

It is now 32 years later, Roger's English is impeccable and he has parlayed the skills and education he obtained in Canada to achieve a steady progression of success in his chosen field, from entry level hands on engineering to his current position as CEO of the trading company "First Technology China Ltd."

 When Roger graduated from high school in Toronto and was doing a computer search to review his options for post secondary education in engineering,  Lakehead University popped up as offering the courses that he was interested in pursuing.  He admits that he had no previous knowledge of Thunder Bay and arrived at the selection by going through the process of multiple choice.    Arriving from Toronto, he recalls that he found Thunder Bay to be, understandably, “small” or certainly smaller than what he was used to.  But he fell in love with the Lakehead University campus where he recalls enthusiastically participating in such enjoyable as activities as tennis and squash.  Even the snow excited him as he loved skiing and another exhilarating activity that he describes playfully as “diving in the snow.”  Residing on campus, Roger connected easily with his fellow residence mates and has fond memories of many “joyful nights drinking beer, watching TV and chatting with his dorm roommates.”

 “There was a great feeling of belonging at Lakehead.” he says. 

But it was not all play for the young foreign student and Roger applied himself as diligently to his studies as he did to his extracurricular activities.  He graduated in 1981 and headed to Nigeria for his first front line experience as an engineer.

Roger eagerly accepted the challenge of setting up and managing a new galvanized water pipe plant in Africa and admits that he was a little disappointed when all of the exotic animals he expected to see in his new surroundings were all contained in the city zoo.   He could have seen more of the local wild life, he says, if he ventured out into the countryside but his commitment to working alongside the locals, (including using some monkey like climbing skills to climb the 30 feet high steel structure of the factory building) kept him pretty busy and focused during the course of his 2 year contract. 

Armed with hands on experience in engineering and some unexpected survival skills, Roger returned to Hong Kong in 1984.  Just in time for what he refers to as “the China Craze”.  He compares this awakening of the Chinese market to the Wild West and was happy to become part of the movement.  Although many of his countrymen viewed China as a backward country, Roger found Chinese society far more advanced than what he experienced in Africa.  He was drawn to the creativity of the people and instinctively knew that he could learn a tremendous amount by living and working in the country of his ancestors.   He joined a local engineering trading company specializing in engineering turn key projects and began his education in the Chinese approach to business.   By 1993, and armed with new knowledge and skills in the areas of joint ventures, barter trade, compensation trade  and processing trade business, Roger was ready for a new challenge.

That challenge presented itself in the person of Michael Karlson, the chairman and founder of Axis Communications AB from Sweden who Roger met the same year.  Their collaboration would take Roger in a new direction and after co-founding Axis Communications in Hong Kong, he found himself expanding from a 2 person office at the onset to overseeing 60 people with  offices in Korea, Taipei, Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore in just five years.   Axis is a private company specializing in the design, development and production of network thin servers which later progressed to IPO (International Placement Offer or simply means listing in a stock market) in Stockholm Stock Exchange and Roger found himself on yet another new path, this time an introduction to the SMT (surface mounted technology) industry, a close relative of the electronic assembly manufacturing application.  

In 14 years, Roger found himself a long way from the front lines of engineering and climbing steel beams in Africa.  He had now entered the world of business and the burgeoning and ever changing field of electronics.  In 1998, he joined “DEK”, an electronic equipment production company a Fortune 300 company and assumed responsibility for the China and Taiwan operations.   In 2005, Roger moved from DEK to Schmidt Electronics Asia Ltd, a German family owned company with over 100 years of history in Asia, having established their first office in Beijing in 1911.   Roger was drawn to a company with a long history and he playfully implies that he thought that he would have more time to “relax” in a business where the roots were already firmly planted. “

In 2006, Schmidt spun off Roger’s operation and formed a new company called First Technology China Ltd. Roger now found himself at the helm of a company with 160 employees and 10 operations in the North Asian region.  Instead of having more time to relax, he was working day and night to meet the challenges of the CEO’s responsibilities but he took it all in characteristic stride.

Originally, Roger’s plan was to go to a public listing in Singapore Stock Exchange by Dec 2006. However, one of his strategic investors decided to acquire the whole company instead. First Technology is now a member company of the Japanese conglomerate Sojitz Corporation with an annual business turnover of US$50 billion. 

So what is the secret of Roger’s success? Despite the depth and detail of his technical knowledge, he readily admits that it’s all about the people. “With the wrong people, China will be a difficult and complicated market in which to make money” he says. “But with the right people, you will find China a market full of opportunities and gold mines!” he concludes enthusiastically.

And Roger practices his own philosophy. Because he feels that it is important to impart the wisdom he has gained about doing business to his employees, he invests as much time in guiding and mentoring his employees as he does in the actual business development.  Which might be partially responsible for the long hours that he keeps but he knows that the outcome is well worth the effort.

Leisure time is precious to this divorced businessman, but what free time he does have is often devoted to his growing interest in the captivating world of antiquities and antiques.   Roger, who says that he always was a collector, even as a child, started collecting about 10 years ago when he found himself strolling through the antique shops in his spare time.   Judging by the photos that he was kind enough to share with me of some of his precious pieces, he has amassed some wonderful pieces of Asia’s history.   He sounds pretty confident of his future plans when he invites me to visit his future antique shop in Shanghai where he plans to “revolutionize the antique industry.” Roger has learned about business, creative vision and people in his journey from Lakehead University to Africa to Asia and if he applies that as diligently to his antique business as he has in the past, he truly might revolutionize the antique industry.

You can reach Roger at his First Technology office in Hong Kong, or if you wait a few years, in his briskly busy antique store somewhere in  the heart of Shanghai.

by Maureen Arges Nadin