Dr Zhang Xiao received the Most Popular Cover Award at eScience Summit

Oriented to the national major strategic needs in the field of new energy and the frontier of world science and technology, the 2023 eScience Summit (New Energy Youth Session), organised by the eScience Editorial Board and the Haihe Institute of Carbon Neutral Research, Nankai District, Tianjin, was held at the Tianjin Social Hill International Conference Centre Hotel from 21 to 23 April 2023. With the theme of "New Energy for Chinese Modernization", the conference attracted more than 800 participants from universities, research institutes and related enterprises, engineers and students from all over China, focusing on energy storage batteries, power batteries, electrocatalysis and synthesis, photoelectric energy utilization and new energy AI and advanced characterization. Five sessions were set up to discuss the topics of energy storage battery, power cell, electrocatalysis and synthesis, photoelectric energy utilization, and new energy AI and advanced characterization, with 178 invited presentations and 115 poster sessions. The session presenters gave excellent academic reports and exchanged the latest research results in the field of new energy, making new contributions to help the high-quality development of green, low-carbon and sustainable energy. 18 Young People's Awards for Outstanding Contribution and 3 Most Popular Cover Awards were presented. Congratulations to Dr Zhang Xiao, Assistant Professor in the PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering, who has received the Most Popular Cover Award. His research title is "Phase engineering of metal nanocatalysts for electrochemical CO2 reduction". Authors include Yanjie Zhai, Peng Han, Qinbai Yun, Yiyao Ge, Xiao Zhang, Ye Chen, Hua Zhang. The first author, Zhai Yanjie, is a year-2 PhD student of PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering. Dr Zhang Xiao is the corresponding author. About eScience Summit (Chinese article) https://hhsys.kxjs.tj.gov.cn/c/2023-04-25/496963.shtml About eScience Journal https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/escience

The 8th ME Research Presentation Competition

The 8th PolyU Mechanical Engineering Research Presentation Competition was successfully held on 2 Mar 2023. It is an annual event for research students to display their research project results and share knowledge with the PolyU community. The Research Student Liaison Officer, Dr David Navarro-Alarcon, introduced the competition emphasizing academic pitching skills, with an aim to train research students to explain academic ideas to peers and non-experts clearly. The Associate Head (Research), Dr Tang Hui, addressed the opening of this 8th annual competition which has been bringing invaluable opportunities for ME research students’ talents to be known. This year, we invited 15 academics from 3 main discipline areas (Control, Acoustics and Dynamics; Materials and Solid Mechanics; Thermofluids and Combustion) to form a panel of judges to select the best presenters. Being one of the panel members, Prof. Cheng Li, Associate Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Engineering, was very glad to have witnessed the evolution of the event - from a simple and crude poster competition held outdoors at PolyU podium to a decent function supported by a very strong judging panel giving their professional review. Twenty research student participants each delivered a high-impact brief in a 3-minute presentation. With their professional and animated presentations, those academic and technical terms were no longer distant to the layman. Most of the participants demonstrated outstanding academic pitching skills. Prof. Wang Zuankai, Associate Vice President (Research and Innovation), as a judging panel member, was impressed by the performance of the candidates and the wide spectrum of research areas to which ME research students are dedicated. Prof. Wang Liqiu, another Chair Professor who recently joined the Department, was thrilled to listen to the pitching by young researchers and opined that with the key message, they grabbed the audience’s attention. After the oral presentations, participants interacted with the audience in the research posters exhibition. Displayed posters not only highlighted their research project results, but it was also an occasion for participants to convey their ideas, and communicate with viewers and professionals. All other research students and PolyU staff members have also joined the event and vote for the People’s Choice award. They had appealed to a large audience to vote for them. Prof. Su Zhongqing, Head of the Department, concluded the competition with a quote from Einstein “If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.” Congratulations on the fabulous presentations and excellent research work! Champion and People’s Choice Student: Ms LABAZANOVA Luiza Supervisor: Dr David Navarro-Alarcon  Title: Self-Reconfigurable Soft-Rigid Multi-Agent System 1st Runner-Up Student: Ms HUO Xiaoyu  Supervisor: Dr AN Liang  Title: Development of a redox flow battery for large-scale energy storage    2nd Runner-Up Student: Mr LIANG Zhaojian  Supervisor: Dr LI Mengying  Title: Energy storage using solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) - A story about speeds  Merit Student: Ms ZHANG Kouer  Supervisor: Dr AN Liang  Title: Green ammonia production from electrocatalytic nitrate reduction under ambient conditions 

ME Scientist Research Achievement received HUAWEI Spark Award

Professor WANG Zuankai, Associate Vice President (Research and Innovation) and Chair Professor of Nature-Inspired Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, received the “Problem Unveiling” Spark Award (「難題揭榜」火花獎) presented by Huawei for his innovative achievement in most water-repellent surface. Huawei presented to the society the challenges of industry and scientific value, giving exploration, guidance, openness, and reflection, scientists were encouraged to come up with innovative ideas. Professor Wang proposed a novel solution to the Legion Challenge Phase II problem "Transparent and wear-resistant super-sparse surface" (透明耐磨的超疏表面). Professor Wang was awarded the Huawei Spark Award for his innovative and useful technical solution. Huawei established the Spark Award to recognize outstanding scientists and companies, to thank for their significant contributions to industry and science, and to inspire more talents to challenge the challenges.

ME Graduates win Champion at Hong Kong Techathon 2023

This year, PolyU has achieved outstanding results at Hong Kong Techathon 2023. PolyU teams took away seven of the 16 prizes in this competition, including three Champions, one First Runner-up, two Second Runner–ups and one Best Presentation Award. Almost 200 PolyU students entered the competition. PolyU teams were champions in three of the four categories in the competition. The champion teams were 417 Tech in the ArtTech & EdTech category, Fleming MedLab in the Healthcare & GeronTech category and BoostRider in the Smart Cities & Sustainability category. The team “BoostRider” was formed by two graduates from the Department, Lam Yuen Yik (Graduate 2021, BEng (Hons) in Product Analysis and Engineering Design) and Kevin Yau Pang Yeung (Graduate 2021, BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering), together with 2 student/graduate from PolyU Department of Electronic and Information Engineering, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The BoostRider, named Champion in the Smart Cities and Sustainability area, is a start-up that developed a tool with a good cause. Kevin Yau explained: “Powered by machine and app, our AI wheelchair helps physically impaired people to move around without having to strain their arms – these machines are like good friends lending them a hand just when they need it. Hong Kong Techathon 2023 is a competition jointly organized by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation and nine local universities. It aims to promote the development of Hong Kong's innovation and technology start-up ecosystem, providing young people with diversified learning opportunities and entrepreneurial support.   Learn more https://www.hkstp.org/news-room/hong-kong-techathon-2023-jointly-presented-by-hkstp-and-nine-universities/

ME Final Year Project wins Championship of HKIE Best Final-Year Environmental Project

Congratulations to our team of three 2022 graduates of BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering for receiving the Group Project Winner (Champion) of 2021/2022 Best Final Year Environmental Project Award hosted by the Environmental Division of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) for their final year project entitled “Design and Development of a Passive e-Fuel Cell”. The team, consisting of CHANG Yu Hao, DAI Yichen, and RASHID Sameer, was supervised by Dr AN Liang and Dr SHI Xingyi. This award aims to recognize the efforts of final-year students in completing good quality final year projects and to encourage them to continue the effort in improving the environmental engineering practice in their future careers.

Dr David Navarro-Alarcon appointed Associate Editor of prestigious IEEE Journal

Dr David Navarro-Alarcon, Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been appointed as a new Associate Editor by the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO). The editorial board of this journal is composed of world-renowned scholars in the robotics research community. Published by IEEE, T-RO is a leading international journal dedicated to publishing research papers that represent major advances in the state-of-the-art on all aspects of robotics, featuring interdisciplinary approaches from computer science, control systems, electrical engineering, mathematics, mechanical engineering, and other fields. In 2021, T-RO was by far the most cited journal in robotics and the impact factor reached an all-time high. Dr Navarro-Alarcon has been working in the area of robotics and controls over the years. He is the Principal Investigator of the Robotics and Machine Intelligence Laboratory (ROMI-Lab). His current research interests include perceptual robotics, adaptive behaviour, and control theory. The main goal of his scientific work is to establish new paradigms that explain the development of advanced sensorimotor capabilities in robots and intelligent machines. David follows a multidisciplinary approach to research. His investigations combine knowledge from various fields such as analytical mechanics and physics, control theory, computing, perception and neurosciences.

Prof. Wang Zuankai awarded inaugural BOCHK Science and Technology Innovation Prize

Prof. WANG Zuankai, Associate Vice President (Research and Innovation) and Chair Professor of Nature-Inspired Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been awarded the inaugural BOCHK Science and Technology Innovation Prize (STIP), for his outstanding contributions in the field of “Advanced Manufacturing”. He will receive a HK$2 million cash prize. Prof. WANG is recognized in the “Advanced Manufacturing” field for his multidisciplinary research and breakthrough achievements at the interface of advanced manufacturing, surface science, fluid mechanism, thermal energy, materials science and physics. He has published over 200 papers in Nature, Science, Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences and other journals. Prof. Wang’s research has answered three century-old scientific questions—what the shortest contact time between solid and liquid is, how to steer directional liquid flow and how to overcome the Leidenfrost effect first discovered in 1756. He has also made an important contribution to exploring nature-inspired surfaces for a wide range of applications such as water energy harvesting, thermal cooling, fluid transport and flexible electronics. The BOCHK Science and Technology Innovation Prize, established by the Hong Kong Alliance of Technology and Innovation and sponsored by the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, is a non-governmental merit-based award. The Award aims at facilitating the development of science and technology innovation in Hong Kong by rewarding outstanding individuals and groups who have made significant contributions to science and technology innovation in Hong Kong. The award ceremony was held on 22 December 2022. 

Prof. Wang Zuankai receives Croucher Senior Research Fellowship

Prof. Wang Zuankai, Associate Vice President (Research and Innovation) and Chair Professor of Nature-Inspired Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, received a Croucher Senior Research Fellowship 2023 in recognition of his outstanding achievements in nature-inspired engineering and breakthrough research on inhibiting the Leidenfrost effect.  Nature-inspired innovation is an interdisciplinary science drawing inspiration from living creatures and nature for innovative solutions. Specifically, Prof. Wang’s research explores the surface properties of natural creatures with the aim of developing novel nature-inspired materials for a wide range of applications such as water energy harvesting, thermal cooling, fluid transport and flexible electronics.  Prof. Wang achieved his scientific breakthrough by identifying an innovative solution to addressing the liquid cooling of high-temperature surfaces by suppressing the classical physical phenomenon - the Leidenfrost effect, a challenge that scientists have been unable to overcome for centuries.   “I hope this recognition will motivate more scholars to seek inspiration from nature and draw innovation in related research,” said Prof. Wang.  Upon receiving the Fellowship, he is awarded funding of HK$2 million over one year for research expenses. Prof. Wang is a founding member of the Hong Kong Young Academy of Sciences, Fellow of the International Society of Bionic Engineering (ISBE), Croucher Senior Research Fellow (2023), RGC Senior Research Fellow (2022), Highly Cited Researcher (Cross-field) as recognized by Clarivate Analytics (2022), and Changjiang Chair Professor as conferred by the Ministry of Education of China (2016).

ME Postdoc Fellow received 2022 Young Scientist Award

Dr XU Wanghuai, currently an RGC Postdoc Fellow working with Professor Wang Zuankai in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, has been awarded the 2022 Young Scientist Award in the Engineering Science category by the Hong Kong Institution of Science (HKIS) for his outstanding accomplishments in the fields of energy harvesting. This prestigious award was established to reward young scientists in Hong Kong who exhibit great promise in their field of study. The award is open to all postgraduate research students who are pursuing an MPhil or PhD degree in any of the tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, as well as those who have graduated recently (within 2 years of graduation). Each year, HKIS will confer three winners, which are in the fields of Physical/Mathematical Science, Life Science and Engineering Science, respectively. Dr Xu is the winner in the field of Engineering Science this year. Each award winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000 and a certificate of recognition. Dr Xu’s research interests involve developing new architecture and mechanism for high-efficiency water energy harvesting and liquid manipulation. His related research results have been recognized by a series of awards, including the Hiwin Doctoral Dissertation Outstanding Award (2021), and the Materials Research Society Graduate Student Silver Award (2021).

Dr Jiao Zengbao appointed Associate Editor of Materialia

Dr Jiao Zengbao, Associate Professor of PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been appointed as an Associate Editor of Materialia. Materialia is an international journal published on behalf of Acta Materialia Inc., which is a world-famous nonprofit organization publishing four of the most significant materials science journals (Acta Materialia, Scripta Materialia, Acta Biomaterialia, and Materialia). Materialia is a materials-focused, multidisciplinary journal publishing original, peer-reviewed research articles that advance the understanding of the relationship between processing, structure, property and function of materials. The journal complements the other Acta titles to further the mission of Acta Materialia Inc. to support the dissemination of new knowledge within the materials science community. The scope of Materialia includes both inorganic and organic materials. Articles of any length and format will find a home in Materialia, including Letters, Full-Length articles, research reports, review papers and communications. For more information, please refer to https://actamaterialia.org/journals/materialia.