Prof. GAO Huajian, Xinghua Distinguished University Professor and Director of the Mechano-X Institute of Tsinghua University, China, delivered the 40th PAIR Distinguished Lecture titled “Mechano-X: Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation at the Frontiers of Mechanics” on 13 June 2025 on the PolyU campus.
Prof. Gao began his presentation with a brief description of the important role of mechanics in the development of structural and functional materials, enlightening the audience on the recent advances in nanostructured materials, biomedical materials, mechanical metamaterials, soft actuators, flexible electronics, tunable mechanochromics, regenerative mechanomedicine and more.
Furthermore, he illustrated the ways in which fundamental principles of mechanics enable the proactive modulation and programming of properties in both engineering and biological systems. Through case studies, Prof. Gao highlighted breakthroughs in mechano-energy, mechano-interfaces, and mechano-materials, demonstrating their transformative potential.
In closing, Prof. Gao emphasised that mechanics remains a discipline with boundless possibilities in the era of interdisciplinary research and innovation. He underscored the promise of mechanics-based modelling and design, which could expand into areas such as nanostructured, low-dimensional, biological, biomimetic, soft, gradient, and metamaterials. Such approaches, he noted, could deeply intersect with the fields of advanced manufacturing, healthcare technology, sustainable energy, and biomedical tissue and organ engineering, opening new opportunities for the development of related solutions.
