Two new Fellows of National Academy of Inventors

By : Lilian Ip, Michael Gibb

Sometimes your area of academic specialisation is simply a matter of destiny.

Professor Zhu Yuntian had no aspirations to become a materials scientist and engineer while he was growing up in a small village in Henan Province in the 1970s. But one of his high school teachers had other ideas.

After the results of the 1979 national university entrance exams were released, this teacher was determined to get his students into the best possible universities. He discovered that Professor Zhu’s score was strong enough to gain him admission to Hefei University of Technology where he discovered a passion for metallurgy.

“My high school teacher chose my major for me!” says Professor Zhu, Chair Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE).

Superior strength and ductility

Since his days at Hefei, Professor Zhu has risen to become one of the world’s leading experts in the deformation physics and the mechanical behaviours of heterostructured (i.e. not uniform) materials, and nano/ultrafine-grained materials. He is among the top 2% of the world's most highly cited scientists, according to metrics compiled by Stanford University.

Professor Zhu Yuntian What’s more, as an experimentalist with a primary interest in the fundamental aspects of materials science and designing materials with superior strength and ductility, Professor Zhu has been named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).

“This is a great honour because it serves as recognition from my peers that my work is contributing to society and making a real difference,” says Professor Zhu, who was inducted at the 12th annual meeting of the NAI in Washington, D.C. at the end of June.

What drives Professor Zhu is the firm belief that scientists must give back to society.  “We have to discover new knowledge that will impact people’s lives. If our discoveries don’t hold much benefit, our work is pointless,” he affirms.

Rewarding research

Three factors influence whether a new material can be considered successful: the new materials he develops have to have excellent properties; they have to have the potential to be produced on a large scale; and the cost has to be low.

“My research is applicable to making materials lighter, stronger and tougher,” he says.

Among the discoveries from him and his collaborators is a heterogeneous lamella structure that can produce an unprecedented property combination that is unreachable by conventional homogenous materials. Such heterostructured materials can be used to manufacture light, energy-efficient vehicles, especially electric cars that offer higher mileage per recharging.

“This kind of research is hugely rewarding,” he says, “because you know your work will benefit the environment, economy and ultimately people’s lives.”

This is why Professor Zhu encourages young people to consider a career in science and engineering.

“If you like solving problems and improving people’s welfare, a career as a scientist and engineer will be very fulfilling.”

More information: https://www.cityu.edu.hk/mse/people/mse-faculty/zhu-yuntian/

Smart materials like shape-memory polymers (SMPs) can return from one shape to another when triggered by an external stimulus such as a change in temperature, a field in which Professor Hu Jinlian of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Laboratory of Wearable Materials for Healthcare is one of the world’s leading experts.

A science career

Professor Hu Jinlian An expert in SMPs and fibres for textile and biomedical applications, Professor Hu has made significant contributions to basic and applied research for biomaterials, medical devices, energy therapies, digital medicine, smart polymers, fibres, textiles and apparel.

And she is keen to encourage young people to enter the world of science.

“A career in science is richly rewarding,” she says. “If you are curious about the world around you, have an interest in engineering, creativity and innovation, you can enjoy a great life in this field.”

Professor Hu’s incredible achievements started with a Bachelor of Engineering at Wuhan Institute Textile Science and Technology and then a Master of Engineering at China Textile University in Shanghai before winning a much-coveted scholarship to study for her PhD at the University of Manchester, UK.

“I was always very eager to learn new things and I liked to ask my teachers a lot of questions! An enquiring mind is very important if you want to invent something new,” she says.

Research for industry

Her career breakthrough was in SMPs. She was the first person in the world to propose a model for SMPs and invented the world’s first cellulose-based shape memory fabric. Since then she has successfully filed many patents in the US, China and other parts of the world and developed extensive links and collaborations in the biomedical, cosmetic and other industries.

She is now among the top 2% of the world’s most highly cited scientists, according to metrics compiled by Stanford University.

“I’ve been able to secure funding for many projects and PhD supervision because industry is keen to support my research,” she says. She has successfully supervised dozens of PhD students in areas like textile structure and mechanics, cloth simulation, artificial intelligence techniques and shape memory materials and textiles.

Spider power

Her recent projects include spider silk-inspired super tough fibre, fire-warning materials, pulse-monitoring textile sensors, and nanostructured membranes for advanced wound dressing, which is proven to be similar to human skin, with a hydrophilic healing interlayer and a hydrophobic protective surface based on polyvinylidene fluoride. The prepared membrane can accelerate cell migration and the wound-healing process.

Professor Hu notes: “Spider silks have extraordinary strength and toughness simultaneously, and have become dreamed materials by scientists and industries. Although there have been tremendous attempts to prepare fibres from genetically manufacture spider silk proteins, however, it has been still a huge challenge because of tedious procedures and high cost.”

But through her expertise and creativity, new materials are possible.

“I will continue to help industries enhance their innovation capability and productivity,” says Professor Hu.

More information: https://www.cityu.edu.hk/bme/jinliahu/