Two research teams involving HKUST faculty members have won the State Natural Science Award (SNSA), China’s highest honor for achievements in natural science.
At the award presentation ceremony today (Tuesday) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the team leaders received their prizes from Chinese leaders Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang. Both teams won the Second Class Prize of the SNSA award.
The first award winning team with participation from HKUST’s faculty members was led by Prof Zhang Tongyi, HKUST’s Professor in Mechanical Engineering. Prof Zhang’s team won the prize for their research into the fracture of “Piezoelectric Materials”, which are smart materials that can convert electric energy into mechanical energy.
The other team members are Professor Cunfa Gao and Prof Minghao Zhao from the Mainland and Prof Pin Tong, a Professor Emeritus from HKUST.
“Piezoelectric ceramics are the preferred materials for a wide variety of electronic and mechatronic devices. However, they are brittle and susceptible to cracking and dielectric breakdown under mechanical or electrical loading. Due to the importance of the reliability of devices and structures made of piezoelectric materials, there has been a tremendous amount of interest in studying the fracture and failure behaviors of such materials
“Our research has established three things: linear piezoelectric fracture mechanics, the foundation of fracture mechanics for piezoelectric materials, and the developed methodology which can be naturally extended to the study of fracture mechanics for magnetoelectroelastic solids. The established failure criteria provide direction for further academic research on failure and fracture of piezoelectric materials and guideposts for the structural integrity designs of sensors, actuators, and devices in industrial practice,” Prof Zhang added.
The second winning team with HKUST’s participation is led by renowned Mainland scientist Prof Daoben Zhu. The team comprises Professors Liu Yunqi, Gui Yu and Fenglian Bai, all of whom members of Chinese Academy of Science’s Institute of Chemistry, as well as Prof Tang Benzhong, who is an HKUST Professor in Chemistry.
For media enquiries, please feel free to contact :
Donna Wong
Tel: 2358 6317
Email: donnaw@ust.hk
May Cheung
Tel: 2358 6103
Email:mccheung@ust.hk
