2024伯明翰国际青年学者论坛-新能源与新材料分论坛议程

Dr. Mingchao Liu is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Birmingham in the UK. Before moving to Birmingham, he was a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore from 2022 to 2023, and a Newton International Fellow at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, sponsored by the Royal Society from 2018 to 2021. He received his Ph.D. in Solid Mechanics from Tsinghua University in 2018, and his B.Eng. in Engineering Mechanics from Shandong University in 2013. He was also an Endeavor Research Fellow at the University of Sydney in 2017. He was awarded the Extreme Mechanics Letters (EML) Young Investigator Award in 2023. His current research primarily focuses on the mechanics of slender structures, particularly dynamic instabilities, and their applications in modeling and designing shape-morphing structures, soft robotics, and mechanical metamaterials with programmable behaviors such as mechanical sensing, memory, and tunable mechanical properties.

报告内容：

Nature's Blueprint: Engineering Morphing and Moving Matter

Nature serves as a profound source of inspiration for developing advanced materials and robotic systems. This presentation delves into how biological phenomena inform innovative engineering solutions, focusing on morphing structures and moving mechanisms. By studying the underlying mechanics principles observed in nature, we explore how these insights can be applied to create adaptable and efficient systems. Emphasizing the design of structures capable of dynamic shape transformation and mechanisms that achieve rapid, efficient motion, we illustrate the potential for natural strategies to lead to cutting-edge technological advancements. Through the integration of biological and mechanical principles, this presentation offers new perspectives on the design and modeling of intelligent systems, showcasing the transformative power of biomimicry in engineering.

Dr. Qiao He achieved his MSci and BEng degrees from Northwestern Polytechnical University (2009-2013), and Shandong University (2013-2016), respectively, including some time as a research student at Peking University (2014-2016). Following this, he gained a scholarship to join the EPSRC Plastic Electronics CDT (PE-CDT) at Imperial College in October 2016 where he graduated with an MRes degree in Physics (2017) and a PhD degree (2020) in Chemistry. He is currently a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Chemistry and Centre for Processable Electronics at Imperial College London.

报告内容

Organic Conjugated Materials Design, Synthesis and Characterisation

Flexible electronic devices based on organic semiconductor materials have great research and industry values. I has long been engaged in the design and synthesis of organic conjugated molecules: 1) exploring new synthesis methods to achieve low-cost preparation of organic conjugated molecules; 2) regulating the J-aggregation self-assembly of molecules to achieve narrow bandgap absorption; 3) constructing new p-type and n-type conjugated units to improve the performance of various optoelectronic devices such as organic solar cells, organic field effect transistors, and organic photodetectors.

Bangyan Wang, Visiting research student from XJTU

报告内容

Reliability assessment of new power systems under meteorological uncertainty: modeling and calculations

The construction of new power systems has entered a critical stage.  The volatility and randomness of renewables put forward strict requirements for energy storage configuration and system dispatching operation. Without large-scale energy storage, it will be difficult to ensure the balance of power supply and demand, and power flow safety will be even more difficult to ensure. On the other hand, large-scale meteorological disasters are becoming concentrated and significant. Effectively responding to extreme meteorological disasters and improving system strength and resilience in a short period are of great significance to maintaining the stability of the entire grid as well as improving disaster resistance and reduction capabilities.  How to consider the impact of meteorological uncertainty on the reliability of new power systems and to propose new modeling and calculation methods for this factor is an urgent problem to be solved.  Based on this, a new power system reliability assessment model that adapts to multiple time scales is established, taking into account the uncertainty of meteorological factors at multiple time scales; a comprehensive analysis process for power supply reliability is proposed to carry out targeted meteorological segmentation, disassembly and parallel analysis; finally, comprehensive indicators such as system robustness and risk curves that take into account complementarity are calculated.  This research work echoes the macro-goal of the power grid to build a stronger new power system and coordinate source-grid-load-storage to improve the ability to ensure supply.

Dr. Xu Zhang received the B. S. Degree and master’s degree in electrical engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University in 2014 and 2017 respectively, Ph.D. degree from The University of Manchester in 2021. Currently, he is a Research Fellow at The University of Warwick. He is a member of IEEE and International Microelectronics Assembly & Packaging Society. He has led around 10 research projects with wide range of topics for power industry in cooperation with National Grid, State Grid, UKRI, Zhuzhou CRRC Times Electric UK Innovation Center. His main research interests include thermal management on power modules applied in electric vehicles, grids and wind turbine, partial discharge of electrical materials in complex environment. He has published more than ten papers on the top journals including IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery and High Voltage and was invited as the session chair at Electrical Insulation Conference.

报告内容：

Thermal management and reliability of SiC semiconductor power module

Silicon Carbide (SiC) semiconductor power modules are at the forefront of modern power electronics, offering superior performance over traditional silicon-based devices. The primary advantages of SiC include higher breakdown electric field strength, higher thermal conductivity, and the ability to operate at higher temperatures, voltages, and frequencies. However, the widespread adoption of SiC technology is contingent on overcoming critical thermal management and reliability challenges.The use of phase change materials (PCMs) enhances the overcurrent capability in the thermal management of power modules. During periods of overcurrent, the phase change process absorbs excess heat, effectively managing temperature spikes. Additionally, PCMs help reduce the average junction temperature and minimize junction temperature fluctuations, thereby improving the reliability of the power modules.

Dr. Ke Ren is a research fellow at School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham. He received his B.S. degree in material processing and control engineering from Taiyuan University of Technology, China, in 2015 and got his M.S. degree in materials science engineering from China University of Geosciences (Beijing), China, in 2018. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering from University of Groningen, the Netherlands in 2022. His research interests are mainly bio coatings and cartilage lubrication, osteoarthritis and biotribology.

报告内容：

Osteoarthritis and cartilage biotribology

Osteoarthritis (OA) currently affects around 15% of the population worldwide. The cause of this disease is difficult to pin down precisely. The failure of the cartilage lubrication system in articular joint may be one of the possibilities, according to the research for a couple of decades. Therefore, there is an enormous scientific effort to develop strategies to enhance cartilage lubrication and chondroprotection in order to counteract OA development. Intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid ( HA, called viscosupplementation) to improve joint fluid film lubrication, alleviate pain, and delay surgery is a modus operandi, but with limited pain relief due to its high degradation and weak absorption. This research aims to optimize the exogenous HA to enhance its boundary lubrication while simultaneously keeping the perfect fluid film lubrication . three different strategies have been proposed in this research.

2024

University of

Birmingham