PolyU ME staff advance energy harvesting technology

A wind-driven hybrid triboelectric-electromagnetic nanogenerator was recently developed and tested by PolyU ME staff led by Dr Xingjian Jing. The work will be reported by Nano Energy, which is a high-impact and well-recognized journal in the area, with an impact factor 13.12 (2017 Journal Citation Report; Rank 7/146 in Applied Physics, 15/285 in Materials Sciences Multidisciplinary, 7/92 in Nanoscience & Nanotechnology). Learn more on ELSEVIER The frequent occurrence of natural disasters is a major threat to the property and casualties of human beings in recent decades. Disaster prone points can be very closely monitored by augmenting the distribution of wireless sensor networks. However, regularly replacing the battery of electronics remains a significant challenge especially in a remote area. To this aim, a wind-driven hybridized energy harvester is invented, which can harvest rotation energy and can be integrated with WSN technology to construct a self-powered natural disaster monitoring system. In this novel harvester, the rotator is directly driven by external rotational motion thus can easily hybridize the TENNG with eighteen EMGs. Consequently, the fully packaged WH-EH device combining with the water-proof flexible solar cell can be completely isolated from the harsh wilderness environment. The output feature of TENG of high voltage but low current that perfectly compensate for the differing performance of EMG to achieve an excellent output power of the hybrid device with a broad frequency range. Moreover, the WH-EH is capable of lighting hundreds of LEDs and powering small electronics. The quick-acting charging ability of a capacitor by the WH-EH was conducted effectively in experimental tests. Three self-powered sensor systems enabled by a single WH-EH are systematically investigated and demonstrated, including a temperature sensor for forest fire detection, vibration sensor for earthquake monitoring and a wireless transceiver for alarm information spreading. Obviously, the invention of the hybridized generator will be of great importance to promote the development of self-powered wireless sensor networks and provide a sustainable power-supply solution to long-term natural disaster monitoring stations in residential or remote areas.

ME student winning Sir James Lighthill Award

At the Twenty-fifth International Congress on Sound and Vibration (ICSV25) held at Hiroshima in Japan, Mr. ZHANG Xiaoqi, a year two Ph.D. student in ME, won the prestigious Sir James Lighthill Award in the best student paper competition. The Award is for the best paper published in the Proceedings of ICSV by a person in the early stages of his/her career. The author of the paper must either be a student or within the first five years of full-time employment. As one of the biggest sound and vibration control events, ICSV was organized by the International Institute of Acoustics and Vibration (IIAV) and was attended this year by over 820 participants from over 30 different countries. Xiaoqi’s paper is entitled “Numerical Studies of the Acoustic Impedance of Micro-perforated Panels under Grazing Flow” and co-authored with his supervisor Prof. L. Cheng. The paper was chosen out of a total of 200 eligible papers presented during the congress by a panel composed of the IIAV board of directors.

Success in securing GRF 2018/19

In the 2018/2019 results of grants from the Research Grants Council’s General Research Fund (GRF) announced in June 2018, ME’s success rate for the GRF was 33% in 2018/19 exercise. Seven of our GRF proposals were funded and listed below: Principal Investigator Project Title Dr AN Liang Understanding charge transport phenomena in photoelectrochemical storage cells for solar energy storage Prof. CHENG Li Thermo-Acoustic Oscillations: Mechanism Exploration and Control Based on Delay Differential Equation Theories Under a Fully- coupled Modelling Framework Dr TANG Hui Study of magnetic hyperthermia based cancer treatment using a holistic simulation framework Prof. WEN Chih-yung Investigation and Optimization of Porous Coatings on the Stabilization of Hypersonic Boundary-Layer Flows Dr ZHENG Guangping Frenkel-Kontorova model based simulation on the deformation mechanisms in nanostructured high-entropy alloys Prof. ZHOU Li Min Size- and temperature-dependent phase transition in NASICON-type material on Li+- and Na+‐(de)intercalation Dr ZHU Jie Investigation on broadband transition delay and stability control of hypersonic turbulent boundary layer via gradient-index acoustic metasurface

ME PhD student won the Best Presentation Award at ICMMP 2018

Mr Haopeng YANG, a PhD student from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of PolyU, won the Best Presentation Award at the Fourth International Conference on Metallic Materials and Processing (ICMMP) on 20 June 2018. ICMMP 2018 was organized by the Northwestern Polytechnical University. This conference aimed at bringing together world materials communities to discuss and review the recent development and progress in materials science, processing and computational materials with the focus on metals. Meanwhile, ICMMP helped to facilitate more fruitful cooperation among researchers, and to look into the future of metal research. In this conference, 7 students and 5 full-time research fellows out of 58 participants were awarded the Best Presentation Award. Mr YANG’s awarded presentation was “Investigation on semi-solid forming of A356 alloy for fabrication of micro-scaled and fine-pitched pillar parts for semiconductor and microelectronics applications”. Mr YANG is a 4th-year PhD student, under the joint supervision of Prof. Mingwang FU and Dr Sandy TO. YANG is devoted to doing research into hot working material behaviors of Mg and Al alloys.

The 4th ME Research Poster Competition 2018

Fever to PolyU Mechanical Engineering! In a hot afternoon on 30 May 2018, 22 research students displayed their posters and delivered their insights to us. Academic supervisors were there to give advice, classmates and friends came to learn together. With an objective to provide the Research Postgraduate and Research MSc students of the Department a good opportunity to share their research project results and knowledge with their peers and the PolyU community, the Department has organized the Research Poster Competition on campus. This year, a total of 22 posters covering a wide range of topics were displayed. The posters reflected the participants’ research findings as well as their new and innovative ideas for successful approaches and the potential contribution to the advancement of Mechanical Engineering. During the competition, participants delivered a brief presentation of their research projects to win a vote from attendees including faculty members of the Department, research and MSc students, as well as peers and visitors on campus. Nearly 300 votes were cast and 6 outstanding posters were selected. The Champion, Runner-up and Excellent Poster Awardees won cash prizes of HK$2,000, HK$1,000 and HK$500 respectively. Congratulations to their wonderful presentations and excellent research work! Champion Student: Miss DUONGTHIPTHEWA Anchalee Supervisor: Prof. L.M. Zhou Title: Enhanced multi-functional properties of composites using conductive prepreg for lightning strike protection Runner-Up Student: Miss GAO Yang Supervisor: Dr H.M. Yao Title: Spiral interface: A reinforcing mechanism for laminated composite materials learned from nature Excellent Poster Award Student: Mr FAN Lei Supervisor: Dr Z.B. Jiao Title: Nanoscale precipitation and mechanical properties of particle-strengthened high-entropy alloys Student: Mr LIAO Yaozhong Supervisor: Prof. Z.Q. Su Title: Ultrafast response of spay-on nanocomposite piezoresistive sensing network coating Student: Mr TIAN Xudong Supervisor: Prof. C.Y. Wen Title: Supersonic/Hypersonic boundary layer control using porous coatings Student: Miss ZHOU Quan Supervisor: Prof. C.S. Cheung Title: Effect of fuel composition on laminar flame speed of H2/CO/CH4 biomass-derived syngas More photos on PHOTO GALLERY

ME Students Triumphed in the HKIE Young Engineers Programme 2017/2018

A team of four final-year undergraduate ME students has won the Champion in the Young Engineers Programme (YEP) 2017/2018 which is an annual flagship programme organized by the Manufacturing and Industrial (MI) Division of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE). This year, YEP is supported by China Light and Power Co Ltd. (CLP) with the theme “Redesign Power Plant for Next Hundred Year”. YEP is opened to engineering undergraduates of various engineering disciplines. In this programme, participants (Yeppers) were invited to join multiple seminars and technical visits to enrich their knowledge on power plants operation and to strengthen their business sense. The competition was conducted in research approach. Yeppers were required to read academic journals, identify critical problems in current power plant design, conduct business value analysis and propose comprehensive engineering solutions. After several submission of written reports, 11 teams of Yeppers presented in the first round on 24 March 2018 and the top 5 teams were selected into the final round of presentation on 27 April 2018. Congratulations to PolyU Team 4, with members Mr Chan Kwok Wai, Mr Lau Tak Leong Tony, Mr Law Man Cheong and Mr Lit Hong Tat, awarded Champion in the competition. Throughout the half-year programme, Ir Dr Daniel Ng, Chairman of HKIE – MI Division 2017/2018, acted as a mentor to all Yeppers, while Miss Winky Lui, our PolyU ME graduate and a current ME MSc student, was assigned as the tutor of PolyU Team 4. The team has chosen “Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) with Pre-combustion Carbon Capture” as their research topic with an aim to reduce carbon dioxide emission from power plants and increase the plant efficiency in a cost-effective way. They would like to express sincere thanks to Ir Prof. Wallace Leung for his inspiring guidance and Miss Winky Lui for her zealous support.

Technical Seminar “Breakthrough on Nanofiber Technologies to Air Purification and Solar Cells” by Ir Prof. Wallace Leung

Co-organized by the Mechanical, Marine, Naval Architecture & Chemical (MMNC) Division, Gas and Energy (EG) Division, Materials Division of The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE), The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET – Hong Kong Branch) and the Mechanical Engineering (ME) Department of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), a technical seminar with the theme “Breakthrough on Nanofiber Technologies to Air Purification and Solar Cells” was delivered by Ir Prof. Wallace Leung, Chair Professor of Innovative Products and Technologies of ME Department of PolyU, on 25th April 2018. Over 100 HKIE and IET members participated in the seminar. Nanofiber is non-woven, randomly oriented very fine fiber with a fiber diameter less than 1000 nanometer. Prof. Leung started by introducing the physical features, materials and production methods of nanofiber. Then, he divided his presentation into two main topics: Nanofiber in Energy and Nanofiber in Environment. For the first topic, he talked about application of nanofiber on solar cells. He introduced an environmental-friendly PV technology, the dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC), which uses an organic dye to effectively harvest solar energy and convert photons to electrical charges efficiently. Three technologies on nanofiber-based DSSC along improvements in light trapping, light harvesting and charge transport have been discussed. The adoption of bilayer TiO2 nanofibers, CuPC co-sensitization and carbon nanotube in TiO2 nanofibers brings significant efficiency improvement of DSSC. Nanofiber technology also gives remarkable contribution in air quality improvement. Filtration using nanofibers arranged in novel configurations can remove particulate pollutants and air borne viruses as small as 10-100 nm with high capture efficiency, high aerosol holding capacity, low-pressure drop and stable performance. These nanofiber technologies present a wide range of applications, from facemask, respirators, cabin filter, HVAC, engine, turbine, hospital wards to industrial uses. Besides, novel nanofiber photocatalysts, which are made of composite semiconductor such as TiO2-ZnO, can purify gases effectively by breaking down harmful substance to carbon dioxide and water vapor, after harvesting both UV and visible light. The seminar came to a successful end with an interactive Q&A session and last but not least, souvenirs were presented to Ir Prof. Leung by the HKIE and IET representatives, Miss Winky Lui and Mr. Victor Chan, to thank Ir Prof. Leung for his informative and inspiring sharing.

ME Scholar won Gold Award in International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva

Prof. Zhongqing SU of the Department of Mechanical Engineering won a Gold Medal in the 46th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, Switzerland in April 2018. Sprayable Smart Sensing Network Coating for Structural Health Monitoring Principal Investigators: Prof. Zhongqing SU (Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) Prof. Zhong ZHANG (CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing) Prof. Limin ZHOU (Interdisciplinary Division of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) This innovative, first-ever, nanocomposites-inspired smart sensor is made of carbon black (CB), 2D graphene and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). The sensors made of this new breed of nanocomposites can be directly sprayed on any engineering structure to form a highly dense smart sensing network, which can acquire in-situ broadband ultrasounds of up to 1 MHz for damage detection. Lightweight, flexible and highly responsive, the sensing network can quantitatively evaluate invisible, undersized defect and damage in the structure, such as cracks caused by metal fatigue. This new sensing technology retrofits conventional ultrasonic sensing philosophy, and blazes a new trail for next generation of in-situ structural health monitoring. The 46th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, held from 11-15 April 2018, has attracted 822 exhibitors from 40 countries/regions, showcasing around 1,000 or so innovations. Under the patronage of the Swiss Federal Government, the State and the City of Geneva as well as the World Intellectual Property Organization, it is the biggest event of its kind globally.

ME PhD student won the Best Student Presentation Award at the 22nd Annual Conference of HKSTAM

Mr Jimin FU, a PhD student from the PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering, got the Best Student Presentation Award at the 22ndAnnual Conference of HKSTAM on 14 April 2018. The 22nd Annual Conference of HKSTAM 2018 in conjunction with the 14th Shanghai-Hong Kong Forum on Mechanics and Its Application was co-organized by the Hong Kong Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (HKSTAM), the Shanghai Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (SSTAM) and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). The conference topics cover mechanics and its application in all science and engineering disciplines. The one-day conference featured 5 distinguished lectures and 38 presentations in eight parallel sessions. Student participants were provided opportunities to present their research work during the presentation sessions. Based on the assessment results by referees, eight best students were awarded the Best Student Presentation Award. The topic of Jimin’s presentation is “Microscopic ridge-like surface morphology: An antifouling strategy learned from nature”. Jimin is a fourth-year PhD candidate. He is devoted to the study on micro-and nanomechanics of natural biomaterials under the joint supervisions of Dr Haimin YAO and Prof. Sanqiang SHI.

ME students won the Champion and the Best Innovative Award in the HKIE Joint Student Chapters Competition 2018

A team of Mechanical Engineering students of the undergraduate final-year capstone project in the title of “Design and Construction of an Innovative Energy Conversion Device” – Ms. Fung Man Yi, Ms. Wong Hei Wa and Ms. Pang Wei Fong under the supervision of Dr. Lam Chun Ki has won the Champion and the Best Innovative Award in the HKIE Joint Student Chapters Competition 2018. The competition was organized by the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) and held at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University on 14 April 2018. The theme of this year is “Engineering a Utopia”. The topic should be related to Sustainable Development, and should fulfill at least one of the scopes of Intelligent Building, Green Construction and Methodology and Energy Efficiency and Management. Top universities in Hong Kong have participated in this annual competition. The judging panel marked the competitors based on design innovation, design methodology, potential for commercialization and presentation skills during the presentation session. The winning innovative design for the team is an eco-friendly portable fridge powered up by energy conversion on a bike.