HK SciFest: Talk Series on Emerging Technologies 2021
Introduction
Emerging technologies such as quantum engineering, genome editing, AI and renewable energy are set to have profound impacts on our daily lives, our planet, and our way of understanding nature and even ourselves. To inform high school students and teachers about the latest technologies and to prepare our next generations for the opportunities and challenges ahead of us, YASHK, The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education (HKAGE) with the support from Education Bureau (EDB), and Hong Kong Science Museum are co-organising the “Talk Series on Emerging Technologies — Science, Opportunities and Challenges 2021" as an event of HK SciFest.
In this series, there are thematic sessions including Cosmology, COVID-19 and Environmental Science. The series will be held between March 2021 and December 2021. Stay tuned with us for the latest talk schedule.
Introduction
In this talk, the speakers will present and discuss the latest scientific and technological development, with sustainability thinking at its core:
How shall we integrate knowledge and skills from physics to biology to machine learning, to understand and even predict the Earth's environment?
How shall we be innovative and create new solutions for clean energy and sustainable development in urban cities and developing countries at large?
Poster
Download the promotional Poster (pdf - 1.0 MB)
The Speakers
Dr Amos TAI, Associate Professor, Earth System Science Programme, Faculty of Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Dr Yi-Chun LU, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Introduction
The speaker will discuss what is known about COVID-19 and the virus causing this disease (SARS-CoV-2), and provide an update on the situation so far and what might happen in the coming months. He will also talk about the importance of sharing his findings to various national and international healthcare organizations for combating this newly emerging disease.
Poster
Download the promotional Poster (pdf - 2.0 MB)
The Speakers
Prof Leo POON, Professor, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
Introduction
Our observed universe is 14 billion years old now. If we compress these 14 billion years to one day, the whole human history corresponds to no more than a second in that day. What happened in the evolution history of the universe? How the universe turns into the current form from the infant universe? How life arises in the universe?
The talk will start from the origin of the universe – hot big bang cosmology and cover topics including the inflationary universe, big bang nucleosynthesis, the first light, large scale structure of the universe, the formation of galaxies and the birth of stars and planets.
Poster
Download the promotional Poster (pdf - 1.0 MB)
The Speakers
Dr Hua-Bai LI, Associate Professor, Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Dr Yi WANG, Associate Professor, Department of Physics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Introduction
This talk is about the new advanced materials developed recently which can be applied in our daily application in transportation and construction. In the first half of the talk, such application in transportation will be discussed. Transportation vehicles including passenger cars, buses and trucks are the second largest source of greenhouse gas emission. One effective and economical way to reduce greenhouse gas emission in the transportation industry is by reducing the weight of vehicles. For instance, a 10% reduction in the weight of a passenger car can reduce greenhouse gas emission by about 6-8%. However, the weight reduction shall not be at the cost of passenger safety, in particular, in car crash incidents. To achieve weight reduction while maintaining high safety standards, lightweight materials are widely used. The most commonly used low-cost lightweight materials are advanced high strength steels (AHSS). The high strength of AHSS allows the fabrication of thinner structural components and protects the passengers during unexpected crash incidents. This talk will introduce the application of AHSS in the global automotive industry.
In the second half of this talk, application in construction will be illustrated. Advanced cementitious materials and composite systems, which have been developed in view of the advancement of nanotechnology, will be discussed. Examples of green concrete and fibre-reinforced polymers (FRP) will be the focus in this part. It is envisioned that these new materials, which are much more durable than traditional construction materials, will enable sustainable development in the built environment.
Poster
Download the promotional Poster
The Speakers
Prof. Mingxin HUANG, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, HKU
Dr Denvid LAU, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, CityU
Co-organised By:
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