Distinguished lectures on materials and infinity
Two renowned scientists discussed electronic circuitry materials and the quest for infinity, respectively, at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) on 19 January.
They were Professor Tobin Marks, Department of Chemistry and the Materials Research Center, Northwestern University, US; and Professor Wang Yifang, Director of the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Professor Marks discussed the challenging design, realisation, understanding and implementation of new materials families for unconventional electronics in his talk titled “How do we create and process materials for flexible, transparent electronic circuitry?”
His talk was part of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) Distinguished Lecture Series.
A Senior Fellow at IAS, Professor Marks said fabrication methodologies to achieve these goals included high-throughput, large-area, high-resolution printing techniques. Polycrystalline and amorphous oxide semiconductors, for instance, were used for printable transparent and mechanically flexible electronics, he said.
Professor Marks is a member of the US, German, and Indian national academies of sciences, the US National Academy of Engineering, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the US National Academy of Inventors.
On the same day, Professor Wang delivered a lecture titled “The Quest of Infinity” at the latest installment of the CityU Distinguished Lecture Series.
He said society had benefited from the study of infinitely small particle physics, and infinitely large cosmology. New facilities such as the China Spallation Neutron Source and Shanghai Free Electron Laser Facility provided a lot of opportunities for young researchers.
Professor Wang is a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Third World Academy of Sciences, and a Foreign Member of Russian Academy of Sciences.