Annual summary (2016)
There is a Chinese saying “du (pass) ri (day) ru (like) nian (year)”, meaning “every day is a year long”, to describe hardship and deep anxiety in one’s life. The opposite must also be true, that is, “du (pass) nian (year) ru (like) ri (day)” or “the year is a day short” for a happy and successful year. It’s then great to report that I do feel the year of 2016 has passed like a day or, maybe, two. Where did time go?
1/ The group published 22 papers, with 6 more accepted and 4 more submitted! It is one of the most productive years in PolyMac-Zhu’s history, second only to the record high 31 papers in 2015. The papers appeared in reputable refereed journals. Among 28 appeared and accepted, about one third resulted from ZJU, thanks to hard work of the collaborators and also suggesting my time in Hangzhou well spent.
2/ This year’s publication heroes are Hermes Zhu and Lei Lei. Each first authored three papers. Hermes had a paper in Advanced Materials on MOF nanocellulose aerogels. During his doctoral study, Hermes wrote ten papers (incl. 2 coauthored). In my opinion, many of the works reached the level of AdvMat or Angewandte, but just lack of luck, particularly in early years. Sharon Meng Li and Darko Ljubic also published two papers each. In the recent years, the group focused on developing smart polymers and systems, sensitive to various gases, to UV, to stress, to magnetic field, shape memory, etc. It’s a real test of our brain power in discovery and innovation. It’s fun to work, though sometime not sure what application to target. Maybe, it’s called research.
3/ Another hero is Dr. Weifeng Liu, in a different category. Weifeng completed two years of PDF work on an industrial project. Although the project did not generate paper due to confidentiality, it represented a real success. The company has decided to go ahead to construct a plant for commercial production of the polymer. After so many years of training, I believe Weifeng is second to none in his generation as an expert in olefin polymerization reactor technology.
3/ More important than paper is people. Our strength is paper, but our product is people. In 2016, we had one PhD graduated (Hermes Zhu), one PDF completed (Dr. Weifeng Liu), and hosted one visiting student (Yangyang Lu). We recruited two doctoral students (Illinka Mirkovic and Anton Kornberg), one PDF from Shanghai JiaoTong (Dr. Yin-Ning Zhou), and one visiting scholar from Jiaxing (Prof Dan Liu). The group has 6 PhD’s, one PDF and one VS at the moment. PolyMac-Zhu aims at mass balance and steady state operation in the coming years. Anton originally came from Mendeleev University in Russia. I hoped he could discover Element 117 and 118 for PhD study. With the recent IUPAC announcement, he will have to change the research direction for his thesis.
4/ A highlight of the year was at 2016 MUCEC. The group collected the most awards and scholarships from the Department. Darko Ljubic received the premier R. B. Anderson Award. I remember only Ed Kolodka, Aileen Wang, Santiago Faucher and Helen Gu received this recognition for excellence in both service and research. Lei Lei and Darko Ljubic received Shell Canada for excellence in research. I bet Darko became a rich man with the awards. Sharon Meng Li received Archie Hamielec Graduate Student Award for the best presentation. It is indeed impressive in a single year with so many awards. Another highlight was CSChE Conference at Quebec City in October. I was honored to receive the premier RS Jane Award, which was handed to me by one of our own, Santiago Faucher, as the Society’s president. I am glad he made it clear that he was not involved in the awardee selection.
5/ And more … A friend of mine told me to exercise caution when I reached 56 years old. He had a theory about human’s (mis)fortune. Turbulence comes every 7 or 8 years in cycle. No matter it’s 7 years or 8 years, the age of 56 has no escape. I laughed at him for being so none scientific as a scholar. Looking back for the year, I must admit that my experience verified his theory. There were quite a few data. One was a bike accident in the summer that made me unable to find the north. I feel lucky now that I still remember your names. However, unlike drinking, I did not and will not stop biking.
I am having this New Year’s Eve in Hangzhou. I took off this very last day of 2016 for hiking. At the highest peak in the area, I could not see much far. The suppose-to-be very beautiful scene was blanketed with smog PM2.5 >150, even at an altitude of 536m. I am thinking what chemical engineering could do to help people breathe easy, a plug for nose or a filter for pollutant source?
Best wishes to your 2017!
Shiping Zhu
Dec 31, 2016
1/ The group published 22 papers, with 6 more accepted and 4 more submitted! It is one of the most productive years in PolyMac-Zhu’s history, second only to the record high 31 papers in 2015. The papers appeared in reputable refereed journals. Among 28 appeared and accepted, about one third resulted from ZJU, thanks to hard work of the collaborators and also suggesting my time in Hangzhou well spent.
2/ This year’s publication heroes are Hermes Zhu and Lei Lei. Each first authored three papers. Hermes had a paper in Advanced Materials on MOF nanocellulose aerogels. During his doctoral study, Hermes wrote ten papers (incl. 2 coauthored). In my opinion, many of the works reached the level of AdvMat or Angewandte, but just lack of luck, particularly in early years. Sharon Meng Li and Darko Ljubic also published two papers each. In the recent years, the group focused on developing smart polymers and systems, sensitive to various gases, to UV, to stress, to magnetic field, shape memory, etc. It’s a real test of our brain power in discovery and innovation. It’s fun to work, though sometime not sure what application to target. Maybe, it’s called research.
3/ Another hero is Dr. Weifeng Liu, in a different category. Weifeng completed two years of PDF work on an industrial project. Although the project did not generate paper due to confidentiality, it represented a real success. The company has decided to go ahead to construct a plant for commercial production of the polymer. After so many years of training, I believe Weifeng is second to none in his generation as an expert in olefin polymerization reactor technology.
3/ More important than paper is people. Our strength is paper, but our product is people. In 2016, we had one PhD graduated (Hermes Zhu), one PDF completed (Dr. Weifeng Liu), and hosted one visiting student (Yangyang Lu). We recruited two doctoral students (Illinka Mirkovic and Anton Kornberg), one PDF from Shanghai JiaoTong (Dr. Yin-Ning Zhou), and one visiting scholar from Jiaxing (Prof Dan Liu). The group has 6 PhD’s, one PDF and one VS at the moment. PolyMac-Zhu aims at mass balance and steady state operation in the coming years. Anton originally came from Mendeleev University in Russia. I hoped he could discover Element 117 and 118 for PhD study. With the recent IUPAC announcement, he will have to change the research direction for his thesis.
4/ A highlight of the year was at 2016 MUCEC. The group collected the most awards and scholarships from the Department. Darko Ljubic received the premier R. B. Anderson Award. I remember only Ed Kolodka, Aileen Wang, Santiago Faucher and Helen Gu received this recognition for excellence in both service and research. Lei Lei and Darko Ljubic received Shell Canada for excellence in research. I bet Darko became a rich man with the awards. Sharon Meng Li received Archie Hamielec Graduate Student Award for the best presentation. It is indeed impressive in a single year with so many awards. Another highlight was CSChE Conference at Quebec City in October. I was honored to receive the premier RS Jane Award, which was handed to me by one of our own, Santiago Faucher, as the Society’s president. I am glad he made it clear that he was not involved in the awardee selection.
5/ And more … A friend of mine told me to exercise caution when I reached 56 years old. He had a theory about human’s (mis)fortune. Turbulence comes every 7 or 8 years in cycle. No matter it’s 7 years or 8 years, the age of 56 has no escape. I laughed at him for being so none scientific as a scholar. Looking back for the year, I must admit that my experience verified his theory. There were quite a few data. One was a bike accident in the summer that made me unable to find the north. I feel lucky now that I still remember your names. However, unlike drinking, I did not and will not stop biking.
I am having this New Year’s Eve in Hangzhou. I took off this very last day of 2016 for hiking. At the highest peak in the area, I could not see much far. The suppose-to-be very beautiful scene was blanketed with smog PM2.5 >150, even at an altitude of 536m. I am thinking what chemical engineering could do to help people breathe easy, a plug for nose or a filter for pollutant source?
Best wishes to your 2017!
Shiping Zhu
Dec 31, 2016