Graduate School of Engineering, Mｓ.Liu

In early July of this year, I had the opportunity of attending a two-week summer school held at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. This program provided a rich and exciting experience of cultural and academic exchange. The summer school's schedule mainly consisted of various lectures and cultural activities, which were both enlightening and enjoyable.

After the opening ceremony on the first day, around 40 of us students participated in ice-breaking activities. These group activities helped us quickly become acquainted with one another. In the following days of the first week, we attended several lectures given by several international researchers, and the topics of the lectures are wide, such as ceramics, metal matrix composites and energy storage devices etc. Although I found it somewhat challenging to fully grasp all the content of the lectures in some new fields, they gave me valuable insight into the efforts researchers are making to develop new materials. One of the lectures that stood out was delivered by Professor Gu on " Two-dimensional (2D) Quantum Sheets as Electrode Materials for Supercapacitors." He began with the development history of 2D materials and explained how to cleverly use electrochemical route to generate 2D quantum sheets. He also discussed how to scale up production and applying these materials in supercapacitors. Professor Gu's lecture was highly logical and engaging. After listening to it, I developed a great interest in their research. Following a brief discussion with Professor Gu, I took a lab tour to learn about the recent work of his team. On the last day of the first week, we toured the Heraeus factory. Heraeus company was found in Germany, and they focus on precious and special metals, medical technology, quartz glass, sensors etc.

During the second week, we attended three lectures, all of which were very interesting and thought-provoking. I also introduced my current research with other students through a poster presentation. Additionally, we visited the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility in an afternoon. SSRF is one of the advanced third generation light sources in the world, and it supports and pushes the cutting-edge scientific research and the innovation in China. In the final days, to promote collaboration and exchange among students, all participants were divided into six groups. Each group was tasked with addressing a topic related to advanced materials science and had to deliver a 20-minute presentation on the last day to present their understanding of the topic. I was assigned to the “Advanced Metal Matrix Composites” group, where I worked with six other members to conduct extensive research and preparation. Finally, we achieved the third prize in all group presentation. Through this group collaboration, I also formed friendships with several of my fellow students.

The summer school at Shanghai Jiao Tong University is a meaningful and fruitful experience. I am very grateful to GPMS for providing me with this opportunity. It allowed me to learn new knowledge from experts in various fields and establish friendships with students from various countries.