The IOM3 Young Persons’ Lecture Competition (YPLC) is organized by the Institute of Materials Minerals and Mining (IOM3) each year. The YPLC invites students and professionals up to the age of 28 to deliver a short lecture (12 to 15 minutes) on a topic related to materials, minerals, mining, packaging, clay technology, wood science or engineering.https://www.iom3.org/yplc
Candidates compete in a series of heats organized (where appropriate) by IOM3 local coordinators, from which the regional finalists are selected to compete in National Finals. Last week the second YPLC China final was hosted by Queen Mary University of London’s Engineering School in Xi’an, China (QMES). The winner will go on to represent China in the Young Persons'WorldLecture Competition final (https://www.iom3.org/ypwlc) which in 2022 will be held online in November.
(Judges and audiences online, from top to bottom, from left to right: Xiaoli Fan, Faith Nightingale, Andrew Spowage, Han Zhang, Juncheng Fan)
Five talented young engineers made it to the second YPLC China final and delivered their presentations to a hybrid audience (face-to-face and online). QMES’ prestigious lecture theatre was filled with students and staff alike; due to international travel restrictions an online audience was also able to dial in and enjoy the presentations. The event was opened with a short introduction from Dean of QMES Xiaoli Fan. She wished the students luck and praised the students’ strengths and bravery for entering this competition. She also expressed how the students are role models for encouraging the younger students to take part in this competition in the future. Executive Vice Dean Andy Busby also conveyed the following message: “Communication in science is very important. Particularly in the Materials Sciences, when we are often dealing with the latest advances in technology. So being able to convey new ideas to a general audience is a very important skill. I wish all the speakers today the very best of luck”.After the introductions, the contestants took over the show. Details of the presentations (in the order they presented) are given below:
·Ms Yuchen Li -Preparation and property of flexible expanded graphite/MXene nanocomposite
·Mr Jiaming Liu -Applications of Silicon Carbide Ceramic Composites
·Mr Yuxuan Jiang –Characteristics and mechanism of soot dispersion in lubricant with dispersants through molecular dynamics simulation
·Mr Tianyi Li- MXene/rGO@PI aerogel with excellent EMI shielding performance
·Mr Fanze Meng-Former research and recent advances of metal-organic frameworks(MOF) for anti-cancer drug delivery
All the presentations were well received, and it was a difficult decision for the three judges to separate the presenters for the various prizes.
（Presenters from left to right: Yuxuan Jiang, Fanze Meng, Tianyi Li, Jiaming Liu）
After much deliberation, the following were crowned as the winners:
·1st Place – Mr Tianyi Li who will receive a cash prize of GBP400, a certificate and advance to the World Final.
·2nd Place – Mr Jiaming Liu who will receive a cash prize of GBP200 and a certificate
·3rd Place- Ms Yuchen Li who will receive a cash prize of GBP100 and a certificate
Dr Andrew Spowage CEng, one of the judges, is quoted as saying, “All of the presenters did a fantastic job. They are showed considerable maturity and have promising careers ahead of them. They are all winners, and it was really difficult to choose who would be awarded each of the prizes”.
Further Information:
·For more Information about the Young Persons’WorldLecture Competition (https://www.iom3.org/ypwlc)
·For more information on Queen Mary University of London Engineering School, Xi’an, the host of the event (here)
·For more information on the work, activities, and membership of IOM3 (here)
·If you, your students or colleagues would like to participate in next years’ Chinese National Finals of the Young Persons’ Lecture Competition please contact Dr Andrew Spowage (a.spowage@qmul.ac.uk)
Text: Faith Nightingale
Photo: Luyan Wang
