News

The Young Persons’ World Lecture Competition (YPWLC) covers the entire range of materials production and use, from the raw materials in the ground, through extraction, processing, research, manufacturing and final use. Young Scientists and Engineers in the fields of Materials, Minerals, Mining, Packaging, Clay Technology and Wood Science, Science and Engineering are highly encouraged to participate in the competition.

As part of the competition, YPLC (Hong Kong heat) was held by IOM3 (the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining) 19th June, 2019. PhD student Yahui Zhang (under the supervision of Dr Louis Wong) from the Department of Earth Sciences of HKU participated in the heat and won the 2nd runner-up in this competition, for a presentation on “Building and testing virtual rocks”.

Yahui presented her latest research on the development of a digital rock model to simulate the mechanical behavior of crystalline rocks. The model, which captures the microstructural characteristics of real rocks, reveals the macro-mechanical rock response from a microscopic point of view. The model is not only a promising supplement to the rock mechanics laboratory tests, but also of insightful value of transforming the conventional geomechanics towards digitalization. Congratulations to Ms Zhang!