Congratulations to Miss LAW Po In, Bobo, a 4th year student of the BENG Materials Engineering programmefrom the MSE Department, who made the 2nd runner-up in the Young Persons' Lecture Competition 2018 (Hong Kong Heat) organized by IOM3!  

As one of the five finalists, Bobo delivered the winning lecture, "Development of All-Solid-State Lithium-ion Batteries Based on Poly (Ethylene Oxide) Electrolyte". This topic is about the importance of developing a solid state electrolyte lithium-ion battery to solve the problem of vaporization and explosion of conventional liquid state electrolyte lithium-ion battery which is widely used in our daily life.  

Organized by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOMS (HK)), the Young Persons' Lecture Competition invites students and young professionals up to the age of 28 to deliver a short lecture on a materials, minerals, mining, packaging, clay technology and wood science related subject.  

An Interview with Miss Law:  

1.    What was the driving factor for you to participate in this competition in the first place? 

LAW: I saw this competition in the mass email from our department and I found it interesting because it is rare to find competition like this. However, I did not think I was qualified or brave enough to join it in the first place. Thanks to my final year project supervisor, Prof. Robert Li, who encouraged me to participate in this competition. He gave support and confidence to me and said I should give it a try. Therefore, I sent the application form and started to prepare my presentation.  

2.    Please briefly share with us how you came up with the idea of your lecture topic, "Development of All-Solid-State Lithium-ion Batteries Based on Poly (Ethylene Oxide) Electrolyte". How do we apply this idea in our daily life? 

LAW: There are two types of lithium ion batteries, the liquid electrolyte, and the solid electrolyte. The ones that are widely used (i.e. liquid electrolyte) are actually not safe at all. There are lots of news showing liquid state electrolyte Li-ion battery is explosive and unstable. Then I took a course, AP4176 Energy Materials for the Current Century last year, where I learned the basic idea of a lithium-ion battery. I think it is a potential topic to be developed in the coming centuries. Thus, I chose this as my final year project and IOM3 lecture topic. 

All-Solid-State Lithium-ion Battery is actually very worth researching. Due to its stability andprocessability, it can replace the current liquid-state one with higher safety and higher effectiveness. The Li-ion battery of our cell phones, cameras, laptops etc. can all be replaced with the maturely developed all-solid-state Li-ion battery.  

3.    Would you recommend your fellow students to participate in this or other activities of a similar nature in the future? Why? 

LAW: Of course! In this competition, I truly broadened my horizons and learned a lot. This was an open competition where other participants were all Master students. Some were even full-time engineers. All participants were very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their lectures. I was the youngest participant among them and I felt so nervous after listening to their marvelous lectures. Fortunately, they gave me supports and many comments to improve my research. I learned their perseverance and humbleness and I wish I could continue to do my project.    

      I never thought of winning any places in this competition at first, but everything is possible! I will genuinely encourage my fellow schoolmates to participate in activities like this in the future. No matter winning any prizes or not, there must have something you can learn from people outside the classroom.