Sand is the most exploited raw solid material in the world and used for construction of buildings, roads, railways, bridges, tunnels and beaches. It is also used to make the glass and silicon chips. The annual consumption for use in glass, concrete and construction materials has reached 50 billion tones, which is extremely high. Consequently, according to United Nations’ reports, the world is facing a shortage crisis of sand, as one of the greatest sustainability challenges of the 21st century. Such sand shortage crisis around the world has affected the use of sand in Hong Kong since Hong Kong does not produce any sand and all the sand used in Hong Kong is imported from Mainland China. In this Teck Talk, Professor Yue will present his technological innovation of originality. His innovation can solve this global sand shortage crisis. More importantly, his innovation can provide a stable supply of quality sand for construction and industry and offer new raw material resources for developing new industry in Hong Kong. Professor Yue has discovered that the local ordinary soil in Hong Kong can be converted into the materials of sand and clay. The sand is silica sand and mainly quartz mineral. The clay is mainly kaolinite mineral. Both materials can be used as the raw solid materials in construction and other industry. Professor Yue will demonstrate that his technical innovation is simple, environmental-friendly, sustainable and cost-effective and can be applied to many places around the world for producing quality sand materials.
Zhong-qi Quentin Yue is a professor in geotechnical engineering at the Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong (HKU). Professor Yue obtained BSc degree (1983) and MSc degree (1986) in geology and earthquake from Peking University, PhD degree (1992) in geotechnical engineering from Carleton University, and a post-doctoral fellow experience in road pavement engineering at National Research Council of Canada. He chartered as a professional engineer both in Ontario in 1995 and in Hong Kong in 1998. He had a total of 9 years industrial experience in Beijing, Ottawa and Hong Kong before joining HKU in 1999. His teaching and research interests include (a) geomechanics and applications, (b) geotechnical ground investigation, (c) landslides and debris flows, (d) caverns, tunnels, excavations and land reclamations, (e) hazard causes of earthquakes and volcanoes, and (f) geo-materials. Professor Yue has made up to 500 publications and delivered more than 600 lectures at conferences and institutions. He has received some prestigious awards from Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering, Mao Yi-sheng Science and Technology Education Foundation, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Alliance for Simulation-Based Engineering and Science, International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics, Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Peking University, as well as The University of Hong Kong.
Clean water and clean air are vital for public health. This project focuses on developing high-efficiency and environmentally sustainable filters for removing harmful air/water pollutants. The team has developed novel architectures and functionalities for the filters to achieve high permeance, high removal efficiency, and excellent reusability.
