RESEARCH INTERESTS:

• Droplet microfluidics & materials
• Early diagnosis and prevention of infectious diseases
• Engineering materials with designed micro-/nano-structures to confer new properties
• Microfluidics-enabled soft and intelligent manufacturing
• Soft and micro actuators/motors/robots/sensors
• Thermodynamics
• Fluid mechanics
• Heat and mass transfer

Ten recent representative RGC-GRF projects

1. 17205421: Photopyroelectric microfluidics: a contamination-free fluidic processor, HK$1139146.

2. 17204420: Asymmetric fibers for efficient fog harvesting, HK$ 873995.

3. 17210319: Engineering micromotors using droplet microfluidics, HK$695919.

4. 17204718: Liquid-repellent surfaces: microfluidic-droplet-based fabrication of springtail-cuticle-like porous surfaces, HK$632421.

5. 17237316: Chemoembolization microparticles: microfluidic fabrication and characterization, HK$482605.

6. 17211115: Engineering embolic microparticles with uniform shape and size, HK$871044.

7. 17207914: Microfluidic fabrication of thermally smart nanoparticle colloidosomes with single or multiple compartments, HK$875000.

8. 717613: Engineering water and oil with ultra-high thermal conductivity, HK$836450.

9. 718111: Smart and high-conductive nanofluids, HK$681195.

10. 718009: Microfluidic nanofluids: synthesis and characterization, HK$901271.

BIOGRAPHY:

Prof. L. Q. “Rick” Wang received his PhD from University of Alberta, Canada, and is currently a chair professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the University of Hong Kong (HKU). He also serves as the Director and the Chief Scientist for the Laboratory for Nanofluids and Thermal Engineering at the Zhejiang Institute of Research and Innovation (HKU-ZIRI), the University of Hong Kong. Prof. Wang has 25 years of HKU experience in transport phenomena, materials, nanotechnology, biotechnology, energy & environment, thermal & power engineering, and mathematics, and ~2 years of industry experience in technology and IP development/management/transfer as the Chief Scientist & the Global CTO. In addition to 6 authored scholarly monographs/books, 4 edited scholarly monographs, 5 book chapters, 76 keynote lectures at international conferences and 166 invited lectures in universities/industries/organizations, Prof. Wang has published 489 papers, many of which have been widely used by researchers all over the world and been ranked amongst the top 1% of most-cited scientists according to Clarivate Analytics’ Essential Science Indicator. Prof. Wang has also filed 37 patents/software copyrights, and developed, with an international team consisting of about 100 scientists and engineers, a state-of-the-art thermal control system for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) on the International Space Station (ISS) that ensures AMS and all its sub-detectors working at their designed temperatures ± 1 ℃ for an environment temperature variation from -40 ℃ to 60 ℃ every 90 minutes.

Prof. Wang’s work has been widely featured by local, national and international media/journals, and received recognition through a number of awards, including the Gold Medal of the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva (2021), the TechConnect Global Innovation Award (2018), the Silver Medal of the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva (2018), the OSA Innovation Award (2017), and the First Outstanding Achievement Award of Hangzhou Oversea Scholars (2016).

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

• Feng S. L., Zhu P. A., Zheng H. X., Zhan H. Y., Chen C., Li J. Q., Wang L. Q., Yao X., Liu Y. H. and Wang Z. K. 2021, Three-dimensional capillary ratchet-induced liquid directional steering, Science 373, 1344-1348.
• Tang X., Li W. and Wang L. Q. 2021, Furcated droplet motility on crystalline surfaces, Nature Nanotechnology 16, 1106-1112 (cover featured).
• Han X., Li W., Zhao H. B., Li J. Q., Tang X. and Wang L. Q. 2021, Slippery damper of overlay for droplet arresting and manipulating on non-wetting surfaces, Nature Communications 12, 3154.
• Zhu P. A., Chen R. F., Zhou C. M., Aizenberg M., Aizenberg J. and Wang L. Q. 2021, Bioinspired soft microactuators. Advanced Materials 33, 2008558.
• Tang X., Tian Y., Tian X. W., Li W., Han X., Kong T. T. and Wang L. Q. 2021, Design of multi-scale textured surfaces for unconventional liquid harnessing, Materials Today 43, 62-83 (cover featured).
• Aguilar M., (…), Wang L. Q., (…) and AMS Collaboration 2021, The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) on the international space station: part II – results from the first seven years, Physics Reports 894, 1-116.
• Li W., Tang X. and Wang L. Q. 2020, Photopyroelectric microfluidics, Science Advances 6, eabc1693.
• Tian Y., Zhu P. A., Tang X., Zhou C. M., Wang J. M., Kong T. T., Xu M. and Wang L. Q.  2017, Large-scale water collection of bioinspired cavity-microfibers, Nature Communications 8, 1080.
• Zhu P. A., Kong T. T., Tang X. and Wang L. Q. 2017, Well-defined porous membranes for robust omniphobic surfaces via microfluidic emulsion templating, Nature Communications 8, 15823.
• Tang X., Zhu P. A., Tian Y., Zhou X. C., Kong T. T. and Wang L. Q. 2017, Mechano-regulated surface for manipulating liquid droplets, Nature Communications 8, 14831.