CUHK
News Centre
CUHK United College Distinguished Visiting Scholar Prof. Steven Chu to Give Account of His Research Career and the Future of Clean Energy
The United College of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has invited Prof. Steven Chu, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, USA, as the College’s Distinguished Visiting Scholar in 2016-17. Professor Chu will visit CUHK from 17 to 22 October 2016 and deliver lectures on ‘A Random Walk in Science’ and ‘Energy, Climate Change and a Low Cost Path Forward’. The visit of Professor Chu is supported by the United College Endowment Fund and Philomathia Foundation.
Both lectures will be delivered in English. Details are as follows.
|
1. A Random Walk in Science |
|
|
Science does not always advance with a clear vision. Scientific trajectories, and, more generally, the path of a person’s life, seldom follow predictable ways. Professor Chu will talk about the many turns in his career, beginning with his graduate student days at the University of California, Berkeley, and his time at Bell Labs and Stanford as he journeyed from testing the fundamental theories of physics, to laser cooling and the trapping of atoms, to experiments in polymer physics and biology with individual molecules. He will also discuss his growing concern over climate change during his tenure as the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and as US Secretary of Energy. He will conclude the lecture with his current work in nano-materials for applications in biology, biomedicine and batteries. |
|
|
Date: |
Tuesday, 18 October 2016 |
|
Time: |
4:30 pm – 6:00 pm |
|
Venue: |
Lecture Hall, Hong Kong Science Museum, Tsim Sha Tsui |
* for invited secondary school students only
|
2. Energy, Climate Change and a Low Cost Path Forward |
|
|
Science and technology as in the industrial and agricultural revolutions have profoundly transformed the world. Professor Chu will briefly describe recent consequences of the use of fossil fuels, and the rapidly changing energy landscape before turning to how energy efficiency and clean energy sources are becoming the low cost option to our energy needs. |
|
|
Date: |
Thursday, 20 October 2016 |
|
Time: |
4:30 pm – 6:00 pm |
|
Venue: |
Sir Run Run Shaw Hall, CUHK, Shatin |
* members of the public are welcome
For further information, please contact Mr. George W.Y. Lam at 3943 7598 and Ms. Amy C.Y. Yeung at 3943 7455, Dean of Students’ Office, United College, CUHK.
Biography of Prof. Steven Chu
Prof. Steven Chu was born in St. Louis, Missouri, with ancestry from Jiangsu, China. He received both a B.A. in mathematics and B.S. in physics in 1970 from the University of Rochester. He earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1976, with a Graduate Research Fellowship supported by the National Science Foundation.
Professor Chu was the 12th US Secretary of Energy from January 2009 to April 2013. As the first scientist to hold a cabinet position and the longest serving Energy Secretary, he recruited outstanding scientists and engineers into the Department of Energy during his term of service. He has published 260 papers in atomic and polymer physics, biophysics, biology, biomedicine, batteries, and holds 11 patents.
Professor Chu has numerous awards including the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics in recognition of his research in laser cooling and atom trapping. He holds 30 honorary degrees, including the degree of Doctor of Science from CUHK in 1998. Professor Chu is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Academia Sinica, and is a foreign member of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Korean Academy of Sciences and Technologies.
CUHK United College Distinguished Visiting Scholar Lecture Series 2016-17
Professor Steven Chu
