Introduction to MSE Discipline of Wuhan University of Technology

1. Briefs of WUT’s MSE

Founded in 1958, the Materials Science & Engineering (MSE) discipline of Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) was supported in priority through the “State 211 Project for Higher Education Universities” from 1995 to 2015, and has been supported via the “World-Class University & World-Class Discipline” development plan of China since 2016. WUT’s MSE ranks A+ among 172 leading universities in China (No.1 alongside MSEs of Tsinghua University and Beihang University) in the 4th round national discipline evaluation organized by the Ministry of Education in 2017, and is world top 1‰ in Clarivate Analytics’ Essential Science Indicators.

WUT’s MSE owns 1 member of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2 members of Chinese Academy of Engineering, 3 members of Academia Europaea, 1 member of the Royal Academy of Belgium, 1 member of the World Academy of Ceramics, 1 fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, 10 fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry, American Physics Society and American Ceramic Society. It also owns 23 national high-level talents including recipients of the National Natural Science Foundation of China for Distinguished Young Scholars (equal of NSF Career Awards), and 14 national high-level young talents.

WUT’s MSE has established 2 state key laboratories, the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing and the State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures. The State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing was evaluated “Excellence” (No. 1) among 21 state key laboratories in MSE in 2018. It also has built 2 state international joint-research laboratories, and 4 bases of foreign outstanding expertise-introduction for discipline innovation (also known as “111 Project”).

2. Representative Achievements and Academics

Targeting the frontiers of global science and technology, and striving to fulfill the significant needs of the country, WUT’s MSE has invested 1.25 billion RMB (190 million USD) in the past 5 years in 6 primary research areas, including green manufacturing of environmentally friendly building materials, key materials serving in extreme environments, high-performance energy conversion and storage materials, and frontiers of interdisciplinary materials science. The representative achievements and academics during 2016-2020 are briefed as follows:

(1) WUT’s MSE has been granted over 330 national key projects, with a total fund of 1.2 billion RMB (185 million USD).

(2) WUT’s MSE has won 5 national science and technology awards, and has published over 4000 papers, including 3 in Nature, 1 in Science, 46 in the sister journals of Nature, Science and Cell, 69 in Advanced Materials. Among these publications, 229 are highly cited or hot papers.

(3) Prof. Qingjie Zhang was elected as member of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2017. Prof. Lianmeng Zhang was elected as member of Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2017. Prof. Zhengyi Fu was elected as member of the World Academy of Ceramics in 2017. Prof. Jiaguo Yu was elected as member of Academia Europaea in 2020. Profs. Jiaguo Yu, Liqiang Mai, Pei Cheng and Shaowen Cao were listed as Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate Analytics in 2020. 

3.  Talents Cultivation and Representative Graduates

WUT’s MSE aims at cultivating top-notch creative talents with exceptional pursuit and ability, international vision to lead the future development of materials science and materials industry. Currently, there are 5418 students in WUT’s MSE, among which 673 are PhD students and 2289 are master students.

Prof. Ce-Wen Nan, PhD graduate in 1992, was elected as member of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2011, is now director of Research Institute of MSE in Tsinghua University. Dr. Shou Peng, graduate in 1982, was elected as member of Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2019, is now chairman of the Advisory Committee of International Commission on Glass. Prof. Yi-Bing Cheng, graduate in 1983, was elected as fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering in 2007. Prof. James Zhijian Shen, graduate in 1978 and professor of Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry at Stockholm University, was elected as member of the World Academy of Ceramics in 2017. Dr. Yuxian Zhou, graduate in 2003, is the president of China National Building Materials Group Corporation, a leading company in materials industry that ranks No. 187 in Fortune Global 500 in 2020. Dr. Yeqing Li, graduate in 1984, is the president of Huaxin Cement Co., Ltd., cradle of the Chinese cement industry.  

4. Domestic and International Impacts

Prof. Qingjie Zhang, president of WUT and member of Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been selected as member of the 1st National Basic Research Strategy Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology since 2020, and panel chair of Major Research Plan of Materials Science of the National Natural Science Foundation of China since 2019.

Prof. Qingjie Zhang received the 2017 Frontiers of Science and Technology - Rustum Roy Lecture Award from the American Ceramic Society, in recognition of his contribution to global energy challenges and developments of thermoelectric materials and systems in China. Prof. Zhengyi Fu received the Samuel Geijsbeek PACRIM International Award in 2019, for his contribution in the field of ceramics technology that has resulted in significant industrial and academic impact, international advocacy, and visibility of the field. Prof. Liqiang Mai received the Research Excellence Award in the International Conference on Electrochemical Energy Science and Technology in 2018, for his contribution in advanced in-situ characterization of single-nanowire devices for energy storage and conversion. Asso. Prof. Wei Ji, received the 2019 Ross Coffin Purdy Award from the American Ceramic Society in recognition of his contribution to ceramic technical literature in 2017.

16 world-recognized scholars, including 3 Nobel Laureates, have been appointed Lecturing Professors by WUT’s MSE since 2016. Faculty members in WUT’s MSE have collaborated with these scholars and obtained 19 key international cooperation research projects, as well as published 256 joint research papers in top-level journals including Nature and Science.

WUT’s MSE has organized 13 high-level international conferences. Together with MSE of Tsinghua University, WUT’s MSE hosted the 1st World University Forum on Materials Science and Engineering Leadership in 2019, and announced <Wuhan Declaration for the 21st Century Materials Science and Engineering Sustainable Development>. The representatives of this forum include heads of MSE of Northwestern University, UC Berkeley, UC Los Angeles, UC Irvine, Pennsylvania State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Washington, University of Texas at Austin, University of Central Florida, University of Birmingham, University of Surrey, University of Lorraine, Monash University, Tohoku University, Seoul National University, National University of Singapore, Tel-Aviv University, Indian Institute of Technology - BHU, etc. from 15 countries (USA, UK, France, Australia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Israel, India, etc.), deans of top 50 MSE schools in China, and presidents of 5 world material research societies (American Ceramic Society, European Ceramic Society, Ceramic Society of Japan, Korean Ceramic Society, and Colombian Materials & Minerals Society).