The University of Queensland’s Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Max Lu, has been presented with a prestigious science and technology award by top Chinese leaders for his commitment to science and technology collaborations with China.
President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiao Bao and vice premiers Li Keqiang and Liu Yandong presented Professor Lu with the accolade at a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last week.
Professor Lu – an international nanotechnology expert – and six other laureates won their awards for their “distinguished and sustained contributions to collaboration with China in science and technology”.
Professor Lu said he was “extremely honoured” to receive the award.
Professor Lu was commended establishing long-term cooperative relations with many Chinese research institutes, including the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Since he joined the overseas innovation collaboration team of CAS in 2003 as a core member of the Shenyang Interface Materials R&D Centre and guest research fellow of IMR, he has worked closely with IMR in many research areas and completed a number of international cooperation projects.
Those activities have greatly promoted the rapid development of CAS in materials for clean energy, such as solar photocatalysis, energy storage and hydrogen storage.
Professor Lu was also praised for the training of Chinese young professionals in the field of new energy materials, and promoting of cooperation between China and Australian Academy of Science, as well as Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.
Professor Alan Lawson, UQ’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), noted that Professor Lu first came to UQ as a PhD scholarship student.
“Luckily for us, he stayed on,” Professor Lawson said.
The University of Queensland says Professor Lu’s studies at the university’s School of Chemical Engineering and later the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology has helped push the university to the forefront of the world in nanotechnology.
“This field holds the keys to making various types of renewable power viable for future global energy needs, so Max’s research understandably has drawn worldwide attention,” the university said in a statement. ■
