Prof. Kang Feiyu, Associate Dean of Tsinghua SIGS, has seen the number of students and faculty members grow rapidly over the past decade. Students and staff describe him as a leader with great talent and charm, and also with great courage and determination.
As a scientist, Prof. Kang has made remarkable achievements in the field of new energy materials. In 2017, Prof. Kang won Second Prize of the National Award for Technological Invention for his research on high-performance graphite and graphene used for lithium-ion batteries. In 2019, Prof. Kang won the 2019 Shenzhen Mayor Award.
Prof. Kang Feiyu
A leader in carbon material research
At the beginning of 2010, Kang led the first batch of research and innovation teams in Guangdong Province, and came to Shenzhen to take up the post of Associate Dean of the Graduate School at Shenzhen. Under the guidance and leadership of Prof. Kang, the Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Graphene and the Guangdong Graphene Innovation Center officially opened in 2014 and 2019, respectively. In 2017, Prof. Kang and Academician Cheng Huiming jointly established the Shenzhen Geim Graphene Research Center. That year, Prof. Kang also won the Second Prize of the National Award for Technological Invention for the project high-performance graphite/graphene materials used for lithium-ion batteries. With strong governmental support and joint efforts, Prof. Kang and his team have achieved great success. Looking back, he is pleased with with these achievements over the past decade.
Prof. Kang has been conducting research on graphite since 1988. In 1994, he began to study the application of natural graphite in lithium-ion batteries. At present, his research covers carbon materials (including graphene), battery materials (mainly lithium-ion batteries), and heat dissipation, heat conduction and thermal management. In 2019, three scientists who developed lithium-ion batteries received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Due to this, Prof. Kang believes that next-generation batteries will have higher energy and power density, higher capacity and better safety in the future.
A student advisor that pays attention to students' all-round development
As an advisor, Prof. Kang pays attention to students’ all-round development. He suggests that students broaden their knowledge, understand intellectual property rights and engineering ethics, raise awareness of low-carbon environmental protection, learn how to present their research, and improve their abilities in different areas. He also encourages students to adopt critical thinking, self-reflection and take the initiative to ask questions.
When guiding graduate students, Prof. Kang's rich experience allows him to identify and offer advice on appropriate topics for students. At the beginning of each year, he guides students who are unfamiliar with research and helps to revise their papers in the hopes that they can smoothly adapt to research work. “There are many difficulties at the beginning, and doing scientific research requires self-confidence and persistence,” said Prof. Kang.
In the future, Prof. Kang hopes to lead more young scientists and research teams, deepen the cooperation of the graduate school with industry, and transform scientific results into technologies that can be applied to daily life.
Editors: Karen Lee, Paula Kelleher
