Speaker: Prof. Athanasios TsanasVenue: Ground Floor Lecture Room, CHOW YEI CHING Building, Yuquan CampusAbstract: Monitoring of chronic condition trajectories typically requires the patients’ physical presence in the clinic and regular thorough physical examination by clinical experts to assess symptom severity and the effect of interventions. In practice, people with chronic conditions only meet their clinical care teams sparsely in some cases as often as once every 1-2 years. In this talk, I will highlight how capitalizing on digital technologies can provide access to diverse multimodal data, which can be mined to provide clinically useful information. I will demonstrate how we have developed clinical decision support tools to facilitate accurate, longitudinal, and scalable monitoring, drawing on a range of examples from my research work in Parkinson’s, disease, mental disorders, and endometriosis.

Speaker: Henan ChengVenue: Room 222, College of Education, Zijingang CampusAbstract: Dr. Henan Cheng is the executive director of the Center on Chinese Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has also been an adjunct professor in the Department of International and Transcultural Studies at Teachers College since 2012. Her primary research interests include international and comparative education, educational development and equity issues in China, especially issues related to education of ethnic minorities and children of migrants. Dr. Cheng’s publications on education of migrant children have been cited in national and international media outlets including Time Magazine, Huffington Post, Hechinger Report, and Reference News.

Speaker: Zhenhao JinVenue: Lecture Hall 112, International College, Zijingang CampusAbstract: This lecture is designed to support international students navigating the challenges of adjusting to a new academic and cultural environment. It will introduce effective coping strategies and practical self-regulation techniques to promote mental well-being. Attendees will gain valuable insights to help them thrive during their transition and beyond.

Speaker: Michael DustinVenue: Ground Floor Lecture Room, Research Building, School of Medicine, Zijingang CampusAbstract: Professor Michael L. Dustin is a world-leading immunologist and cell biologist whose pioneering work has transformed our understanding of T cell activation and immune cell communication. He developed fluorescence microscopy and introduced supported lipid bilayers as surrogate antigen-presenting cells, enabling quantitative visualization of receptor-ligand interactions and the dynamic architecture of immunological synapses. At New York University, he established a groundbreaking research program in the mechanobiology of the immunological synapse. Now at the University of Oxford, his laboratory investigates the nanoscale organization of immunological synapses, providing a fundamental framework for their supramolecular assemblies. Among his landmark discoveries are supramolecular attack particles that mediate immune cell cytotoxicity. In this talk, Professor Dustin will discuss new insights into T cell engager potency and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) safety, highlighting how cytotoxic immunological synapses integrate signals to deliver supramolecular attack particles. He will also present updates on checkpoint-like immune evasion by pathogens and emerging mechanisms through which tumours attenuate immune responses or induce tolerant, non-responsive states.

Speaker: Jeom Kee PaikVenue: Room 414, Haigong Building, Zhoushan CampusAbstract: Digital Healthcare Engineering (DHE) provides an innovative intelligent management framework to address challenges such as the ageing of ships and offshore engineering assets, operational and maintenance difficulties, and insufficient personnel support. By integrating technologies such as sensors, digital twins, and artificial intelligence, it enables holistic health management for both facilities and personnel throughout their entire lifecycle, thereby enhancing safety, extending service life, and ensuring operational sustainability.

Speaker: Lei WeiVenue: Ground Floor Lecture Room, CHOW YEI CHING Building, Yuquan CampusAbstract: The integration of a variety of functional materials within thermal-drawn fibers has emerged as a versatile platform for the fabrication of advanced functional fiber electronics. This approach exploits the thermal drawing of a macroscopic preform, where functional materials or prefabricated devices are arranged at a prescribed position, yielding kilometers of fibers with a sophisticated architecture and complex functionalities in a very simple and scalable manner. A single strand of fiber that incorporates materials with disparate electronic, optoelectronic, thermomechanical, rheological, and acoustic properties can see objects, heat sound, sense stimuli, communicate, store and convert energy, modulate temperature, monitor health, and dissect brains. Integrating these functional fibers into fabrics, ancient yet largely underdeveloped forms, is setting the stage for fabrics to be the new frontier in imperceptible sensing and healthcare.

Speaker: Wojciech KopczukVenue: Meeting Room 201, School of Economics, Zijingang CampusAbstract: Wojciech Kopczuk is currently a professor in the Department of Economics and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief (2017–present) of the Journal of Public Economics, a leading journal in the field of public economics, and as the Honorary President (2024–present) of the International Institute of Public Finance (IIPF).

Speaker:Dr. José R. Albiol-IbáñezVenue: A322, anzhong buildingAbstract: This research explores innovative approaches to sustainability in the construction sector through the integration of recycled and advanced materials. Key areas include the reuse of industrial  waste—such as sewage sludge, brick fragments, glass, plastic, marble cuttings, within concrete formulations and structural components. The study also investigates the architectural and sculptural potential of agricultural waste, particularly rice husks. Advanced manufacturing techniques like 3D printing are central to this work, enabling the development of translucent concrete, hybrid beams with “Lego”-style joints, and bone-inspired geometries. Notable applications include Spain’s first 3D-printed house, lightweight structuralsystems using aircraft fuselages, and proposals for building wind towerswith inflatable systems. The research also engages with cutting-edge mobility concepts such as Hyperloop and the use of smart materials, aiming to redefine both the materiality and performance of future architecture and infrastructure.

Speaker:Che Ting ChanVenue: Lecture Hall 201, Haina Complex Building 4, Zijingang CampusAbstract: Topologically protected boundary states enable unidirectional wave propagation, offering a novel approach for photonic/phononic devices that resist backscattering caused by structural defects or disorder. However, wave propagation in such systems is confined to the boundaries between topologically distinct phases. Since the boundary state channels for energy/signal transmission must be flanked by topological insulator materials characterized by band gaps defined by topological invariants, their effective transmission area is significantly smaller than the overall device area. Consequently, achieving robust unidirectional transmission comes at the cost of spatial efficiency, as the bulk material regions merely function as cladding structures. To overcome this limitation, we attempt to achieve 100% spatial utilization by constructing topological waveguides. Furthermore, we will demonstrate that certain special waveguide networks exhibit unique wave propagation characteristics similar to those of topological photonic crystals, making them practically valuable for exploring topological physics.