While NYU Shanghai faculty make world-wide impacts with their original research, the question of how internal collaborations may bring new frontiers to interdisciplinary research is regularly raised in our community. On Friday February 27, a new answer was introduced with the launching of an exciting seminar series—STEM Seminars (or STEMinars).
A new initiative to promote collaborations within our community, STEMinars invite NYU Shanghai faculty to introduce their research so colleagues from other disciplines can benefit from fresh perspectives and ideas. Proposed by Professor of Mathematics. Pierre Tarres, Professor of Neuroscience Zhong-Lin Lu, Interim Director of the NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science Jin Xin, and Professor of Physics and Mathematics Jun Zhang, this new seminar series serves as an addition to the successful Interdisciplinary Colloquiums (IDC) where high-profile external speakers are invited.
“With this new STEM seminar series, we hope to bring our professors, graduate students, and undergraduates together, so they get to know what other people are working on and get to see if they could work together,” said Jun Zhang. He emphasized the importance of a regular opportunity for faculty to “gather, discuss, and learn.”
The first STEMinar on February 27 was well attended, and Associate Professor of Physics Pilkyung Moon presented beautiful Moiré patterns caused by interference. Professor Moon further demonstrated how such interference may change things on a small scale and bring new discoveries to condensed matter physics and material sciences. Motivated and intrigued by the lively seminar, the audience asked many questions, creating a forum of ideas with students taking an active part.
On March 13, Assistant Professor of Mathematics Mac Huang from the Mathematics and Physics program gave a broad perspective on the study of fluid-structure interactions, with an emphasis on solid melting and fluid convection. Moving across five decades of dimensional scales, Mac discussed how fluid motions shape rocks and pebble stones, melt and carve icebergs, and even move mountains and seas through plate tectonics.
This week, , Assistant Professor of Engineering Chen Zhibin will discuss how electric vehicles may advance sustainable mobility using big data and policy making. Leveraging an 11-month dataset covering approximately 10,000 EVs in Shanghai, he will examine how, when, and where users charge their vehicles, and discuss policy implications. Using a real-world dataset together with local power plant data, Chen estimates that administering charging control to all battery electric vehicles in Shanghai could reduce their emissions by nearly 40%.
Scheduled at noon on Fridays, the Spring Semester will see two more STEM seminars on April 17 and 24, with more to come in the Fall.