From Tsinghua to UM<\/b><\/p>\n\n
Wang\nZhishi is currently a professor in the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST),\nUniversity of Macau (UM), and member of the Advisory Council on the Environment\nof the Environmental Protection Bureau of Macao SAR. He was admitted into the\nDepartment of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing,\nat the age of 19. Upon graduation from Tsinghua University, he went on to\npursue a master\u2019s degree at Harbin Industrial University, and after a brief\nteaching stint at Harbin Industrial University after graduation, he returned to\nTsinghua University to teach. Later he was assigned by Tsinghua University to\nthe United States for PhD studies at Johns Hopkins University. He received his\nPhD degree in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1986\nand returned to Tsinghua University where he taught and conducted postdoctoral\nresearch. In 1992, as one of the few academic staff at Tsinghua University with\nteaching and research experience, an overseas educational background, and the\nability to teach in English, Wang Zhishi joined UM, co-established an\nenvironmental engineering programme, which would later evolve into the current\nDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and has since taught in the\ndepartment.<\/p>\n\n
Looking\nback, Prof. Wang thinks his student years at Tsinghua University are the most\ncrucial period in his life. \u201cI studied at Tsinghua for six years, from 1964 to\n1970, and this period has had a great influence on me,\u201d says Prof. Wang. As\nluck would have it, Wang studied under Prof. Tao Baokai, who received a\nmaster\u2019s degree in sanitary engineering from Harvard University and was one of\nthe founders of environmental engineering education in China. Prof. Wang\nrecalls how Prof. Tao, who was then a co-head of the department (the other\nbeing Prof. Liang Sicheng), noted in his first class to first-year students\nthat although the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering seemed to\nonly concern architecture and although designing a masterpiece would mean\nimmortality in history, the environment actually is a more important and sacred\nelement, for a negative environment would render any architectural masterpiece\nmeaningless.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThat\nwas my first introduction to it [environmental engineering], and slowly, over\ntime, my interest grew,\u201d says Prof. Wang. \u201cThis [environmental engineering] is\nbecoming an increasingly important subject. Some people even believe that\nenvironmental damage and degradation would be one of the scenarios that would\neventually destroy mankind.\u201d Prof. Wang points out that an environmental\ndisaster tends to begin with water pollution. \u201cActually environmental issues\nonly emerged after cities came into being,\u201d notes Prof. Wang. \u201cWith the\nemergence of a city comes wastewater, which brings a series of environmental\nissues. So when we first started to learn how to treat environmental pollution,\nwe started with treating water pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Focusing\non Research Projects in Macao<\/b><\/p>\n\n
Perhaps\nbecause of this influence, after he joined UM Prof. Wang recruited a group of\nPhD and master\u2019s students, and little by little he established a research team\nto carry out systematic studies based on the actual needs of the Macao society.\nHis team\u2019s first priority was water pollution in Macao. \u201cWe have achieved some\nvery good results in hydrogeological studies in Macao,\u201d notes Prof. Wang. \u201cFor\ninstance our studies have revealed the hydrogeological characteristics of the\nwaters in the surrounding areas of Macao.\u201d Prof. Wang notes that sediment\npollution in Macao is quite serious at the mouth of the river, because Macao is\nlocated on the lower reaches of the Pearl River, and sediments carried down by\nthe Lingding Sea accumulate here, significantly affecting the hydrogeological\nenvironment. Prof. Wang and his team carried out in-depth studies of the hydrological\nmechanism. They applied hydromechanics theory and used the computer to simulate\nthe flow paths of sediments. \u201cMacao has a relatively small water environmental\ncapacity, which means it doesn\u2019t have a strong capacity to degrade wastewater.\nSo wastewater must undergo a secondary treatment before it\u2019s discharged into\nthe sea,\u201d says Prof. Wang. The research findings of Prof. Wang\u2019s team have\ngained recognition from the Macao SAR government. \u201cAt first only the Macao\npeninsula has one [wastewater treatment plant]. Later [the government] built\nseveral more, because the government sympathises with our research findings and\nagrees that it\u2019s a problem that has to be treated this way,\u201d says Prof. Wang.<\/p>\n\n
The research interests of Prof. Wang\u2019s team also\ninclude automobile emissions, \u201cUrban Canyon Effect\u201d and waste (domestic waste\nand e-waste) treatment in Macao. Their studies of automobile emissions in Macao\nshow that the problem is most serious in bus stations. So they carried out\nchemical analysis, and tried to identify the sources of air pollution by\nanalysing the distribution characteristics of organics, particles and carbon.\nThey also tried to accurately identify the causes of pollution and find\nsolutions by studying the \u201cUrban Canyon Effect\u201d in Macao. \u201cWe even did a wind\ntunnel test,\u201d says Prof. Wang. \u201cWe put a mock Macao street into the wind tunnel\nlab at Peking University, which proved the existence of the \u2018Urban Canyon\nEffect\u2019 as well as revealed the basic pattern of automobile exhaust emission in\nMacao. We then tried to find a way to control the problem. With wastewater, we\ncould build a treatment plant, but what do you do with automobile exhaust\nemissions? The physical properties of gaseous substances are different from\nthose of liquid substances like water, which means how we control air pollution\nis a lot different from how we control water pollution. The first step to\ncontrolling automobile exhaust pollution is controlling emission. This involves\nthe concept of \u2018emission factors\u2019, which basically means the amounts of\npollutants produced by different kinds of vehicles after running one kilometre.\nWe did a lot of work, including computer simulation and field measurement, and\nthe latter was especially challenging.\u201d Currently Prof. Wang\u2019s team is\ncontinuing with their research, hoping their efforts can yield results in the\nnear future that will enable government departments to make better-informed\ndecisions. For instance, Prof. Wang hopes their research findings could serve\nas a basis for the establishment of emission standards by the government.<\/p>\n\n
On the front of waste treatment, Prof. Wang is\nheading a project on the prevention and treatment of automobile emissions and\ne-waste in Macao, which is a collaborative project between UM and Tsinghua\nUniversity. This project gained official approval from the Ministry of Science\nand Technology in 2009 under the National 863 High Technology Development\nProgramme. It is co-funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the\nEnvironmental Protection Bureau of Macao SAR, and has received extensive media\ncoverage. Prof. Wang notes that with socioeconomic development and the\nadvancement in science and technology, more and more electrical and electronic\nproducts are entering homes and offices. This and the shortening life cycles of\nthe products have combined to result in an increasing generation of e-waste.\nProf. Wang believes that Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) and Printed Circuit Board (PCB)\nare both the key and the challenge in the in-depth treatment of e-waste in\nMacao, whether in terms of environmental impact or resource recycling. \u201cWe and\ncolleagues from Tsinghua University have co-developed two mobile devices, one\nwith the capacity to treat 20 CRT monitors per hour, and the other for\nrecycling scrapped PCB, which increases precious metal recovery rate to over 90\nper cent. We hope our work can help to address the issues of e-waste control\nand resource recycling in Macao within the next five to ten years,\u201d says Prof.\nWang.<\/p>\n\n
Witnessing\nthe Changes of Macao and UM<\/b><\/p>\n\n
Because the research projects conducted by Prof.\nWang\u2019s team are closely connected to some of the pressing issues faced by\nMacao, their interaction and collaboration with the various government\ndepartments have become closer and more frequent. \u201cUM has done a lot of work in\nthis area [environmental engineering], playing a leadership role on\ntechnological and research levels,\u201d says Prof. Wang. \u201cStudies of automobile\nemissions, e-waste and water pollution all started here [UM]. With the progress\nin our studies, over time it [the SAR government] came to realise the\nimportance as well. So without our realising it, our studies have had some\ninfluence on the government. Our findings based on meticulous research and\nscientific demonstrations will hopefully provide the basis for future decision-making\non the part of the government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
\u201cSeeing how much Macao and UM have changed over the\npast two decades, I feel very happy and proud since I\u2019m also part of this\nprocess of change. I\u2019m impressed by Macao people\u2019s strong sense of attachment\nand belonging to the country, and I find Macao people have this kind of easy\ncharm,\u201d says Prof. Wang. \u201cActually my main research focus over the past 20\nyears has been on issues I mentioned earlier\u2014water pollution, air pollution,\nand so on. Another focus for my future research will be on the utilisation of\nenvironmental resources. Environment and resources are inextricably linked. We\nare keenly aware that the biggest problem that has been plaguing Macao is the\nlack of land. This also makes it tougher for Macao to address environmental\nissues than for its neighboring regions. Indeed, the lack of land has been the\nmajor stumbling block to economic, social and environmental development in\nMacao.\u201d Is it an insurmountable problem then? \u201cIt depends on how you look at it,\u201d\nanswers Prof. Wang. \u201cIf we look at it from a different angle, we could actually\nfind more motivation to make better use of the limited land we have. If\nincreasing land supply is impossible, we\u2019re going to have to minimise the\nnegative impact [of the lack of land], aren\u2019t we?\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Because of his success in founding an environmental\nengineering programme at UM, Prof. Wang was awarded a Medal of\nMerit\u2014Professions by General Vasco Joaquim Rocha Vieira, the then-governor of\nMacao, before Macao\u2019s return to the motherland. His contribution to higher\neducation in Macao was recognised again in 2010, when he received another Medal\nof Merit\u2014Professions from the Macao SAR government. Currently Prof. Wang and\nhis team are working on numerous environmental issues of great relevance to the\nMacao society. Looking to the future, Prof. Wang says, \u201cCross-regional\ncollaboration has a lot of potential, but its success depends on how the\ncollaboration develops in the future. How do we achieve a balance between\nmeeting the demands of economic development and fulfilling people\u2019s hope for a\nbetter-quality life? How can we protect our environment to realise sustainable\ndevelopment? These are challenging issues yet to be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
About the\ne-Waste Treatment R&D Project<\/b><\/p>\n\n
This research project is under a memorandum of\nunderstanding (MOU) on collaboration between the Ministry of Science and\nTechnology of the People\u2019s Republic of China and the Macao SAR government.\nAccording to the MOU, this project on the control of automobile emissions and\ne-waste in Macao is co-funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the\nEnvironmental Protection Bureau of Macao SAR. The project received official\napproval from the Ministry of Science and Technology under the National 863\nHigh Technology Development Programme in 2009, after which Tsinghua University\nwas entrusted to conduct research on the prevention and treatment of automobile\nemissions and e-waste in Macao. UM participates in the project as a\ncollaborative research institute in Macao.<\/p>\n\n
The amount and types of e-waste are increasing year\nafter year. It is estimated that by the year 2020 e-waste will have exceeded\n6,600 tons. The fact that e-waste contains highly toxic substances but also\nvaluable raw materials makes the treatment of e-waste a pressing issue with a\nconsiderable bearing on the environment. The project aims to address this issue\nby first conducting a comprehensive analysis of the generation and management\nof e-waste and other solid wastes in Macao and then developing mobile e-waste\ntreatment devices that suit the unique situation of Macao. For Macao, CRT and\nPCB are both the key and the challenge in the in-depth treatment of e-waste,\nwhether in terms of environmental impact or resource recycling. So the project\nfocuses on the development, integration and application of treatment techniques\nfor these two types of e-waste. E-waste treatment and disposal techniques and\nrelated facilities planning as well as solid wastes management and treatment\nsolutions are also proposed. Main subjects of study under this project include,\n(1) policies for e-waste management and solutions for e-waste treatment, and,\n(2) integration and demonstration of typical e-waste treatment systems.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From Tsinghua to UM Wang Zhishi is currently a pro…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n