The scientific adventure of packing: From space saving to material design

6^th International Conference and Exhibition on Materials Science and Engineering

September 12-14, 2016 Atlanta, USA

Ho-Kei Chan

Harbin Institute of Technology, China

Keynote: J Material Sci Eng

Abstract :

A stack of oranges on display at a grocery store represents a solution to a centuries-old problem: How can we pack identical spheres as densely as possible in an open space? An endless variety of such packing problems exists, including the packing of spheres, spheroids, rods, deformable bubbles, and many other shapes, where one may also consider packing them as densely as possible into a confined geometry. Powerful computer techniques have opened up new avenues for solving packing problems. With the discovery of some optimal mathematical structures, results from computer simulations have not only helped to verify or disprove some very old conjectures, but have also led to new insights into structures of matter and new inspirations for the design and fabrication of materials.

Biography :

Ho-Kei Chan is an Associate Professor at the Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen, China. He has completed his Under-graduate degree at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, PhD in Physics at University of Manchester and Post-doctoral studies at the Hong Kong Baptist University, Trinity College Dublin, and then the University of Nottingham. He has published a variety of scientific articles in the fields of Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics.

Email: epkeiyeah@yahoo.com.hk