Natural Fiber-Reinforced Biodegradable and Bioresorbable Polymer Composites

Natural Fiber-Reinforced Biodegradable and Bioresorbable Polymer Composites focuses on key areas of fundamental research and applications of biocomposites. Several key elements that affect the usage of these composites in real-life applications are discussed. There will be a comprehensive review on the different kinds of biocomposites at the beginning of the book, then the different types of natural fibers, bio-polymers, and green nanoparticle biocomposites are discussed as well as their potential for future development and use in engineering biomedical and domestic products.

Recently mankind has realized that unless the environment is protected, he himself will be threatened by the over consumption of natural resources as well as a substantial reduction in the amount of fresh air produced in the world. Conservation of forests and the optimal utilization of agricultural and other renewable resources like solar, wind, and tidal energy, have become important topics worldwide. With such concern, the use of renewable resources―such as plant and animal-based, fiber-reinforced polymeric composites―are now becoming an important design criterion for designing and manufacturing components for a broad range of different industrial products.

Research on biodegradable polymeric composites can contribute, to some extent, to a much greener and safer environment. For example, in the biomedical and bioengineering fields, the use of natural fiber mixed with biodegradable and bioresorbable polymers can produce joint and bone fixtures to alleviate pain in patients.

In 1987, Dr Lau joined the Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Ltd (HAECO) where he was employed as a craft apprentice in the aircraft maintenance division for 4 years. He received his Bachelor and Master degrees of Engineering in Aerospace Engineering from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University, Australia) in 1996 and 1997, respectively. Within that period, he also worked for General Aviation Maintenance Pty Ltd, Australia, as an Engineer Trainee, and for the Corporative Research Centre for Advanced Composite Structures (CRC-ACS) Australia, as a Research Assistant designing a repair scheme for composite performs. He received his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2001. Thereafter, he was appointed Assistant Professor in 2002 and promoted to Associate Professor and Professor in 2005 and 2010, respectively. In 2015, he has been appointed as Alex Wong/Gigi Wong Professor in Product Design Engineering and Associate Dean (Industrial Relation) in the Faculty of Engineering, PolyU.

Based on his outstanding research performance in the fields of advanced composites, FRP for infrastructure applications, smart structures and nano-materials, he has received numerous awards (for both research and teaching) including: The Best Paper Awards on Materials (1998), The Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowship Award (2000), Young Scientist Award (2002), Young Engineer of the Year Award (2004), Faculty Outstanding Award for Research and Scholarly Activities (2005), Award for Outstanding Research in Nanocomposites for Space Applications, USA (2006), Chemical Physics Letters, Most Cited Paper 2003- 2007 Award, President Award in Teaching 2008, Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Technology at the 20th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning, USA (2009). He is also the Winner of the Ernest L. Boyer International Award for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Technology, in the same Conference (the first scholar outside the United States to receive this honour) and the Most Cited Paper Awards in Composites Part B: Engineering (issued by Elsevier Science). In 2011, Dr. Lau received the Outstanding International Researcher Award and the Outstanding International Research Leader Award from the International Association of Multidisciplinary Research (IAMR). This marks the first time that anyone has received both the awards making his achievement quite exceptional. In 2013, Dr. Lau was awarded the University Grant Committee (UGC) Award for Teaching Excellence, it is the most prestigious teaching award in Hong Kong. This year, he has received “Outstanding Contribution in Education” granted by Global Learntech Congress 2014.

Due to his significant contribution to the field of science and engineering, he was elected as a Member of the European Academy of Sciences in 2007, with the citation “For profound contributions to materials science and fundamental developments in the field of composite materials”, and was the first scholar in Hong Kong to receive this honour. Three of his articles – published in Composites Part B: Engineering; Composites Science and Technology; and Chemical Physics Letters – were ranked in the TOP 1% MOST CITED ARTICLES within their field in 2006 and 2007, according to Essential Science IndicatorsSM. Six of his papers have been ranked among the top 25 hottest articles in Composites Part B: Engineering, issued by ScienceDirect, Elsevier (two of them were ranked No. 1 in 2007). Since 2002, Dr Lau has edited 7 books and published over 240 scientific and engineering articles and his publications have been cited over 5000 times (with an h-index of 36 by Scopus; Google scholar citation is 10,000 with the h-index of 50).

Ada Pui-Yan Hung is a Research Fellow in Engineering and Technology at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia.