(112f) Particle Technology in Tackling Global Challenges: Where are the opportunities

Particle technology is a crucial field in the science and engineering of this age. It is particularly relevant to tackling global challenges such as carbon neutrality, public health and so on. On the other hand, it is facing disciplinary challenges in the research paradigm shift from being reductionism and average-based to being interdisciplinary and structure-based, a shift that better fills in the knowledge gaps at different levels.

I am going to share with you what we have done over the past 40 years or so, covering the conceptual shift from multiscale to mesoscale, and then to mesoscience in the field of particle technology.

I will first introduce why the average approach should be replaced by a multiscale approach, and why mesoscales at different levels are so crucial. I will then propose, with evidences from different cases, that the general principle of compromise in competition (CIC) is likely to exist for all mesoscales, leading to the conclusion that the concept of mesoscience refers not only to “scale”, but also to “regime”.

Finally, I will give a mesoscale perspective for different disciplines and technological fields beyond its origin in particle technology. The presentation will conclude with the prospect of deducing simplicity and commonality from complexity and diversity. In essence, what we will probably achieve in mesoscience is crucial for more broadly tackling the global challenges and shifting the paradigm in science.