Carl-Zeiss-Humboldt Research Award for expert in mechanics and sustainable engineering sciences

Kim Meow Liew has made ground-breaking discoveries regarding physical phenomena in various materials. His research work has contributed to our basic understanding of the fracture behaviour of solids which is of great importance for the construction of technical components and the development of new materials. His research group is also studying the development of fireproof construction materials and recycling possibilities for construction materials such as decommissioned wind turbines.

Liew was nominated by Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Starting this summer, he will spend his research stay there at the Institute for Structural Mechanics working on the development of novel self-healing materials which can be used in transport infrastructure. For instance, under certain mechanical or chemical-physical conditions, concrete can seal cracks and fissures itself. This extends the durability of the material and reduces repair costs. 

Liew holds the Yeung Kin Man Chair for Sustainable Engineering at City University of Hong Kong and is Founding Director of the Centre for Nature-Inspired Engineering there. He received his training in the USA and Singapore. The native Malaysian is a member of various international professional associations and a foreign member of Academia Europaea.

Beginning in 2022, the Humboldt Foundation is presenting an annual award funded by the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung. The Carl-Zeiss-Humboldt Research Award is aimed at researchers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines who wish to collaborate with specialist colleagues in the federal states where the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung provides sponsorship (Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Thuringia). The Carl-Zeiss-Humboldt Research Award honours researchers who have had a lasting effect on their discipline beyond their immediate research area.

(Press release 14/2024)

Every year, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation enables more than 2,000 researchers from all over the world to spend time conducting research in Germany. The Foundation maintains an interdisciplinary network of well over 30,000 Humboldtians in more than 140 countries around the world – including 61 Nobel Prize winners.

The Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung
The Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung’s mission is to create an open environment for scientific breakthroughs. As a partner of excellence in science, it supports basic research as well as applied sciences in the STEM subject areas (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Founded in 1889 by the physicist and mathematician Ernst Abbe, the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung is one of the oldest and biggest private science funding institutions in Germany. It is the sole owner of Carl Zeiss AG and SCHOTT AG. Its projects are financed from the dividend distributions of the two foundation companies.