Fourth-year civil engineering undergraduate student Elim HUI Yee-Lam won the Runner-Up Award of Best Oral Presentation at the 10th International Symposium on Environmental Hydraulics (ISEH), which took place in Aberdeen, Scotland on June 25-27, 2024. This achievement is particularly exceptional, considering that Elim was competing against PhD students from around the world.

Organized by the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR)’s Technical Committee on Fluid Mechanics and the University of Aberdeen, this prestigious triennial symposium welcomed over 150 participants from 26 countries and covered a packed program with 114 oral and 15 poster presentations.

Under the supervisor of Prof. Mohamed GHIDAOUI, Elim’s project analyzed and experimented with metamaterials to understand the fundamental principles of local resonance and to explore their use in controlling shallow water waves. By employing the transfer matrix method and Bloch’s theorem, the project obtained the dispersion relation that describes local resonance. The findings from the project highlighted significant differences in reflection coefficients, confirming the efficacy of local resonance in controlling free surface waves.

Prof. Dubravka POKRAJAC, ISEH Chair of the Selection Committee for the Best Presentation Award for PhD students, commented: “Elim has given two oral talks at ISEH. One was her own talk on negative gravity waves in open channel flows, and another was on localized wave resonances given on behalf of another speaker from HKUST who could not attend. Both presentations, as well as the handling of the follow-up questions, were excellent. It was very difficult to believe that these talks have been given by an undergraduate student. This is particularly impressive as the other 35+ competitors were PhD students.”

“Participating in this prestigious international conference as an undergraduate was an enlightening experience for me. Engaging with a diverse community of researchers and academics dedicated to addressing environmental challenges proved to be both inspiring and educational,” said Elim, adding that it was a privilege to have an opportunity to present her project to such a respected audience, and the feedback received had been instrumental in refining her research.

“I am truly humbled to have been recognized as the runner-up for best presentation at the conference. To have the chance to represent our institution on the global stage, and to have my research efforts validated in this way is an immense honor,” she continued.

Elim thanked Prof. Ghidaoui for his invaluable support and mentorship. “I am incredibly fortunate to have such a dedicated and thoughtful advisor. I also thank Mr. Jay CUI Jie, a PhD student with Prof. Ghidaoui, for the great support he has given me in deciphering the theory of waves and conducting the experimental work for my final year project as well as Mr. Utban AHMED, another PhD student of Prof. Ghidaoui, for his guidance in relation to subwavelength resonance. Furthermore, the financial support to attend and present from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the School of Engineering are greatly appreciated,” said Elim.

Elim’s success does not stop at the ISEH award. Her final year project work forms the basis of an invited vision paper that will be published in the Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

Related link:

• IAHR news (July 12, 2024): Report 10th International Symposium on Environmental Hydraulics (ISEH 2024)