Director's address
The State Key Laboratory of Tribology (SKLT) at Tsinghua University was established in 1986. Accredited by the state and open to the public in November 1988, it was one of the earliest State Key Laboratories at Tsinghua University, also in the field of mechanical engineering in China. Prof. Wen Shizhu, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was appointed as the founding director of the laboratory, and academician Lei Tianjue was appointed as the Chair of the first Academic Committee of the laboratory. Since the launch of the SKLT, academician Wen Shizhu has devoted himself to the development of the SKLT.Meanwhile, a number of professors from the Department of Precision Instrument and Mechanology, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Department of Chemistry in Tsinghua University have also been making great contributions, including Professors Zhen Linqing, Liu Jiajun, Liu Yingjie, JinYuansheng, Cao Lili, Chen Darong, and Hu Yuanzhong. Furthermore, many distinguished scholars, including academicians XieYoubai, ZhongJue, Xu Binshi, XueQunji, Ren Luquan, and Prof. Zhang Siwei, have given abundant valuable advice and provided strong and long support to the development of SKLT for a long time, which act as a solid foundation for the continuous development of the laboratory.
The SKLT serves as a leading scientific research platform in the fields of tribology, surface and interface sciences, bio-tribology and bio-mechanics, micro/nano manufacturing theory and technology, and micro/nanophotoelectronic measurement technology. In consonance with these research directions, the SKLT is also a famous base that attracts and cultivates high-level academic talents who are now very active in academic and industrial sectors in the world. In addition, the laboratory has set up the Tribology Science Fund, Overseas Scholar Fund, and Overseas Graduate Student Fund to support domestic and overseas scholars in cooperative research. Through three decades of development, the SKLT has established partnerships with many world-renowned laboratories, and formed its unique culture that promotes academic dedication, fairness, openness and harmony.
During the last three decades, the SKLT has consistently adhered to the missions of developing fundamental theories and core technologies in national key industry projects. In response to the technology development and fast changes of academic frontiers, the researchers in SKLT have continuously adjusted and enriched research directions as well as carried forward fundamental and applied research. The laboratory has made profound achievements in the field of tribology such as elastohydrodynamic lubrication, surface topography effects on tribology, thin film lubrication, fluid rheology, and control of friction and wear in micro/nano devices. Furthermore, the SKLT research team has innovated a number of new technologies for integrated circuit manufacturing processes and equipment, micro/nano manufacturing, interface drag reduction, anti-wear surface engineering and modification, advanced sealing, robotics and high-power solid-state laser. These research achievements have made great contributions to national major scientific technology projects and defense construction. The Lee Shau Kee Science & Technology Building where the SKLT currently locates has been installed with a number of advanced instruments and equipment, updating the research facility. At the same time, the Tianjin Advanced Equipment Research Institute of Tsinghua University and Tsinghua-RWTH Aachen Joint Laboratory for Innovative Design and Manufacturing of Advanced Mechanical Systems (IDM Joint Lab) are providing the laboratory with more opportunities for further development.
Focusing on the important issues of mechanical design and manufacture of advanced intelligent equipment, energy conservation and pollutant emission reduction, the State Key Laboratory of Tribology hopes continue cooperating more extensively with universities, scientific research institutes or units domestically and internationally, striving for scientific innovation and the cultivation of first-class scientific and technological talents, making greater contributions to the more systematically in-depth basic theory of tribology and to the innovative development of more efficient, green and intelligent advanced tribology technology. I believe that the SKLT will nurture a generation of talent capable of achieving cutting-edge research outputs in the field of tribology and making crucial contributions to the national scientific and technological development.
Yu Tian
Director of State Key Laboratory of Tribology