Editor’s note: As a world leading expert in materials science, Michael D. Guiver is currently a professor at Tianjin University’s State Key Laboratory of Engines. Dedicating to research on fuel cells and high performance membrane materials, professor Guiver holds 25 international patents and has published more than 250 high-level papers with over 17,000 citations and a Web-of-Science H-index of 72. He was awarded the POLY Scholar by the American Chemical Society in 2019 and the Haihe Friendship Award by Tianjin Municipality in 2017. Once a principal research officer of the National Research Council of Canada, Prof. Guiver is now a fellow of both the Royal Society of Chemistry and the POLY division of the American Chemical Society. In addition, he has been an Editor of the world-class Journal of Membrane Science for 12 years.
Michael Guiver is a world leading expert in the field of materials science. He has a great zeal for research work and always stands at the cutting edge of scientific research. For him, there are rarely holidays or festivals, but the urge to spend most of his time on his work and research. In his own words, “It’s like being in a boat full of holes, and the only way to survive is to keep bailing out the water.” Like a hamster running on a wheel tirelessly, Mr Michael Guiver is a real workaholic.
Michael Guiver has been in Tianjin for over years. He leads quite a simple life. Every day, he sets off at 9 am from his home in Wujiayao Street near the university, and walks to his office. There in the morning, he deals with some routine work, reads the news,and answers emails, while in the afternoon he will engage himself in some creative work till 11 pm. “The dean of our school calls me ‘Banana Professor’ because he always sees my lunch, two bananas, on my desk whenever he comes to my office.”
Brought up in England, Michael Guiver developed a keen interest in science at an early age. A small garden shed next to his parents’ house was his first lab to try out all kinds of chemical experiments in his youth. Back then, he showed only average academic performance and no big appetite for study. It was not until he went to Canada that he figured out his love for chemistry and chose it as his life-long pursuit.
“The best or nothing. That’s my life creed.” Michael Guiver decided to come to China and pursue his work at Tianjin University after he learned about China’s favourable policies for scientific work and talent recruiting.
“A Chinese colleague at the National Research Council of Canada told me about the changes in China over the past few years and the government’s commitment to investing in scientific research. Then, I joined China’s Talent Program in 2014 and arrived in China just a few months later.”
This was not the first time that Guiver had visited China. Back in the late 1990s, he had already been to Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian and other cities for academic exchanges. He has long been fascinated with Chinese culture.
"I’m quite fond of history, particularly that of the Great Wall." He has visited the Western and Eastern ends of the Wall, and several places in between. On three visits of his sons, he took them to climb different sections of the Great Wall, as well as other locations like Sichuan and Yunnan."We had wonderful and memorable experiences together."
To understand the Belt and Road initiative, Guiver not only studied the history of the ancient Silk Road but also went on a road trip west, along present Silk Road with his assistant to feel the unique culture there last year.
Scientific research is like playing jigsaw puzzles.
Since October 2014, Guiver has been appointed as a professorat Tianjin University’s School of Mechanical Engineering. He set up a team to work on carbon neutrality research and maintained a close tie with companies like SAIC MOTOR and Weichai to actively promote the industrial transformation of the team’s research results.
Michael Guiver mainly studies about polymeric materials with advanced functions. He worked with Professor Lee Yong Moo, former University President, at Hanyang University in South Korea and developed nanocrack-regulated self-humidifying membranes with high ionic conductivity under high-temperature and low-humidity conditions. The research made some technical breakthroughs for ion-conducting membranes and led a new wave of research and development for fuel cells.
Prof.Guiver (the right) and Professor Dekel of Technion, Israel Institute of Technology (the left) who was invited to TJU in 2019
Exchange activity with Toyota Research Institute in 2019
Exchange activity with Toyota Research Institute in 2019
The paper published in Nature
The research was well recognized by scholars at home and abroad. Its related paperN anocrack-regulated Self-humidifying Membranes was published in Nature, on April 28, 2016, and more papers were published in other high-level journals such as Nature Communications and Energy and Environmental Science.
Professor Guiver also worked on the development of gas separation membranes. Certain high-performance gas separation membranes enable the effective separation and capture of carbon dioxide gas, which helps realize fuel gas recycling. This technology is of great significance in the wake of global warming.
“China accounts for 60% of the world’s carbon combustion and its high population density on its long coastline is forcing people to think about the impacts of the greenhouse effect. There are only two ways to deal with this global problem, either by using clean energy or by finding ways to overcome the harm caused by carbon dioxide. How to use polymeric membranes to capture carbon dioxide is now a major research direction." Prof. Guiver said, noting that to remove carbon dioxide from the gas is no longer a dream, but a reality.
“Everything in human life is the result of scientific research, like mobile phones, food and cars. It is the human nature to explore the world. Many scientists I know and myself always have a zest for exploration. You might think that scientific research is boring, but imagine how exciting it would be if you were the first to discover the New World? Scientific research is like playing jigsaw puzzles, and pieces of confusing information scattered. You can imagine the satisfaction of putting the scattered pieces together like art, so that everything makes sense. The significance of scientific research is not only that you have discovered something new and useful, but what is more exciting is to understand the science behind it!”
Challenge the authority by thinking independently and asking questions
Professor Guiver visits the new campus of Tianjin University twice a week to discuss with students their experiment or report progress. He is a very strict tutor who has set demanding standards for experiment time, temperature, materials, environments and most of all, safety issues. It is his rigorous approach to scientific research that ensures most accurate and reliable experiments and that is greatly admired by the students.
Professor Guiver has worked in Seoul and Singapore. “In Asia, it’s the routine that the teacher teaches and the students learn. However, the teaching style in Canada is very different. It is more interactive. Smart students sometimes ask questions that teachers don’t understand, which seems to be a predicament but actually a boon for teachers.”
Professor Guiver attends tree planting activity.
Professor Guiver encourages students to challenge authority by thinking independently and asking questions.
“I wish students ask more questions and to have an inquiring sense instead of blindly swallowing whatever teachers tell them. Whenever students discuss their research directions with me, I would ask them what they want to do. I will give no detailed instructions like item one, two, three, etc., but ask them to read more papers, to think, to investigate and then eventually to figure out the direction they want to study and the best and most efficient way to do this. As torturous a process as it is, it endows students with the ability to overcome problems and setbacks in fields they are not good at. That’s the most valuable skill a researcher should have.”
After students have racked their brains and come up with four or five topics, Professor Guiver will then discuss them with the students. “Many students feel uneasy at first. They are used to being told to do things. I have been trying to change this situation. The earlier, the better. I will help them find their research directions and train them to think independently. It is their thoughts that matter, not mine.”
Prof. Guiver learned from his own experience. When he was pursuing his doctoral degree, his supervisor was from a different field and knew little about polymers, so Guiver completed his research virtually on his own. That’s one of the reasons why he wants his own students to develop the same ability.
Up to now, Prof. Guiver has supervised 60 doctoral and master students, and donated all the prize money of the Haihe Friendship Award and Haihe Nomination Award by Tianjin Municipality in 2017 to students in need. In addition, he brought about the cooperation and technical exchanges between Tianjin University and many world-renowned research institutes, including University of Waterloo, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology and Toyota Research Institute. With his help, more than 30 students went on exchange visits.
Push yourself and turn the pressure into motivation
For Guiver,study and work are lifelong causes. He embraces challenges and confronts them head-on.
“One should go with the flow. In my case, I went to Canada when it seemed to provide more opportunities than the UK. Then, I spent four years doing part-time work in Seoul, Korea. Now, there are increasing opportunities in China, so here I am. Not everyone likes to push themselves. Many colleagues in Canada are content to stay in their comfort zone, but they might one day find that their ability falls short of their wishes. I keep pushing myself forward because I believe there is no fixed path for life but multiple opportunities and that choices at any critical intersection will change one’s whole life.”
Michael Guiver still holds great passion for scientific research. "I will continue to work at Tianjin University, which provides a favorable working environment." He used to have a tight schedule and spare no time enjoying the pleasant life in Tianjin. “Like the running hamster on a wheel, it’s hard to change my busy way of work, but in the future I’d like to try to adjust my lifestyle and at least enjoy every weekend.” said Guiver.
Students throw Professor Guiver a birthday party.
By Zhang Huiting
Editor: Eva Yin
