Current research

Richard (Yu) is a Cambridge Trust Scholar, currently studying in the final year of PhD at the University of Cambridge. He works across the groups of Prof Ronan Daly and Prof Abir Al-Tabbaa. His advisor is Prof Bill O’Neill. He joined the Fluids in Advanced Manufacturing (FIAM) group at the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) in 2020. He is dedicated to additive manufacturing for construction applications, aiming for print quality improvement by better harnessing the time-dependent rheological properties of cementitious materials and interfacial bonding strength improvement through various techniques. 

He has been recognised by many awards since joining Cambridge, including the winner of the IET International Travel Award 2024, finalist in the Student Presentation Competition at the International Conference on Advanced Manufacturing 2023,1st Prize in Best Poster Competition at the IfM PhD Conference 2021, ASTM International Emerging Professional (ASTM EP) Award, Christ's College Old Member's Sporting Award, etc. 

As a young professional with active industry engagement, he was selected into many professional organisations. He serves under American Society for Testing and Material (ASTM) Committee C01 for Cement, Committee D30 for Composite Materials, Committee F42 for Additive Manufacturing Technologies; British Standards Institution (BSI, UK National Committee) Committee AMT/8 for Additive manufacturing; ISO TC 261 for Additive Manufacturing; and American Concrete Institute (ACI) Committee 564 for 3-D Printing with Cementitious Materials.

Areas of expertise

Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing)

Viscoelastic, Transient Rheology

Cementitious Materials

Numerical Simulations

Background

Richard holds a BSc in Civil Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), where he investigated the influence of steel slag powder on the properties of magnesium phosphate cement (MPC) and developed a sustainable and more cost-effective MPC with enhanced water resistance while maintaining its outstanding early-stage mechanical properties (see ORCID). He was awarded the second prize of National Excellent Innovative Achievement of Civil Engineering Undergraduates as a result of this.

Since joining Cambridge in 2020, he has been invited to give oral presentations on his research at international conferences in the field of printing technology and additive manufacturing, including IOP PGS Printing for the Future and ASTM ICAM 2023. He continues to work with Prof Chen’s group at SJTU, which results in a couple of publications in world-class journals.

As an excellent early-stage researcher, he has been invited as a peer reviewer for world-class journals including Construction and Building Materials (impact factor: 7.693), Journal of Building Engineering (impact factor: 7.144) and Composite Part B: Engineering (impact factor: 11.322). He is also a reviewer for the Journal of Testing and Evaluation), the 2024 International Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference (MSEC 2024), and the 8th International Conference on Advanced Manufacturing and Materials (ICAMM 2024).  

He is a MIET member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET). He is also a member of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), and the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE).