Yun Guolin, Cambridge physicist and wearable tech specialist, returns to China from UK

The pioneer in liquid metals and composite materials is now special professor in modern mechanics at University of Science and Technology of China

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Former Cambridge University physicist Yun Guolin has pioneered research in wearable devices that use liquid metal composites to create pressure sensitive sensors and electronics. Photo: Sciencenet.cn

Published: 2:00pm, 12 Mar 2025Updated: 5:23pm, 12 Mar 2025

Cambridge University physicist Yun Guolin – a pioneer in pressure-sensitive wearable tech – has returned to China to join his alma mater, the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC).

Yun is now a special professor in the department of modern mechanics at the university in Hefei. He specialises in researching liquid metals and composite materials and their applications in flexible sensors and stretchable electronics.

He was a senior research associate at the Cambridge Graphene Centre, according to the university. Yun joined the university’s engineering department as a Royal Society Newton International Fellow in 2022, a programme that supports outstanding early career scientists to conduct research in Britain.

Yun received his bachelor’s degree in theoretical and applied mechanics from USTC in 2017 and his PhD in mechanical engineering in 2021 from the University of Wollongong in Australia.

Last year, Yun published research in the peer-reviewed journal Advanced Science as a corresponding author on a wearable system that recognises real-time motion intention for prosthetic hands. He co-authored the paper with peers at USTC and the University of Wollongong.

The system uses sensor bracelets made of a liquid metal composite to “detect pressure signals generated by forearm muscle movements to recognise hand gesture intent”.