Others may practise the creative arts, but where Vivian Yam Wing-wah excels is in the creative sciences. Her research has focused on unlocking the secrets of chemical bonds and processes at work in nature, and the questions involved are wide-ranging and profound.
For example, how do plants photosynthesise solar rays into energy? And what enables, say, a glow-worm to convert and emit stored energy as phosphorescent light?
For Yam, the chair professor of chemistry at the University of Hong Kong, the objective is not just to explore and explain what nature has been doing for millions of years through biosynthesis. It is to find ways of replicating and improving on those processes, initially in the laboratory and ultimately on an industrial scale, something with potentially huge implications for all of us.
The intermediate step is to create new molecules with the requisite properties to absorb or emit light more efficiently. Then, by manipulating the molecular design, it becomes possible to manufacture new photoactive materials that assemble themselves predictably under the right conditions. These, in turn, can 'harvest' solar energy more economically than photo voltaic cells or, alternatively, function as very bright light-emitting diodes.
'By combining components - metal atoms and organic molecules - we can capture more of the spectrum and design strongly luminescent new molecules. This will help solve some very key issues,' says Yam, alluding to the foreseeable positive impact in areas such as renewable energy, carbon reduction and climate change.
Like other dedicated scientists, Yam approaches her research from two directions. One involves the imagination, the leaps of logic, the 'what ifs' and high-level concepts.
The other is about putting in the hard work and long hours in the lab, marshalling her 20-odd team of research students and assistants to test and monitor for the slightest of experimental outcomes, any of which might be the clue to the next major breakthrough.