On 25th January, American rock climber Alex Honnold successfully scaled the Taipei 101 skyscraper untethered. But did you know that one of Queen Mary's School of Engineering and Materials Science has also reached the same height of the formerly tallest building on earth?

It was a truly courageous feat - reaching the top of the Taiwanese landmark in just 90 minutes, ascending the full 509.2-metre height.

The construction of Taipei 101 is a remarkable engineering achievement in itself:

Built using advanced steels designed to withstand frequent earthquakes, the structure is stabilized by a massive 660-tonne steel ball suspended from the 92nd to the 87th floors. This sphere acts as a tuned mass damper, swaying to counteract the movement of the building caused by strong winds or tremors.

Professor Harry Bhadeshia actually reached the same dizzying height during the construction stage of the tower back in 2004, when it was the tallest building on Earth. But - and keep this bit secret - unlike Honnold, he opted for the super-fast lift to get there.

Prof Bhadeshia was invited to visit the building during its construction, by Professor Jer Ren Yang. Prof Yang was Prof Bhadeshia's former PhD student who now works at National Taiwan University. He was joined by Professor Chin Huwai Young, who was a visiting scientist in Prof Bhadeshia's research group, and whose former Ph.D. students were involved in the construction of the building.