Nie Jun participated in the construction of a large-aperture fully movable radio telescope at the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory. Photo by Yang Xiaolong
Hefei, December 15 (Zhang Jun, Yang Xiaolong) After graduating from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, he rushed to the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory thousands of miles away, and Nie Jun took root in the frontier for ten years, bringing out a technical team covering digital signal processing and astronomical big data, providing a strong guarantee for the development of the frontier astronomical cause. Today, Nie Jun has come to Hefei, Anhui Province, and once again devoted himself to new fields, solving the problem of large lake pollution through network technology and continuing to serve the needs of the motherland.
In 2010, Nie Jun, who was about to graduate from the Chengdu Institute of Computer Applications of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, received an invitation from the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory to visit Xinjiang. Nie Jun's first trip to Xinjiang, a plane, minus 30 degrees Celsius temperature let him feel for the first time what is called bone-chilling cold, looking around the world is full of snow.
Nie Jun showed the results of his work in the field of ecological environmental protection. Photo by Yang Xiaolong
Nie Jun is a southerner, and the completely different natural environment in the northwest makes him a little uncomfortable. "But compared with the mainland, talent is more important to Xinjiang, and I hope to go to the place where the motherland needs it." Nie Jun, a graduate of the University of Science and Technology of China, always remembered the motto of his alma mater, "Red College Goes Hand in Hand", so he decided to go to the great northwest of the motherland to make a career.
Xinjiang is sparsely populated and has a unique astronomical observation environment, but because of the lack of computer-related talents, astronomical data storage and processing are relatively lagging behind, and if the astronomical data in previous years is lost, it will be a huge loss. The first thing Nie Jun, a computer science graduate, did when he arrived at the observatory was to build a data center to improve the security of data storage. At the same time, data processing work is carried out to make astronomical observations more accurate.
The launch of Chang'e-2 is the first time that Nie Jun has participated in a major national project. Nie Jun said that in all research fields in the development of the aerospace industry, there are many technicians who have practiced ten years of skills in peacetime in order to ensure the successful completion of the task at the moment when the spacecraft flies.
The Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory has always wanted to build a large-aperture fully movable radio telescope, which, once completed, will become the world's largest fully movable radio telescope. Nie Jun and his colleagues drove all over the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains in order to select the site, and each trip took more than half a month, and the food had to be pulled up from the bottom of the mountain, and at night, they were in the herdsmen's house or in the car. "Although it is hard work, the thought that our work can bring great impetus to the development of radio astronomy in the country will make me cherish this experience even more." Nie Jun said.
Although he is thousands of miles away, as a graduate of the University of Science and Technology of China, Nie Jun has been paying attention to the development of Hefei. When he undertook the construction of the Mozi quantum communication telescope at the Xinjiang Observatory, he learned that Hefei is developing rapidly, not only gathering various emerging industrial clusters, but also leading the world's frontier fields of science and technology such as quantum communication.
In May 2019, after the end of their work in Xinjiang, Nie Jun's family returned to Hefei and entered the Institute of Advanced Technology of the University of Science and Technology of China to engage in research on environmental big data.
Nie Jun and his colleagues solved the problem of pollution in large lakes through network technology. Photo by Yang Xiaolong
When he came to the Institute, Nie Jun chose to enter the field of ecological environmental protection research as a researcher of the Lake Cyanobacteria Emergency Technology Innovation Center, providing higher precision monitoring for the environment through network technology. "We carry out various environmental monitoring such as hydrology, water quality and meteorology around Chao Lake, and use a 'ruler' to build a model to solve the problem of pollution in large lakes, and these experiences will also be applied to the comprehensive management of urban environment." Nie Jun said that green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains, and the country needs to always be the driving force for scientific and technological workers to carry out scientific and technological research.
"The Institute has fulfilled my 'dream of being a teacher.'" Nie Jun said that now in addition to engaging in scientific research work, he is also a practical mentor for the cultivation of talents in the First Research Institute. In order to promote the cultivation of applied and compound high-level talents, the Institute has signed joint training agreements with 44 institute-enterprise platforms to jointly carry out the training of applied professional degree graduates.
In the two years since he returned to Hefei, Nie Jun has never forgotten Xinjiang, and he often tells his colleagues about Xinjiang, which is experiencing rapid development. From taking root in the frontier for ten years to today's "starting again", Nie Jun said that as a scientific and technological worker, as long as the motherland needs it, he will run to the far away without hesitation. (End)