On April 29, the results of the 28th China Youth May Fourth Medal were announced, and 31-year-old Wu Xiaohu, a researcher at Shandong Institute of Advanced Technology, was on the list. Selected into the list of "Top 2% of the World's Top Scientists (2023)", and won the Hartnett-Irvine Award of the International Center for Heat and Mass Transfer, the Outstanding Achievement Award of China's Cutting-edge Science and Technology Figures, Forbes China's 30 Under 30 Science and Technology Elites, and China's Cutting-edge Science and Technology Figures Innovation Contribution Award.
Abandon the preferential treatment of the United States
The southern guy settled in Shandong and devoted himself to scientific research
Different from the powerful aura imagined, the scientist in front of the reporter is simple and kind. He corrected journalists for calling him a "scientific worker" more accurate than a "scientist." Talking about the feeling of winning the award, he said with a smile that he was "very happy", but whether he has this honor or not, he hopes that he will do a good job in the field he has studied, and build Shandong into a research highland of thermal radiation. "I will be more determined to follow my own scientific research path. ”
On the occasion of his doctoral graduation, Wu Xiaohu gave up the generous welfare benefits in the United States and resolutely chose to return to China to work, bravely entering the rather difficult fields such as radiation heat exchange, comprehensive utilization of solar energy, and micro-nano optics. A young man from Hubei finally chose to stay in Jinan, Shandong Province for development. He said that he can really feel that Shandong attaches great importance to talents, and the start-up funds for scientific research here are very sufficient, which is also very helpful to the lives of scientific researchers, and has created a good scientific research environment.
"At the end of 2019, Shandong Institute of Advanced Technology was just established, and one of the important directions is very consistent with my research direction. This gives us a very free space for scientific research, without too many hard indicators, so that we do not have to rush to do some things every year, publish some scientific research results, and we can calm down and study some problems that need long-term thinking. Wu Xiaohu said.
"The cause of science and technology is by no means a one-time achievement, and we must be willing to sit on the 'cold bench'. Wu Xiaohu has been working hard in the field of thermal radiation since 2014, and theoretically deduced the generalized Kirchhoff's law, which provides a theoretical basis for non-reciprocal thermal radiation, and the research results won the 2019 Hartnett-Irvine Award of the International Center for Heat and Mass Transfer, which is the second time that a Chinese scholar has won this honor. With his efforts, the technology in the field of thermal radiation has achieved a leap from "following" to "running" and then to some "leading".
For the first time in the world, Wu Xiaohu observed asymmetric absorption in hyperbolic materials, which provided a new idea for the design of unidirectional optics and perfect absorbers. The results were published in Optica, the top journal of optics, and was rated as a candidate paper for the "Top Ten Advances in Optics in China in 2020", and won the "Optics in 2020" among the 30 global optical advances in 2020.
"Hand tearing" Maxwell's equations
Do this in a year and a half
Concentrate on tackling key problems and have the courage to break through. Wu Xiaohu successfully built a near-field radiation heat transfer experimental platform and a non-reciprocal heat radiation experimental platform, which filled the gap in this field in Shandong Province and made pioneering contributions to the research of thermal radiation in Shandong.
And his scientific research path has laid a very solid foundation as early as the doctoral stage.
Wu Xiaohu said that to do research, you must have your own very core algorithm. "So that there are things that only we can calculate, and with the algorithm, we can explore some new theories. ”
Wu Xiaohu recalled that during his doctoral studies, he silently derived Maxwell's equations by himself, and it can be said that without any paper and pen, he was able to calculate the formula step by step in his mind, and even thought about it while lying in bed when he slept. "The Internet says 'hand-tearing' Maxwell's equations, and I think I did it. ”
The algorithm he designed for electromagnetic simulation can not only calculate ordinary flat plate structures, but also realize more complex microstructure calculations. "In the past, we needed to use some foreign commercial software to calculate anisotropic materials, which not only needed to spend money to buy, but also the calculation time was relatively slow, and we calculated some cases, which may take several hours, but with our algorithm program, we can basically produce results in one second, which greatly improves the efficiency of our scientific research. Wu Xiaohu said.
During his Ph.D., it took Wu about a year and a half to form the initial algorithm, and he is still optimizing the design to make it more powerful.
This set of algorithms, which laid a solid foundation for Wu Xiaohu in the field of scientific research, actually originated from the topics assigned to him by his supervisor during his doctoral studies. "At that time, the teacher asked me to calculate special anisotropic materials, and our lab used to have algorithms for isotropic materials, but there were no algorithms for anisotropic materials. I don't like to use commercial software to calculate some problems, I think that even if I do, there may be some problems that I don't understand, and it is more reliable to use my own code to calculate, and I can understand some of the theories behind it. ”
In a year and a half, Wu Xiaohu did this one thing without distraction - researching algorithms. He admitted frankly that at that time, he was also a little touched when he saw that his classmates around him had already published papers and won scholarships, but with the support of his teachers, he still persevered. "I was slow to produce results, and it wasn't until the third year of my Ph.D. that the initial algorithm was basically formed, so that was the real beginning of my research. ”
Wu Xiaohu said that he didn't think about it so much, and although it was not an easy scientific research topic, he thought it was meaningful and would help explore more physical phenomena of anisotropic materials. Therefore, he did not utilitarianly choose some easy and faster topics, and silently sat on the "cold bench" and buried his head in research.
In the process of deriving the formula, he also encountered a lot of difficulties, and even felt that he couldn't stick to it. "In the process of derivation, I would refer to some literature, and later I found that some of the literature was actually wrong, but it was a very classic literature, and no one else pointed out its error, and I would not easily think that it was wrong. Later, I analyzed that it might be a typographical error, and to confirm my suspicions, I had to derive the formula countless times. ”
In recent years, the mainland's independent research and development of software has been fruitful, but the development of basic technology software is still slightly weak. Enterprises can buy foreign software, but many teachers and students in universities and research institutes still use foreign pirated software. On the basis of the algorithm, Wu Xiaohu further improved the program and packaged it into software, which improved the mainland's independent research and development capability in application tool software and broke the monopoly of foreign software.
How young scientists are "refined".
Pure let him stick to his original intention
Do young scientists who have achieved such remarkable achievements rely on talent or hard work? Wu Xiaohu considers himself the latter, but efficiency is also very important, and he does not like to stay up late. "I think my IQ is relatively average, and I've met very smart people, but smart people don't necessarily end up doing scientific research, or necessarily doing well. ”
In Wu Xiaohu's view, in addition to diligence, interest is also very important. Because scientific research is relatively boring, the requirements for creativity are relatively high. "So I need to be very relaxed and happy at work. ”
"When I was a child, I didn't have a very clear concept of scientific research, I grew up in a rural area, my parents had a relatively low level of education, they didn't know anything about scientific research, and their requirements were only for me to go to university, read as many books as I could. Wu Xiaohu said frankly that he did not have the ideal of doing scientific research when he was a child, but in the process of studying, he had a great interest in scientific research, until now, he is very passionate about his work, in his eyes, the formula is very unique beauty.
How did an outstanding young scientist come to be? Wu Xiaohu's "purity" is impressive. "I have a great passion for scientific research, I am less interested in other things, I have lived in the countryside since I was a child, and I have been exposed to fewer things, so I have been less disturbed, and my heart is a little purer. ”
It is also this purity that allows Wu Xiaohu to listen to his inner voice when making choices on the road of scientific research. Wu Xiaohu studied engineering mechanics as an undergraduate, and during his doctoral studies at Peking University, he switched to the direction of thermal radiation that he was interested in. Thermal radiation is actually the study of electromagnetic waves, and the laws followed by electromagnetic waves are Maxwell's equations.
"I think the most important thing in doing scientific research is to think less, in fact, it is to be realistic and pragmatic and do things well, so in the end I think there will always be success, even if it is not 100% successful, at least half of the success will be achieved, and the knowledge learned will not be wasted. Wu Xiaohu said.
Outside of work, Wu Xiaohu likes to empty himself by hiking, playing badminton and other sports, giving his brain plenty of time to renew and think. In addition, he enjoys having dinner with students from all over the world. "I usually use sports activities or dinner parties to let people fully communicate, learn from each other, and make progress together. ”
In the public's impression, scientists are quiet and introverted, while Wu Xiaohu laughs and says that he is extroverted and cheerful. In his opinion, different personalities have different advantages when doing scientific research, and they can all produce results. "Introverted researchers may be well suited to very specialized, very specific questions. I think research is a very big problem that needs to be discussed with more people, and extroverted researchers may have an advantage in this area. ”
Interesting young people bring hot "unpopular knowledge"
The first student was also recruited through the official account
Wu Xiaohu likes to communicate with the outside world and absorb the nutrients of scientific research, and his heart is fiery.
To make unpopular knowledge "hot", he founded the WeChat public account "Thermal Radiation and Micro-Nano Photonics" to push the latest research progress in the field of optics and thermal radiation from many research groups at home and abroad, publishing and pushing articles more than 1,000 times, with more than 30,000 monthly readings, which is the largest WeChat public platform in the field of thermal radiation.
Wu Xiaohu introduced that at first, this official account was not public, just an academic note of his own, and later friends said that it was very good after seeing it, and it was necessary to discuss it together, and this official account was slowly opened to the outside world. At present, the number of readers has exceeded 10,000, basically covering researchers engaged in the field of thermal radiation in mainland China.
"This official account not only publishes some of our academic insights, but also hopes that many new achievements of the research group can be publicized on our official account. We don't have any idea of making a profit, we just want to provide a platform for academic exchanges for teachers and students in the field of thermal radiation. Wu Xiaohu said.
Since January last year, Wu Xiaohu has organized an online postgraduate academic forum every month, and the forum has been broadcast live through the official account. Before the start of the activity, he consulted some teachers, and everyone agreed, but found it difficult to persevere. Unexpectedly, Wu Xiaohu did it, and the response to the event was enthusiastic, attracting hundreds of onlookers in each issue, and many teachers and students took the initiative to sign up for the meeting.
In each issue, three doctoral or master's students are invited to share their research work, and three professional teachers are invited to comment on their work. "Through this kind of activity, we can basically bring the younger generation of researchers together, because usually students can only get guidance from their own teachers, and this activity can allow them to get help from teachers from other schools and even overseas. ”
At an academic forum, he was deeply impressed by the comments of two overseas teachers invited by Wu Xiaohu. "Their review style is completely different from that of domestic teachers, and small details will be pointed out, which is very direct. After listening to this, I think that it is more meaningful for me to do this activity than my own scientific work. ”
"The first student jointly cultivated by our unit was also recruited by me through the official account, I really didn't expect that the official account still has this function. Wu Xiaohu said that after the student saw the official account, he was very interested in the research content inside, and they often discussed problems online, and later the student has been working and studying with Wu Xiaohu's research group at the master's and doctoral levels.
Although Wu Xiaohu is a "post-90s", he has a lot of "prestige" in the field of scientific research, and has always regarded "passing on the help" as his own responsibility. At present, more and more scientific research talents have joined his team, and more college students from Peking University, Harbin Institute of Technology, and Western University of Technology have come to "study".
He is also affectionately known as the "Shuttle Instructor" by his students. "Before, our teachers and students lived in Dingjiazhuang, and it took about 50 minutes to drive to the unit. I saw that on the bus, students were mostly sleeping or playing with their phones. I think early morning is the best time of the day, so why not take advantage of it and discuss the work of the previous day and the plan for the day with the students, and arrange the things of the day. Wu Xiaohu said.
Source: Popular News
![Is it ridiculous? Of the more than 200 million peasants, there is not a single peasant who has won the May Day Labor Medal?[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)