On November 3, the 2020 National Science and Technology Awards Conference was held in Beijing. The famous aircraft design master and aerodynamicist Gu Shufen won the 2020 National Supreme Science and Technology Award.
Gu Was an undergraduate alumnus of the Department of Aeronautical Engineering of Jiaotong University in 1951, the only academician of the two academies in the field of aviation in China, and was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1991 and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 1994. This year, also coinciding with the 70th anniversary of Gu Xuefen's graduation from Jiaotong University, he was determined to serve the country with aviation, leading the team to create a "gas machine" that belongs to the Chinese, which was widely praised among teachers, students and alumni of his alma mater, and also inspired all Jiaotong University to work hard and forge ahead.
The reporter learned from Shanghai Jiaotong University that Gu Shufen is also the fifth Jiaotong University to receive this honor after Wu Wenjun, Xu Guangxian, Wang Zhenyi and Huang Xuhua.
After graduating from high school, he only applied for Zhejiang University, Tsinghua University and Jiaotong University with aviation majors
Gu Shufen's fate with the airplane began in his youth. Gu's father, Gu Tinglong, was a famous librarian, and her mother, Pan Chenggui, was one of the few intellectual women at that time. In 1935, when Gu Was 5 years old, her father was invited to work at Yenching University, and the family moved to Beiping at that time. On July 28, 1937, when the Japanese army bombed the Chinese 29th army camp, in the memories of childhood, bombers that overwhelmed people could not open their eyes flew overhead, "the bombs dropped were clearly seen, and the glass windows were shattered by shock waves." At that time, Gu Shufen was determined to defend China's blue sky from foreign aggression in the future, and the dream of serving the country through aviation was buried in her heart early.
After graduating from primary school, Gu Xuefen studied at Nanyang Model Middle School in Shanghai, which is very close to Jiaotong University, which was originally independent from the predecessor of Jiaotong University - nanyang public school, the outer courtyard and the attached primary school, and the teaching has been docked with Jiaotong University for a long time, providing a large number of high-quality students for Jiaotong University, equivalent to Jiaotong University's quasi-"attached middle school", so Gu Xuefen learned more about the study style and school running situation of Jiaotong University during middle school.
After graduating from high school, Gu Applied for aviation professional schools, including Zhejiang University, Tsinghua University and Jiaotong University, all of whom were successfully admitted. Eventually, he chose to study aeronautical engineering at Jiaotong University. Coincidentally, Gu Shufen's father, Gu Tinglong, and uncle Gu Tingfeng also studied at Jiaotong University. Gu Tinglong studied at Jiaotong University from 1924 to 1925, and then was admitted to Yenching University as a graduate student. From 1926 to 1930, my uncle studied at Jiaotong University, and was in the same class as Zhang Xu and Wang Hongji, well-known alumni of Jiaotong University. Gu Has been treasured by her father's ink treasure collection, and after her father's death, she gave two of his books, "Selected Calligraphy of Gu Tinglong" and "Collected Works of Gu Tinglong", to his alma mater Jiaotong University.
"Must follow the rules", the most impressed by the strict requirements of the freshman physics experiment report
Jiaotong University has very strict academic requirements, from the first-year physics experiment report to the fourth-year graduation design, the teachers are very strict. Recalling the years of study at Jiaotong University, Gu Shufen was most impressed that the physics experiment report of the freshman year must be handled according to the rules, and it must be meticulously written in English, and some students are lazy to put together two data, and after being discovered by the teacher, they must be severely criticized. Later, Gu Shufen recalled: "I received strict training in controlling significant figures, that is, I was engaged in the size of the project, and I could only write as much energy as I could, and I could not add or subtract indiscriminately. In addition, at Jiaotong University, English reading training, writing training and oral training were relatively strong, and the textbooks used at that time were basically in English. It was to lay a good foundation, and he benefited a lot from his work after graduation.
Gu Shufen, who graduated from Jiaotong University in 1951
In her sophomore year, Gu took two basic courses taught by Mr. Ji Wenmei, a professor in the Department of Aeronautical Engineering. Mr. Ji's lectures highlight the basic concepts, first explain the origin of the problem, and also talk about what problems may be encountered in the future in connection with the actual engineering, and then let the students calculate. Such systematic training had a great impact on Gu Shufen and laid the foundation for Gu Shufen to become an engineer in the future.
The teachers of the third and fourth grade professional courses are Cao Hesun, Yang Pengji and other famous teachers. "Work is ever-changing, and as long as you know what to do, you can do it. When we started designing airplanes, we didn't learn them in school. The most prominent problem was how the jet's intake tract was designed, and there was no readily available data at the time. In 1956, I began to work on aircraft design, when Professor Zhang Guilian of Beihang Airlines had some foreign research materials on this aspect. After I read it, I refined some methods, and basically used the set of methods taught in the school to solve engineering problems. So I feel that the school training is of great use to my future work. Gu Shufen later talked about her study experience, believing that the set of methods taught by the school to study problems pointed out to her.
From 1950 to 1951, Gu Xuefen made an experimental report on "Aircraft Design" while studying at Jiaotong University
At that time, the head of the Department of Aeronautical Engineering was Mr. Wang Hongji, he and Ji Wenmei, Cao Hesun, Mr. Xu Yuzan, etc. were all graduates of Jiaotong University, and in the 1930s, they were selected by the Ministry of Education to study aeronautical engineering at the University of Turin, Italy, and after returning to China, they founded the Department of Aeronautical Engineering in Jiaotong University. The school also offers general courses such as political economy and social development history, and invites well-known people to give lectures at the New Bunji Hall. At that time, the stools in Bunjido were made of wood. Despite the humble environment, the enthusiasm of the school and students is high.
Group photo of Gu Xuefen with Jiaotong University alumni (front row, third from the left)
The first flight of the J-1 was successful, and Premier Zhou entrusted people with words to "tell the designers of this aircraft that they should be unsung heroes."
In August 1951, Gu graduated from the Department of Aeronautical Engineering of Jiaotong University. At that time, our country urgently needed to establish its own aviation industry. In the face of her family's reluctance, Gu Shufen, who had a dream of aviation, still stepped on the train to the north.
At that time, shortly after the founding of New China, the instruments and equipment were in a state of emergency shortage, and almost all the aircraft used in China were manufactured under the guidance of Soviet experts, and they could only copy their facilities as they were, without knowing anything about the design principles and not having the right to make any changes.
At that time, Gu Shufen had already realized: "Imitation without self-design is equivalent to the root of life in the hands of others, and we do not have any initiative." In August 1956, the first aircraft design office of New China was established in Shenyang, and the first task was to design China's first self-designed jet trainer fighter-1, with Gu Shufen as the leader of the pneumatic group.
Without any guiding references, experience and technology were extremely scarce, and Gu Shufen, who studied propeller aircraft in college, could only learn from scratch. "At that time, there was no photocopier, so I bought tracing drawings, triangular plates, and curved plates, and drew down the relevant drawings. It took a week to basically read the article. "The principle is solved, and what remains is the equipment problem.
There was no fairing, they used the waste needle tube of the medical office, welded its stainless steel very thin head on the copper pipe to make a row, and then made a fairing with thin iron sheets outside, there was no good wind tunnel, they went to the Harbin Military Engineering Institute to do a small wind tunnel of one meter and five calibers, and won the experiment in a month. Tracing drawings, waste needle tubes, in such a poor and white environment, lasted two years of development, the first flight of the J-1 was successful. Considering the international environment at that time, the news of the success of the first flight was not made public. Premier Zhou Enlai knew that the latter had a message, "Tell the designers of this plane to be unsung heroes."
In 1961, the Aircraft Design Institute of the Sixth Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense was established. Three years later, the research and development of the J-8 fighter undertaken by the institute was officially launched. This is the first twin-engine, high-altitude, high-speed fighter independently developed in China, with Huang Zhiqian as the chief designer and Gu Shufen as the deputy chief designer, responsible for the scientific research and design of pneumatics. Unfortunately, Huang Zhiqian was killed in a plane crash while on a mission abroad. Gu Xuefen and several other backbones were ordered to form a technical office to take over the burden of the chief designer.
During those special years, Gu Andifen and her colleagues overcame tremendous pressure and overcome countless difficulties, and on July 5, 1969, the J-8 fighter achieved its first flight.
But in subsequent flight tests, the aircraft experienced strong vibrations. In order to find out the problem, Gu Shufen flew with the J-8 three times in the J-6 and directly followed the test plane to observe the flow, and finally found the crux of the problem. As a non-professional without special training, Gu Shifen was subjected to an overload unimaginable to ordinary people when flying in the air. However, the problem of jitter when the J-8 flew transonically was also solved. In July 1985, the J-8 all-weather design was finalized, and in October of the same year, it won the special prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award.
Like Gu Xuefen, a group of Jiaotong university students at that time threw themselves into defending and building the motherland with high enthusiasm. Although there are various difficulties due to opportunity factors, no one complains, and no one cares about personal gains and losses.
A large number of Jiaotong University alumni such as Xu Changyu (Aviation Gate of the 1936 School of Mechanical Engineering), Huang Zhiqian (Aviation Gate of the School of Mechanical Engineering of 1937), Tu Jida (1951 Aeronautical Department), alumni Zhuang Fenggan (1946 Aeronautical Department), Wang Liheng (1962 Rocket Engine) and so on on on the "J-8 Road" silently rooted in the aviation system.
Since 2005, Gu's name has been closely linked to the "annual donor" of Jiaotong University
Gu Shufen has lamented many times that if he had not laid a good foundation at his alma mater, Jiaotong University, he would not have the success and glory he has now. "Whenever I think about what my alma mater has given me, I am full of excitement and warmth. Always thinking that I can achieve some results to repay my alma mater! He not only said this, but also did it silently.
After 1986, Gu Shufen, who left the aircraft design position, turned his main energy to the research of active control technology of aircraft and promoted the development of domestic large aircraft, and he advocated and made great efforts to promote the establishment of a new generation of military large transport aircraft Y-20.
At the end of 2012, Gu Participated in the test flight review of the Y-20. By then he was already showing symptoms of rectal cancer and was extremely weak. During the 2013 surgery hospitalization, Gu Shufen also instructed the staff of the reference room to send him foreign books and periodicals, and when he saw useful articles, he would instruct colleagues to recommend them to front-line designers, and he would even translate some important foreign language materials for students and young technicians to read. "All I can do now is read a little book, translate a little bit of material, and help the young people as much as possible," he said. ”
He has been enthusiastically following the development of Jiaotong University for many years: donating aircraft design models, photos and materials for teaching experiments and school history display; donating 80,000 yuan for the construction of the Cultural and Expo Building on minhang Campus; serving as the director of the Expert Committee of Aerospace Science and Technology Strategy of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and the chief editor of the "Big Aircraft Publishing Project" officially published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press.
Since the beginning of 2005, Gu's name has been closely associated with the "annual donation". He actively participated in the "Siyuan Alumni Annual Donation" project, hoping that these donations would become a light on the road for students to study at night, and generously donated during the celebration of his alma mater, doing his best to build the Shiwenbo Building of Minhang Campus, and always paying attention to contributing to the development of his alma mater.
In 2008, Gu Returned to her alma mater to attend the inauguration ceremony of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and as the head of the "special class", she gave the first lesson to the first 36 master's students. On October 28, 2011, on the occasion of her 60th anniversary of graduation, Gu Returned to her alma mater to make an academic report for the students of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Although his hair was white, Gu Shufen, who was standing on the podium, was in good spirits. The sea of stars connecting the past and the future unfolded under his eyes, and what he saw was the smile that could not be hidden in the corners of his mouth, and what he could not see was the future that he looked forward to for his family and the country for the vigorous future generations.
On October 28, 2011, Gu Gave an academic report for the students of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics
In 2011, Gu Was awarded the "Outstanding Alumni Outstanding Achievement Award" of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and in September 2018, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the 83rd anniversary of the Department of Aeronautics, President Lin Zhongqin presented the "Meritorious Award" for the construction of the College to the Honorary Dean Gu Shufen, thanking him for his selfless contributions to the aerospace industry of the country and his alma mater.
Author: Jiang Peng, Qi Jie, Jiang Qianqian
Editor: Jiang Peng