Two masters passed away on the same day, they were Yuan Chengye and Guan De.
On January 9, two pieces of bad news came out: Yuan Chengye, the hero of two bombs and one satellite, and Guan De, the founder of China's aeroelasticity profession, passed away.
Yuan Chengye, Guan De? Picture sources: Wenhui APP, Chinese Academy of Engineering website
Yuan Chengye
The hero of the "Two Bombs and One Satellite" and the famous organic chemist, Yuan Chengye, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, passed away in Shanghai on the evening of January 9 at the age of 94 due to ineffective treatment.
As the "Father of Chinese Extractant Chemistry", Yuan Chengye devoted his entire life to China's nuclear and industrial development, devoting his wisdom and energy to it. Until he was ninety years old, Yi Ta was still working hard on the extraction, recycling and utilization of lithium, my country's strategic resource. "The needs of the country are my responsibility!" This was his life motto.
If he doesn’t get full marks, he will insist on retaking the exam
Yuan Chengye was born in Xiaoyue Town, Shangyu County, Zhejiang Province. His father, Yuan Kaiji, graduated from Jinling University and is an organic chemist. Naming his son "Chengye" is to hope that he can "inherit his father's legacy."
The family was filled with chemistry books, which aroused Yuan Chengye’s interest in chemistry. During the war, he fled with his mother and traveled to Sichuan, Guangxi, Guangdong and other provinces. In times of difficulty, he could only set up a street stall to sell clothes. Although life was difficult, his parents still insisted on allowing Yuan Chengye to receive education. He studied in seven middle schools and two cram schools. Yuan Chengye is particularly competitive in his studies. As long as he does not get full marks in the exam, he will insist on retaking it.
In 1948, after graduating from the National College of Pharmacy (the predecessor of China Pharmaceutical University), Yuan Chengye worked as a technician at Shanghai People's Pharmaceutical Factory No. 1. In July 1951, as one of the first batch of government-sponsored overseas students after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he went to Moscow to study for postgraduate studies at the All-Soviet Institute of Medicinal Chemistry. At that time, he knew no Russian at all and had just started learning the alphabet on the train to Moscow. With an old Soviet lady tutoring him in Russian for several hours a day, he began to study and work in the Soviet Union. In September 1955, he passed the thesis defense with excellent results and received an associate doctorate in Soviet science.
In October of that year, Yuan Chengye returned to China after completing his studies and served as deputy chief engineer at the Pharmaceutical Industry Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Chemical Industry. In September 1956, he was transferred to the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and embarked on a scientific research life in organic chemistry. road.
86-year-old Academician Yuan Chengye spoke at the seminar Wenhui APP picture
The hero of two bombs and one satellite
Mr. Yuan Chengye is the leader in extractant chemistry research in China One of the founders, he was based on the basics, focused on applications, and found the best combination between national needs and scientific exploration.
In 1959, in order to meet the urgent needs of national defense missions such as "two bombs and one satellite", he resolutely changed his career from the research of amino acid and peptide synthetic drugs, which had made good progress, established and led the nuclear fuel extractant research team, and successfully developed Extractants such as P-204, N-235 and P-350 have made significant contributions to the development of China's atomic energy industry.
When reviewing this period of history, Qian Sanqiang, a well-known nuclear physics expert, said: "The research on the extraction agent for extracting uranium played a key role in national defense construction at that time. Without it, uranium would not be extracted. "
Yuan Chengye received the medal and certificate for "dedication to national defense" issued by the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, and was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1997. In 1999, as one of the 40 representatives of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yuan Chengye was received by scientific and technological experts who had made outstanding contributions to the development of "two bombs and one satellite" by party and state leaders.
After completing the national defense scientific research mission, Yuan Chengye led the team to successfully develop a series of new and practical extraction agents, which have been widely used. Among them, 11 varieties of extraction agents have achieved industrial production. These extraction agents covered almost the entire extraction agent industry in China at that time.
“We did not come up with many extraction agents, nor did anyone ask us to do them. It was production practice that raised such demands, and we used our own knowledge to implement them.” A few years ago, he recalled During his scientific research career, he said that in the extraction of rare earth elements, one topic was the separation of niobium and tantalum. Since glass cannot be touched during this process, but all bottles and jars in the laboratory are made of glass, they had to first replace all glass instruments with plastic ones.
Later, N503, which was successfully developed, not only successfully extracted niobium and tantalum, but also contributed to the "wastewater dephenolization" of Shanghai's sewage treatment.
The dignity and needs of the country are paramount
After experiencing the displacement caused by war in his childhood, in Yuan Chengye's heart, the dignity of the motherland and the needs of the country are paramount.
In the 1980s, when Yuan Chengye attended international academic conferences, he twice encountered the conference organizer flying the wrong national flag. When he found out, he immediately asked the chairman of the conference to replace it with a five-star red flag. "Such a matter of principle must not be ambiguous!"
Life is endless and dedication to national development is endless. Even at an advanced age, he still pays close attention to the cutting-edge of science and technology. Academician Ding Kuiling, director of the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that thorium-based nuclear energy lithium isotope separation and Qinghai Salt Lake lithium resources are issues related to national strategic needs that have always attracted Mr. Yuan's attention. More than ten years ago, he proposed that we should pay attention to the recycling and utilization of lithium resources and cherish this strategic resource. As expected, it has become a hot spot in scientific research and industry today.
Hu Jinbo, director of the Key Laboratory of Organofluorine Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that when he was undertaking the lithium isotope separation project, he often consulted Mr. Yuan. The reservation was passed on to young researchers.
He often said to young scientists: "You can't do research well without interest, but personal interests must obey the needs of the country." He inspired young people with the famous saying of the steel hero Paul Korchagin: " As a scientist, at the last moment of his life, he should also ask himself, what useful contributions have I made to the country in my life?" Hu Jinbo said that Mr. Yuan has paid a lot for these major national projects. He worked hard, but insisted not to even have his name appear in the project book. Such a spirit of disregarding fame and wealth and serving the country has served as a guiding light for future generations of scientific researchers when they face the complicated and chaotic influence of society. "He will always remember In our hearts."
Guan De
Guan De, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the founder and leader of China's aeroelasticity profession, died in Beijing on January 9 due to ineffective treatment. , died at the age of 85.
Picture source: Aviation Industry (avic-2008)
In August 1956, Factory 112 (today’s Aviation Industry Shenyang Aircraft Industry) established an aircraft design office, and the management was led by the Fourth Department of the Second Aircraft Department Key departments of the Bureau (Aviation Industry Bureau) were transferred to the design office. After completing the shape determination of the JJ-1 aircraft, he joined the aerodynamics team, specializing in aeroelasticity. At that time, the professional field of aeroelasticity in China was completely blank. Guan De and Xu Shunshou finally ensured the flutter safety of the JJ-1 aircraft after two years of hard work using hand-cranked computers and ground vibration test equipment.
After 1958, Guan De turned to the research of aerodynamic problems of supersonic fighters, and at the same time began high and low speed wind tunnel test research. There was very little technical information at that time. Every time he passed through Beijing, Guan De would go to various units to search for information, and then extract it into his notebook by category. In the 1980s, the notebook already recorded more than an inch of information.
Picture source of Guan De in high school: Chinese Academy of Engineering website
Since 1961, Guan De has served as the leader of the flutter group, deputy director of the aerodynamics room, and general manager of the Shenyang Institute of Aviation Industry. and the director, deputy chief designer and deputy director of the aerodynamics room. Guan De established impedance test equipment for the J-8 aircraft to check the aerodynamic servo elastic stability, and made a significant contribution to the development of the J-8 aircraft. Based on the accumulation of rich knowledge and experience, as well as the perseverance and diligent pursuit of aeroelasticity, the excellent high-altitude and high-speed performance of the J-8 aircraft is guaranteed.
In 1985, Guan De served as Director of the Science and Technology Bureau of the Ministry of Aviation Industry, Chief Engineer of the Ministry, Director of the Science and Technology Committee of the Ministry, and President of the China Aviation Research Institute. At the end of 1985, he was transferred to the Civil Aviation Administration of China as deputy director (later also served as deputy secretary of the party committee). Later, he served concurrently as a professor and doctoral supervisor at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a professor at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. During this period, no matter how busy I was at work, I would definitely spare one night a week to give lectures to graduate students majoring in aeroelasticity. In the 1990s, Guan De began to apply chip sensors to study active suppression of chatter.
In 1994, Guan De served as a member of the Preparatory Committee of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. In the same year, he was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
On January 9, 2018, he devoted his life's energy and left us forever!
J-8II? Picture source: Chinese Academy of Engineering website
We all know that China has nuclear weapons, but we don’t know that without the extraction agent of nuclear raw materials, there is no way to talk about atomic bombs!
We all know that China has fighters, but we don’t know about aerodynamic elasticity, which is related to flight safety. Without it, China’s fighters cannot operate!
We don’t even understand how much ups and downs Yuan Lao and Guan Lao, the two founders and leaders of the industry, have experienced along the way!
He was low-key and restrained during his lifetime, but his reputation will last forever after his death!
Well done, two masters!