CHANGSHA, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Zhong Jue, born in 1936 in east China's Jiangxi Province, is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a leading expert in mechanical engineering. She has received multiple national-level science and technology awards and initiated China's first microelectronic devices program, contributing to China's advancement in aluminum processing technology.
In her youth, Zhong was forced to flee during the war against Japanese aggression. She and her family once walked from south China's Guangxi to southwest China's Chongqing in search of safety, an experience that deeply shaped her belief in national strength.
In 1955, she enrolled in the metallurgical machinery program at then Beijing Institute of Iron and Steel Technology, which is now known as the University of Science and Technology Beijing. At a time when few women chose heavy-industry disciplines, she committed herself to the field out of a sense of dedication to national development. She graduated with honors in 1960 and began teaching at then Central South Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, now the Central South University.
In the 1970s, Zhong's research team was tasked with diagnosing a failure in an advanced imported hot-rolling mill in Wuhan of central China's Hubei Province. Based on experiments and mechanical analysis, the team identified design and manufacturing defects as the root cause, overturning initial assumptions by foreign experts that the failure was due to operational error.
In the 1990s, China faced a shortage of high-quality hot-rolled aluminum plates and relied heavily on imports. Zhong and her team made key breakthroughs in related technologies, reducing dependence on imported high-quality aluminum plates and supporting major national engineering projects.
In 2003, Zhong proposed the concept of "extreme manufacturing," referring to the production of high-performance systems under extreme scales and harsh conditions. The concept was later incorporated into China's Medium- and Long-Term Program for Science and Technology Development (2006-2020).
Now in her 90s, Zhong continues to work closely with young researchers, and remains active in front-line research in advanced manufacturing and aerospace engineering.
