A member of the Communist Party of China, Shi Jian is a 2017-entry doctoral candidate at the Institute of Ultra-precision Optoelectronic Instrument Engineering, School of Instrumentation Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT). He has earned 21 honors including Triple-A Student of Heilongjiang Province, Secretary of the Top 10 Graduate Party Branches of HIT, and the Second Prize of the Chunhui Innovation Achievement Award of HIT. He also led his Party branch to win the title of Top 10 Graduate Teams of the 6th HIT. He has participated in 2 projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, obtained authorization for 7 national invention patents, and won 5 awards in science and technology innovation competitions—among which 3 are national-level prizes, including the First Prize of the 15th China Graduate Electronic Design Competition.
1. Persistent Passion, Steadfast and Composed
The stupidest way is the best shortcut. Shi Jian of the School of Instrumentation Engineering at Harbin Institute of Technology speaks at a rapid pace, and you will unconsciously be infected by his passion and vitality during conversations. Scientific research is a mixture of pain and joy. You may only succeed once after ten attempts, but the 90% of hardships are worthwhile for that 10% of pleasure. He has repeatedly described the twisting and turning scientific research process as fascinating, and the sudden enlightenment after overcoming all difficulties as a feeling of delight. Those abstruse and incomprehensible scientific research terms become vivid and lively in the mouth of this 26-year-old young man.
Human potential is unlimited. As long as you believe in yourself, you can turn the impossible into possible. said Shi Jian.
As a doctoral student of Academician Jiubin Tan, he has well inherited his supervisor's passion and perseverance for scientific research and innovation. When Professor Tan first set the research goal for me, I thought it was impossible for me to accomplish it. But unexpectedly, I made it in the end and even avoided a lot of detours. Shi Jian said that after he achieved one goal, Professor Tan put forward a new one, and I never thought I could accomplish them all one by one. Step by step like this, he has gone further and further on the road of innovation, and become more and more composed.
2. Challenging the Cutting-edge, Aspiring for Truth
In the process of participating in the projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, he and his team members completed the development of a high-resolution autocollimator with an overall resolution of 0.001 arcsecond, reaching the international advanced level. His core innovative point—the polarization spectroscopy-based autocollimation three-dimensional angle measurement method—has solved the key problems that autocollimators are limited in measurement dimensions and the resolution of the third dimension is always lower than that of the other two. Applied to two-dimensional photoelectric autocollimators, this method can expand them into three-dimensional ones, reaching the international leading level and boasting great economic and social value. It's an extremely 'delightful' feeling to see my technologies being practically applied.
There are no shortcuts in the world. The stupidest way is the best shortcut, and it all comes down to two words—'persist relentlessly'. Shi Jian said with a smile. He believes in the 10,000-hour rule, and is convinced that constant attempts and hard work will eventually lead to a leap from quantitative to qualitative change through accumulated efforts. Sometimes, to find an innovative point or verify an idea, he would read more than 200 literatures in one go. To apply for an international patent, he and another doctoral student studied more than 700 relevant foreign patent literatures and over 160 domestic ones within a week.
3. Innovative Practice, Toiling Day and Night
I'm still a long way from the 10,000 hours! Shi Jian said, The characteristic of our research is that it requires an undisturbed environment. The data obtained during holidays, when everyone else is resting, is always the most accurate. For this reason, he stuck to the laboratory during the two years of epidemic prevention and control, racing against time to tackle key scientific problems.
Having gained rich experience in project research, learning and science and technology competitions all the way, Shi Jian has continuously improved his innovative practical ability through rigorous and real-world practices. He has participated in six national science and technology competitions, winning three national awards and two provincial awards. In 2020, he led his team to participate in the 15th China Graduate Electronic Design Competition, winning the only national first prize in the Northeast Division and ranking 4th overall among 3,818 teams. We never expected this ourselves; maybe it's just luck. But everyone knows that good luck only favors the prepared.
4. Publicity and Exchange, Passing on the Torch
I hope the younger students can understand the situation of the institute earlier and enter the laboratory sooner, so that we can teach them new technologies earlier and innovate together with them... To help junior students gain a deep understanding of graduate life and solve their puzzles in growth, Shi Jian organized the Party branch to hold scientific research publicity and exchange meetings. Together with other Party branch members, he shared the striving stories of the institute with the younger students, passing on the spiritual torch of challenging the cutting-edge and serving the country with instrumental technologies. This activity was also selected as one of the school's Top 10 Graduate Theme Party Day Activities.
Professor Limin Zou, Deputy Director of the Institute, could hardly conceal her appreciation when talking about Shi Jian: Every time we have a group report, he always delivers the best one. He can make a detailed plan specifying what to do every day of each week, and we can entrust him with anything with complete peace of mind. In Professor Limin Zou's eyes, Shi Jian is an all-round talent who not only excels in scientific research and has high comprehensive quality, but also lives a positive and sunny life. He always exceeds teachers' expectations. If you set a 10-point requirement for him, he can achieve 12 points, and sometimes he even thinks more thoughtfully than the teachers.
Shi Jian debugging equipment at the site of the 15th China Graduate Electronic Design Competition
Shi Jian participating in the academic discussion of the 15th China Graduate Electronic Design Competition
Shi Jian taking part in the Top 10 Final Presentation of the 15th China Graduate Electronic Design Competition
Shi Jian reporting on the deeds of the graduate team
Shi Jian conducting research in the laboratory