Deng Chao： Go attack!

After entering the Tsinghua campus

He doubted himself.

The help of a teacher

And a teaching experience

Let him find his courage

Holding the "contribution to the motherland"

Heart of a Child

Born in the south, he went to the ice city of Harbin

Constantly accept challenges

Taking over the heavy task of "attacking" again and again

Won the Diligence Award

He is the School of Materials, Tsinghua University

Class of 2009 – Deng Chao

First Entry to Tsinghua University: From Lost to Brave

Deng Chao, who comes from a rural family in Jingshan County, Jingmen City, Hubei Province, has been very independent since he was a child. His parents worked outside the home for many years, and he also has an older brother, both of whom grew up with their grandparents. Deng Chao remembers that when he was young, if his brother’s academic performance was not good, he would be "beaten" by his grandfather. "At that time, I thought, I have to study hard and don’t get beaten up." This became the biggest motivation for him to study hard as a child.

For Deng Chao, the entrance to Tsinghua University was achieved through one small goal after another. "When I was in primary school, my wish was to be admitted to the county No. 1 high school, and then when I was in junior high school, I hoped that I could be admitted to the city’s high school. I worked hard step by step, and finally found that I seemed to be able to’enough ‘to get into Tsinghua University," Deng Chao said with a smile.

In the summer of 2009, when Deng Chao walked into Qinghua Garden, Deng Chao’s first impression was that "the campus is so big, like a small society." Facing the new environment, everything about the school made him feel fresh, but after experiencing the novelty at the beginning, Deng Chao gradually felt a lot of discomfort. "After the official start of school, I felt a little difficult in my studies. In high school, I was always at the top, but after going to college, I found that there were many things I didn’t know. The sense of gap was too obvious."

Under such a mentality, Deng Chao gradually became evasive, and even did not go to class, almost closing himself off. But fortunately, the head teacher, Li Liangliang, discovered his "abnormality" in time and took the initiative to find him. Teacher Li Liangliang was also very young at that time, and like a friend, he often talked to Deng Chao and gave him psychological counseling. "At that time, I felt that I was from a rural area and could not compare to others in many things, but Teacher Li told me, ‘If you can get into Tsinghua University from a rural area, you are already very good.’ I still remember that he gave me a USB stick with some study materials and courseware that he helped me sort out. Thanks to his help, I came out of the loss." Looking back on that year, Deng Chao was still grateful to Teacher Li.

With the help of Mr. Li, Deng Chao quickly cheered up. Not only did he quickly regain his learning state, but he also actively participated in various activities in the department and school. Among them, he was deeply impressed when he went to Xiongning Love Primary School, Labu Township, Chengduo County, Yushu Prefecture, Qinghai Province during the summer vacation of his freshman year. "In April 2010, an earthquake occurred in Yushu, and the local area was in a difficult post-disaster reconstruction, but we did not give up the idea of supporting teaching. We collected clothes and other materials in advance and sent them to the school. As soon as the summer vacation was over, we set foot on the journey to Yushu." Deng Chao and his classmates first took a long green train to Xining, and then took a long-distance bus to Yushu. At night, he slept on the small bed on the upper bunk, and the car window was "shaken" by the bumpy mountain road again and again. When he arrived in Yushu the next morning, he was "put down" by the cold + altitude sickness.

Although he was unwell, Deng Chao still insisted on teaching and playing with the children. Most of the primary schools he taught were Tibetan students, and Deng Chao was deeply touched by the optimism and enthusiasm of the children. "Their homeland has experienced disasters, but the children are not in that pessimistic mood." Deng Chao still remembers that he and his classmates taught the children to sing the song "Snail". "I want to climb up step by step, and fly forward on the blade at the highest point." The smiling faces of the children as they sang loudly are still deeply imprinted in Deng Chao’s mind. This is also the same as what Tsinghua University taught him: no matter what kind of difficulties you face, you must believe in yourself and move forward bravely.

Always ready to take on challenges

Deng Chao spent seven years as an undergraduate and graduate student at Tsinghua University. Before graduating from graduate school, he began to prepare for employment and fell into a new period of confusion: whether to choose the enterprise, the public sector, or to go to the research institute? He never thought about it. Until a job fair, Si Zefu, the former chairperson and party secretary of Harbin Electric Group Co., Ltd., extended an olive branch to him. "Chairperson Si Zefu is also an old senior of Tsinghua University. That time, he personally led a team to the school to recruit, and kindly and sincerely introduced us to the history of Harbin Electric Group. Later, he learned that I was worried that I would not be used to living in Harbin, and he personally invited me and my mother to visit Harbin. I was very touched," Deng Chao said.

When Deng Chao and his mother went to Harbin, the leaders and colleagues of the steam turbine factory received them warmly. Deng Chao still remembered that it was already winter, and after getting off the train, his colleagues had already prepared cotton clothes and cotton shoes for them, which made Deng Chao feel warm from the bottom of his heart. Through this "on-site visit" to the company, Deng Chao learned that the Harbin Electric Group has made great contributions to the country in its more than 60-year history, which coincides with Deng Chao’s deep wish: to contribute to the country by virtue of what he has learned.

In this way, Deng Chao and the Harbin Electric Group "hit it off". After joining the job, he was assigned to the steam turbine factory, which is one of the three main engine factories of the Harbin Electric Group. Among them, the steam turbine has the most complex structure and the highest material requirements. "I am a student of materials.

At first, Deng Chao worked as a materials engineer in the design department. He was doing surface protection work for steam turbine metal materials, such as surface sandblasting, thermal spray coating, laser surface strengthening, etc. The purpose was to improve the surface’s wear resistance, corrosion resistance, sealing, heat resistance and other properties through various surface engineering technologies. When he first started working, Deng Chao was still a little uncomfortable, "Our major is called’material science and engineering ‘. In school, I focused more on’science’, but after work, it is actually’engineering ‘, which requires me to apply the theoretical knowledge I learned in school to practical work as soon as possible."

After working in the design department for four years, in September 2021, Deng Chao was transferred to the cold work branch as the deputy head of the technical quality team. Speaking of the difference between the two professional identities, Deng Chao said, "In the design department, we mainly focus on materials, to track and solve problems such as the technical quality of equipment. After arriving at the cold work factory, the work we have to face becomes more complicated."

The Lengzuo branch is one of the six branches of the steam turbine company. It is the central management department of the company’s key engineering products, civilian steam turbines, nuclear power steam turbines and auxiliary engine parts. It is the blanking, forming, rough processing, welding, sandblasting, spraying, heat treatment and some parts of the package assembly. "I go down to the production line of the branch and go to the field to find and solve problems. On the one hand, I can improve product quality, and on the other hand, it is also an exercise for me personally," Deng Chao said.

"Doing extraordinary things in ordinary jobs"

Today, Deng Chao has been working for almost 5 years, and he is constantly learning and growing in his work. Speaking of the biggest challenge facing his work, Deng Chao thought of a spraying project on the inner surface of the transition section of a gas engine combustion chamber in December 2019.

The transition section is part of the combustion chamber of a gas turbine. It faces high-temperature gas shock and alternating hot and cold cycles above 1200 ° C, and the service environment is very harsh. Deng Chao explained: "Our job is to spray a uniform thermal barrier coating on the inner wall of the transition section. The difficulty is very large. On the one hand, the performance of the coating itself must meet the requirements, which can play a good thermal insulation effect and is not easy to fall off. On the other hand, the shape of the transition section is very complex. To use a robot to spray the entire inner wall evenly and completely, the programming requirements are very high. Then there are thousands of small oblique holes with a diameter of 1mm densely distributed on the entire surface of the transition section, which need to be protected. The company’s equipment is not dedicated and also undertakes many production tasks, so the time for us to explore the process is very limited."

During the period of December 2019, when Deng Chao and his colleagues formed the "attack team", they spent every day in the workshop, working from 8 am to 10 pm, and sometimes even working overtime until 2 or 3 am. It was the middle of winter, and he and his colleagues often stepped on a foot of snow in the middle of the night. When they returned from the workshop to the office building, the door of the office building was locked. "Many times we went around to the window behind the building and woke up the security guard in the duty room. Every time, the security guard said helplessly, ‘Why is it you again?’"

At that time, Deng Chao could only sleep three or four hours a day, and this situation continued until the Spring Festival of 2020. "The hardships at work and overtime were nothing to me, but at that time my wife had just given birth and the child was not yet full moon, so I didn’t have time to spend more time with them." Speaking of this, Deng Chao’s tone was full of guilt for his family.

Deng Chao and his family

Affected by the epidemic, the "attack" of the spraying project has undergone some changes and has been temporarily put on hold. "In 2021, we restarted the project and continued to" attack "for more than a month, and finally took it down completely."

Thinking back to his study and life at Tsinghua University, Deng Chao had the deepest insight: "School is a very important stage of life, and at the same time, it is only a stage of life, and there is still a long way to go in life." He felt that all the experiences in school are to exercise a person’s ability and character. After entering the society, everyone needs to start from an ordinary position, maintain a strong heart, and constantly drive themselves, in order to make an extraordinary career in an ordinary position.

When it comes to looking forward to the future, Deng Chao is full of confidence. "I am very lucky to have such a good working platform, and I also hope that I can take on more and more important work and make more contributions to the company’s material research and development. Now that I have a family and a child of my own, I hope that one day in the future, in front of my child, I can proudly say, ‘This is Dad’s unit. Dad has done some practical things for the company, and the company has developed because of it.’ Thinking about it, I feel really proud."

"Diligence Award"

In order to further implement the school’s work philosophy of "helping graduates get on the horse, giving them a ride, and caring for a lifetime", to recognize alumni who stick to the grassroots frontline in the public sector, national defense and military industry, and other key areas, and to guide more graduates to "set big ambitions, enter the mainstream, go to the big stage, and do great things". To make achievements in places where the motherland needs it most, this year Tsinghua University launched the "Diligence and Rewards Award" for the first time.

After the individual applications of alumni, the review and recommendation of local alumni associations, and the school review, a total of 165 public sector alumni, 62 alumni in the field of national defense and military industry, and 6 alumni in other key fields were selected for the "Diligence and Rejuvenation Award". Here, I would like to congratulate all the alumni who have received the "Diligence and Rejuvenation Award", and especially thank Senior Lu Dalong, a 1978 alumnus of Tsinghua University, for his strong support.