Professor, 100, still teaching

Historic: Yang telling his story at his office in Tianjin University. — Xinhua

TIANJIN: At the age of 100, Yang Enze, a professor in Tianjin University, still commutes to his laboratory every day and leads his students on research projects.

As a founder of optical communication in China, Yang never left the forefront of scientific research.

He keeps himself updated with the times by reading English articles on artificial intelligence.

In the 1970s, Yang was the chief engineer of an optical fibre cable communication system built in Wuchang and Hankou in Hubei province, which was China’s first optical communication project for practical use approved by the government.

“The system was proposed by the former Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in 1978 when there was no previous research in this field domestically,” Yang said.

The system, covering a distance of 13.6km, consisted of three optical fibres fused by splicers.

It took three days for Yang and his fellow experts to control the loss of signals.

Limited by the technical conditions, the third part of the optical fibre could only reach 5.5km, still 1km short of the target.

“We worked all whole summer in our lab. It was sweltering in Wuhan; I kept working, hardly having time to wipe off my sweat,” Yang said.

The project went into operation at the end of 1982, followed by the establishment of optical communication systems in many other cities.

China’s optical communication industry saw rapid development.

According to Yang, he dreamt of success when he was a student.

He was admitted to Wuhan Uni­ver­sity in 1937, when the Japanese struck Lugou Bridge, also known as Marco Polo Bridge, on July 7.

This marked the start of Japan’s full-scale war against China during World War II and China’s full-scale resistance against the invasion.

The university was relocated to Sichuan province the next year before Wuhan fell to enemy forces.

“There were a lot of bombs but students would miss no classes if there was no air-raid siren,” he said.

“I also saw people fleeing from their shattered homes.”

At that time, he affirmed his belief that a country needed science and technology for revival.

Yang built the first optical communication laboratory in Tianjin when he was invited to teach at Tianjin University in 1985.

Since then, under his supervision, eight high-tech research projects have been conducted, and over 10 papers have been published in China’s top academic journals.

“Professor Yang often helps students to test, debug and optimise the research process.

“He says research cannot be separated from practice,” said Xie Tianyuan, a doctoral student from the School of Electrical Automation and Information Engi­neering.

Yang leads a simple life, donating about 500,000 yuan (RM303,­308) to needy students over the years.

He says exercise and persistence are the secrets to longevity. He started learning computer skills when he was 60 and played tennis until he was 93 years old.

“For me, I really enjoy research. To be able to work one more day, to do something for the people – that is the biggest meaning of my life,” Yang said. — Xinhua