On October 18, the award ceremony for the 16th China Youth Science and Technology Award took place during the opening ceremony of the 2020 World Young Scientist Summit. A total of 100 talents working in science and technology received the honor. Prof. PANG Xiaolu from USTB was one recipient of the award.

Prof. PANG Xiaolu, professor of the School of Materials Science and Engineering, USTB, has long been committed to the research of protective coatings for metals, and has made significant achievements in the fabrication of coatings displaying high strength and toughness, as well as research on the damage behavior of coating cracking. He proposed a theory of films-induced substrate cracking and protective methods to improve the anti-fatigue performance of materials, thus promoting the theory of stress corrosion cracking and addressing related technical difficulties. He has 4 projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 1 project supported by the Huo Yingdong Education Fund, over 10 enterprise research projects and a total of 102 papers and 17 authorized invention patents. Prof. PANG has also received first prize of the Scientific and Technological Progress Award from the Chinese Society for Corrosion and Protection, first prize of the Technology Invention Award from the China Machinery Industry Federation, and honorary titles including Beijing Sci-tech Rising Star and Beijing Youth Talent.

The China Youth Science and Technology Award, jointly sponsored by the Organization Department of the Community Party of China Central Committee, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the China Association for Science and Technology and the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, was set up at the suggestion of Dr. QIAN Xuesen and other scientists, seeks to recognize 100 promising talents every two years. Since 1987, 1,395 young sci-tech workers have been honored. 142 of them have been elected to be academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 80% of them have been academic leaders, and numerous winners have taken up crucial posts in universities, research institutes, large enterprises, Party and government departments and international organizations. The award has been a cradle of outstanding young sci-tech workers.