On November 6, the “Dingxin” Youth Talent Pilot Workstation "Enlightenment" activities series and "Face to Face with Academician MAO Xinping" meeting was held in the Jianlong Lecture Hall. Prof. YANG Renshu, President of USTB, and Prof. MAO Xinping, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering attended the meeting. More than 80 people including Assoc. Prof. HUANG Wunan, Executive Vice Minister of the Organization Department of the CPC Committee, Prof. SUN Jinghong, Director of the Personnel Department, and representatives of outstanding teaching sections participated in this event. The event was presided over by Prof. PANG Xiaolu, School of Materials Science and Engineering, the executive director of the “Dingxin” Youth Talent Pilot Workstation.

In Prof. YANG Renshu’s speech, he pointed out that in order to implement President XI Jinping’s directives on education and promote the cultivationof youth talents, USTB founded the “Dingxin” Young Talent Pilot Workstation, in order to strengthen the cultivation and empowerment of students. Its purpose it to stimulate the potential for innovation, optimize quality assurance, support the growth of young people, and play a crucial role in “raising a banner, building a platform, cultivating a culture and driving an atmosphere".

During the communication session, Prof. MAO shared his feelings after returning to work at his alma mater, USTB. He said that compared to private industry, USTB’s academic atmosphere and scientific research environment are much better, and he feels that he can take more responsibility and opportunities.

Looking back on his past work experience, Prof. MAO said that after graduating from the Iron and Steel Institute, the predecessor of USTB, he worked at the Wuhan Iron and Steel Design and Research Institute. Now after returning to his alma mater with more than 30 years of work experience in different areas, he has obtained solid scientific knowledge and refined research methods. No matter what kind of the working pressure he faced, he insisted on working in the field of thin slab continuous casting and rolling technology.

In the Q&A session, teachers asked many enthusiastic questions, which Prof. MAO answered one by one, and giving thoughtful and patient responses. The teachers complimented Academician MAO Xinping for his concise and clear answers, inspiring in the teachers the desire to improve themselves. We should follow the step of Academician MAO and try to contribute to the development of national science and technology.