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Recently, Columbia University in the City of New York officially announced the list of honorary doctorates in 2023, and decided to award the honorary doctorate of Engineering to Academician Zhenghua Qian (Foreign Academician of Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Foreign Academician of Ukrainian Academy of Engineering Sciences), and he is a Scientist on research of Elastic Wave Theory and Applications, and has a high international reputation.

Therefore, The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York to all persons to whom these presents may come greeting be it known that: ZHENGHUA QIAN satisfied the requirements for the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering Mechanics.

In this regard, the evaluation and introduction of Academician Zhenghua Qian by Columbia University in the City of New York are as follows:

“Zhenghua Qian is a Foreign Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, a Foreign Academician of the Ukrainian Academy of Engineering Sciences, a Scientist on research of Elastic Wave Theory and Applications, and formerly served as a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for Promotion of Science and the Japan Global Center of Excellence. As a Chinese scholar, he is well known internationally.

His main academic contributions:

(1) Developed a novel algorithm for solving the dispersion equation of wave motion internationally for the first time: the convergence of the modulus ratio of complex functions is utilized as a discriminant criterion to address the difficulty in distinguishing zero points from non-zero minima; unique multidimensional scanning search units are combined to locate local minima points of function modulus, thereby issues related to multiple roots and missing roots are avoided; (2) Proposed a novel guided wave quantitative imaging approach based on the method of moment: By employing neural networks and principal component analysis, the issue of ill-posed inversion equations in thin-plate structures is addressed, enabling precise imaging even in cases of insufficient or excessive input data; A set of independent parameter dictionary-based signal processing method is devised to solve the problem of overlapping helical guided waves in thin-shell structures being difficult to separate.” 

Columbia University in the City of New York usually awards honorary degrees to outstanding global celebrities every year in recognition of their outstanding achievements and contributions in academic, artistic and social work, which is also the highest honor awarded by Columbia University to individuals.

US President Eisenhower, French thinker Jacques Derrida, director Alfred Hitchcock, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other famous people have won this honor. Tsung-Dao Lee, Samuel Chao Chung Ting, Yo-Yo Ma, Ieoh Ming Pei, Shing-Tung Yau, Zhu Chen and other Chinese have won this honor.

Actually, Columbia University in the City of New York awards honorary degrees to global celebrities every year, especially for the scientific community. The basic conditions must be academicians who enjoy international reputation and popularity, and have made outstanding achievements and contributions as one of the assessment criteria. It can be seen that as a scientist, Academician Zhenghua Qian obtained the honorary doctorate degree of Engineering is very valuable.

Illustration: Academician Zhenghua Qian has been awarded the Honorary Doctor of Engineering from Columbia University

Personal Profile:

Academician Zhenghua Qian, male, Doctorate from Xi’an Jiaotong University; Postdoctoral fellow at Tokyo Institute of Technology; Born in Jiangsu in December 1980; Scientist on research of Elastic Wave Theory and Applications in the field of piezoelectric acoustic wave devices; Professor; Chief Technology Communication Expert of Jiangsu Province; Foreign Academician of Russian Academy of Natural Sciences; Foreign Academician of the Ukrainian Academy of Engineering Sciences; Formerly served as a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for Promotion of Science and the Japan Global Center of Excellence.

He is currently a member of China Science and Technology Journalism Society “Zhongke Think Tank”; Vice Dean of the Global Nobel Institute for Future Sciences; Vice Chair of the Committee on Mechanics of Electromagnetic and Electronic Devices, Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; Vice Secretary General of Jiangsu Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; Chair of the Committee on Solid Mechanics of Jiangsu Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; Standing Council Member of the Jiangsu Talent Innovation and Entrepreneurship Promotion Association.

Research fields and directions:

Structural analysis and design of piezoelectric acoustic resonators; algorithm research and technical development of quantitative ultrasonic non-destructive testing; mechanical analysis and performance optimization of structural materials; mechanical design and performance control of acoustic metamaterials; intelligent health monitoring and fault prediction and early warning technology for aircraft engines.

main academic contributions:

(1) Developed a novel algorithm for solving the dispersion equation of wave motion internationally for the first time: the convergence of the modulus ratio of complex functions is utilized as a discriminant criterion to address the difficulty in distinguishing zero points from non-zero minima; unique multidimensional scanning search units are combined to locate local minima points of function modulus, thereby issues related to multiple roots and missing roots are avoided; (2) Proposed a novel guided wave quantitative imaging approach based on the method of moment: By employing neural networks and principal component analysis, the issue of ill-posed inversion equations in thin-plate structures is addressed, enabling precise imaging even in cases of insufficient or excessive input data; A set of independent parameter dictionary-based signal processing method is devised to solve the problem of overlapping helical guided waves in thin-shell structures being difficult to separate;(3) Established a two-dimensional theory for the vibration analysis of thin film acoustic resonators, filling a gap in China: Based on the geometric characteristics of the length (width) to thickness ratio of resonators, a power series solution for the displacement field in the thickness direction is constructed, which solves the difficulty of accurately solving the displacement field; A state vector transfer matrix equation is established for lateral propagation, which achieves the coupled vibration analysis of a two-dimensional cross-sectional model.

The relevant research results have been published as first author and corresponding author in more than 200 important academic journals and conferences in the fields of mechanics, machinery, and acoustics both domestically and internationally. Among them, more than 140 SCI indexed papers have been published, 4 Chinese monographs have been published, and 3 English monographs have been invited to write 1 chapter each. 13 invention patents (including 1 US invention patent) have been authorized, and 4 software copyrights have been registered. Received funding from National Key Research and Development Programs, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Huawei Technology Co., Ltd., and other projects. The proposed algorithm has been recognized and positively evaluated by numerous scholars at home and abroad, and has been applied by more than 30 scholars from nearly 10 countries and regions. The software developed has been successfully applied in institutions such as Ningbo University, Shijiazhuang Railway University, and Huawei Technology Co., Ltd. This achievement can be further expanded to the fields of acoustic electronic devices, structural health monitoring, metamaterial acoustics, etc., and has broad market prospects and application value.

Extended reading: How precious is an honorary doctor? Rare than the national treasure giant panda!

(1) Definition

“Honorary Degree of Doctor”, also known as Honorary Degree of Doctor, is an honorary degree, which is awarded to people who have made outstanding contributions and high reputation in relevant fields at home and abroad, and keep some contact with the school and contribute to the school; Its granting methods mainly include national unified authorization, local government authorization, university learning association or other forms of university appraisal organizations, etc. This kind of doctoral degree is awarded, focusing on the “glory” and “glory” of the degree.

(2) Purpose

The purpose of awarding honorary doctorates is to recognize outstanding contributions of outstanding scholars, scientists or famous politicians and social activists at home and abroad in academic, economic, educational, scientific, cultural and health fields, as well as social development and human progress.

(3) Number control (examples from China):

According to the statistics of China Academic Degrees Committee, from 1983 to 2018, a total of 338 people obtained honorary doctorates in China in 35 years, with an average of less than 10 people every year. At the 2018 annual meeting of the Technical Committee for Giant Panda Breeding, it was revealed that by November 2018, the number of captive giant pandas in the world had reached 548. The number of wild giant pandas is close to 2,000. In this way, the number of honorary doctors awarded by China is far lower than the number of national treasure giant pandas.

Examples from Columbia University in the United States:

Columbia University, officially named Columbia University in the City of New York, is located in the morning heights of Upper Manhattan, New York, USA. It is a top private research university, one of the fourteen founding institutions of the Association of American Universities, one of the Ivy League [1], and a member of the Global University Presidents Forum [28].

Columbia University is the oldest institution of higher education in New York State, originally called King’s College, which was established in 1754 according to the royal charter issued by King George II of England [42]. In 1767, Columbia University awarded the first medical doctor’s degree, which was also the first professional doctor’s degree in American history. Columbia University is one of the important research institutions in the United States and the birthplace of the first nuclear fission-Manhattan Project in North America. Columbia University invented brain-computer interface, laser, maser and nuclear magnetic resonance. The completion of Drosophila experiments became the origin of modern genetics. Prove the theory of plate tectonics. During World War II, the Manhattan Project to build atomic bombs was born in Columbia University.

As of 2023, the honorary doctors awarded by this world famous school after 256 years (from 1767, when the doctoral degree can be awarded) have accumulated no more than 200 people in the world, and the average number of people awarded each year actually does not exceed 3 people, which shows the preciousness and scarcity of its honor.

To sum up the above, it can be seen that the number of honorary doctorates awarded in China and the United States is the same.

 (4) The qualifications and prestige of the object granted

Examples from China:

From 2011 to 2018, according to the data released by China Degree and Postgraduate Information Network, a total of 338 people have obtained honorary doctorates in China in 35 years, with an average of less than 10 people every year.

Among them, from 1983 to 2010, China awarded 241 honorary doctorates. Among them, there are 89 scientists (14 of whom are Nobel Prize winners), including physicists Zhenning Yang , Zhaozhong Ding , Zhengdao Li and Chemist Siegel, accounting for 37.4% of the total; There are 44 heads of state and government, including Australian President Robert Hawke, Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Spadolini and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, accounting for 18.5%; There are 12 national dignitaries, including Princess Sirindhorn of Thailand and Marina, Minister of Environment of the Federal Republic of Brazil. Silva and Chinese-American Governor Gary Locke, accounting for 5%; There are 36 famous university presidents (4 of whom have served as presidents of 8 Ivy League schools), including Columbia University President Lee Paulinger, Oxford University President Colin Lucas, Cambridge University President Alec Bruce, Yale University President Richard Levin, etc., accounting for 14.7%; There are 36 social activists, including Guowei Li , general manager of Hong Kong Hang Seng Bank, and Wanqi Ma , president of Macao Chinese Chamber of Commerce, accounting for 15.1%; There are 18 heads of international institutions, including United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Amadou Mahtar Mbo, Director-General of UNESCO, accounting for 7.6%; There are 4 party leaders, including Chan Lien , Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party, and Poh-hsiung Wu , chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party, etc, accounting for 1.7%. (As shown in Table 2 below):

Table 2 Total number and proportion of personnel with various identities and qualifications granted

Above, Columbia University in the United States has basically the same identity and qualifications as China in the assessment and conditions of the qualifications and prestige of the recipients.