Speech at the Graduation Ceremony of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Electronics (EEA) in 2023

Kang Chongqing, Dean of EEA

Dear graduates, friends, teachers, alumni, guests, and everyone on-site and online:

Welcome to our graduation ceremony!

At the height of summer, we come to the 2023 graduation season. On this occasion, please allow me to extend my warmest congratulations to the 58 doctoral graduates, 49 master's graduates, and 115 bachelor graduates who have achieved academic success on behalf of the entire faculty and students, to extend my highest respect to the teachers who have worked hard and provided careful guidance to all students, and to extend my deepest gratitude to all the friends and alumni who have been caring for, helping and supporting the development of our students!

To graduate in 2023 is lucky because this is the first purely offline graduation ceremony held by the Department of Electrical Engineering after the pandemic. Of course, this ceremony was also open for live streaming online, not due to the pandemic, but to allow more friends and alumni share the joy of the graduates.

Students, we have just passed an extraordinary 2022-2023 academic year. We commemorated and reviewed the 90-year development history of the Department of Electrical Engineering; at the 120^th birthday of Mr. Gu Yuxiu, we recalled his style of a scholar, poet, and professor, who embodies the qualities of a gentle breeze, a bright moon and a strong pine; at the 100^th birthday of Mr. Gao Jingde, we admired the great contributions he made to the construction and development of the Department of Electrical Engineering, as well as to Tsinghua University and the progress of education and science and technology in China; at the unfortunate passing of Academician Lu Qiang, we especially recalled his pioneering work in the field of nonlinear control of power systems and his forward-looking insights in areas such as digital power systems and non-recuperative compressed air energy storage. In the face of the rapid progress of the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, in the process of striding towards becoming a strong nation in higher education, the Department of Electrical Engineering deeply studies and implements the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the spirit of the 15th Party Congress of Tsinghua University, grasps the trend of higher education development, closely combines with the University’s medium and long-term development strategy, dares to innovate and take on responsibilities, and actively explores in the cause of building new type power systems. Boys and girls, you are witnesses and successors of this historic opportunity, no matter where you will go and what position you will hold after graduation, the time you spent in the Department of Electrical Engineering will become a mark in your life, and you will always be the most precious asset of the Department of Electrical Engineering.

Young gentlemen and ladies, the Department of Electrical Engineering has made great progress in various undertakings over the past year. In terms of education and teaching, Professor Yu Xinjie has won the fourth Outstanding Teaching Award for his outstanding contributions in the construction of MOOCs and blended teaching reform; Professor Yu Xinjie and Professor Zhu Guiping have won the second prize of national teaching achievements depending on their continuous reform of the circuit theory course. In terms of team building, Professor Mei Shengwei won the first Gao Jingde Science and Technology Achievement Award selected by the China Electrical Engineering Society; Professor Zhao Zhengming was granted the 12th Inventor Entrepreneurship Award; Researcher Ci Song was elected as an IEEE Fellow; Associate Professor Zhang Pinjia, Professor Guo Qinglai and Professor Chen Qixin were selected for national talent programs and projects; Assistant Researcher Li Chuanyang won the IEEE Young Scholar Achievement Award. In terms of scientific research, Associate Professor Yi Chenyi achieved the world highest photoelectric conversion efficiency record for single-junction flexible perovskite solar cells, which was selected as the annual highlight achievement of Tsinghua University that attracts the most attention from teachers and students in 2022; Associate Professor Li Qi published an article in “Nature Communications”, reporting the extremely temperature-resistant capacitive energy storage thin film material has the highest effective energy density at the extreme temperature of 250°C; the key technology of non-supplementary combustion compressed air energy storage completed under the leadership of Professor Mei Shengwei’s team has achieved commercial application in Jintan, Jiangsu and won the special award of technology invention of China Electrotechnical Society; Professor He Jinliang’s team completed the “Power Grid Panoramic Information Perception Technology”, which won the IET Engineering Technology Innovation Award.

Similarly, we are also very pleased to see our students excel in various aspects. Among you, Xu Chaoqun, a doctoral student, proposed a DC hybrid commutation method based on IGCT, and won the Special Scholarship for Graduates and the honor of “Academic Rising Star” of Tsinghua University; Dr. Sun Hao developed a high-energy density special pulse power supply, and won the Robert Bach Graduate Award and the Pulse Power Student Award granted by IEEE; Dr. Han Zhifei, Wang Shaojie, and Zhu Yujie successively won the Graduate Scholarship of IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society; Xu Luo, a doctoral graduate, won the Best Doctoral Thesis Award of the International Council on Large Electric Systems in 2023 and the Best Research Award of the First Doctoral Thesis Competition of the IEEE Power and Energy Society; Bachelor students Yan Yunqi, Xing Haitong, Li Yifan, Fan Yanpeng and master student Cui Zhengda won the first prize in the First University Electrical and Electronic Engineering Innovation Competition of China Electrotechnical Society. I am delighted to see that our students have actively responded to the call of the times. Four master graduates Du Wenzhe, Cheng Miao, Jiang Haiyang and Wang Yuxuan, as well as two bachelor graduates Wang Xiran and Lu Hongyuan, have been enthusiastic about public welfare during their time at school. They have actively participated in volunteer services celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party and other activities. Master graduate Hu Tianyu and six bachelor graduates Dong Jiuzhou, Yu Tianqing, Liu Zengyang, Lei Zhenyu, Xiao Yunhao and Lin Lanqing have participated in the service of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics, contributing the strength of youth and our department to the national major special events. Master graduate Li Xuyang is concerned about the development of his hometown and chooses to return to Guizhou for public service after graduation. He has won the Graduate Sailing Award of Tsinghua University. Tan Xinyi, who served as the secretary of the first party branch of his class, actively inherited the spirit of public welfare during his university years, volunteered for 435 hours, and was granted the title of “Five-Star Redbud Volunteer of Tsinghua University”; Li Weiran, who served as the captain of the women’s softball team of our department, fully carried forward the spirit of Tsinghua sports and won the championship in the softball competition of the Capital University Sports Games. The collective construction of the Department of Electrical Engineering has also achieved outstanding results. Doctoral Class 181 of Electrical Engineering has successively won the honors of Advanced Collective of Graduate Students and Level A Youth League Branch of Tsinghua University. Class 94 of Electrical Engineering has been rated as Level A Youth League Branch of Tsinghua University for two consecutive years, and has also been granted the titles of Excellent Academic Class of Tsinghua University and Advanced Undergraduate Class of Tsinghua University, achieving a grand slam of class honors. Whether in learning, scientific research, social services, sports competitions, or literary and artistic activities, you have fully demonstrated the style of contemporary young people. You shine brightly in different fields like stars, and have accumulated every step of the progress of the Department of Electrical Engineering.

Students, soon you will go to your respective positions and embark on a new journey. According to the usual practice in previous years, I will still choose three pairs of key words from the discipline of electrical engineering as my farewell to you.

First, find the “vector” and accumulate the “scalar”. Scalars and vectors are analysis tools that we are familiar with, and we repeatedly use them in courses such as electromagnetic fields and electric machinery. Scalars only have magnitude, while vectors have both magnitude and direction. On the road of life, identifying direction and accumulating steps are equally important. In a person’s life, there are many choices, but we can neither go with the flow, nor aim too high. Once having chosen a goal, one should firmly hold on and take each step towards this goal steadily. Zhao Zhigang, a doctoral student graduated in 2010, chose to work in Guangxi as a selected candidate after graduation, hoping to achieve personal development in the glorious cause of serving the people. Since serving in Beiliu City, he has humbly learned from his predecessors, strived for excellence in every basic work, and used his knowledge to solve practical problems for the masses. After years of hard work and dedication, he is currently serving as the Director of the Big Data Development Bureau of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, continuing to contribute to the promotion of digital economy and high-quality development in Guangxi. This year, many graduates have also chosen to go to grassroots areas and key units to realize their own value at critical junctures in life. The destination is far, but you will arrive at it if you keep walking; the task is difficult, but you will complete it if you keep working. I hope you can find the vector of your life to guide your progress, accumulate small steps, climb upward step by step, and become a person with goals, actions, perseverance and achievements.

Second, improve “voltage withstanding” and prevent “breakdown”. Reasonably increasing the voltage level is the basis for us to achieve long-distance and large-capacity transmission of electric energy. Power workers continuously improve the voltage withstanding capacity of transmission lines and prevent breakdown and failure through material and process improvements. During your time studying in the Department of Electrical Engineering, I believe you have encountered many “high-voltage” moments, whether it is the anxiety before exams or the frustration in research. However, you have successfully overcome numerous challenges and now it is time to celebrate your graduation ceremony. The road to future dreams is destined to be not flat, but please believe in your infinite possibilities. As long as you work hard without giving up, you will be able to overcome all obstacles and reach the distant shore. Wang Pan, a master student graduated in 2016, joined State Grid Wuhan Power Supply Company after graduation. He started his career with grassroots line inspection work and actively participated in pandemic prevention and flood control during job rotation. Later, he volunteered to undertake live maintenance work for more than 400 110-220kV power lines in Wuhan. High altitude, high voltage and high intensity — this “three highs” work brought him not only physical pressure, but also psychological pressure to strive for excellence. He actively consulted the grassroots masters, solidly grasped every safety procedure, thoroughly understood every technical principle, exercised excellent psychological quality, and achieved one breakthrough after another in ordinary positions. He has won many honors such as the Wuhan May 1st Labor Medal and the State Grid Hubei Labor Model. Students, like Wang Pan, you are all the most fearless students under “high pressure”. I hope you can maintain a positive and optimistic attitude, continuously improve your ability to withstand pressure, bravely face external pressures, never be easily broken down even after thousands of tests, and forge ahead towards distant goals.

Third, you need to “absorb” new knowledge and skill and ensure knowledge “supply” at anytime. Uncertainty is widely present in the new type power system with new energy as the main body, and more flexibility resources need to be explored in order to fully accommodate new energy and ensure power supply. The new era is full of opportunities and challenges, and it requires us to maintain a more flexible attitude, adhere to the lifelong learning attitude, constantly digest and absorb new knowledge, in order to ensure that our own energy is full and our own abilities can be supplied to the country. Academician Gu Guobiao, an alumnus graduated in 1958, studied in the field of power systems during his time at the university, but he encountered a new problem with the cooling of the large motors in the Three Gorges Project in work. This involved not only motor design, a major he was not much engaged in, but also many unfamiliar fields such as thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and electrochemistry. To this end, he “absorbed” a large amount of new knowledge in various disciplines, and created the world leading room temperature self-circulating evaporative cooling technology with Chinese independent intellectual property rights from scientific experiment to engineering application. He insisted on pursuing interdisciplinary innovation, adjusting research directions according to national development, and later engaged in research on chip cooling, supercomputers, and other issues, striving to “supply” his research results to meet the frontline needs of the country. Students, graduation is not the end of learning, we hope you will take away not only professional knowledge, but also the ability to learn for a lifetime, just like Academician Gu. We hope you will always maintain the rigorous and diligent work style of Tsinghua people, constantly recharge yourself and absorb new knowledge, fully exert your skills in work, and contribute your strength to the society at critical moments.

Students, the country has put forward dual carbon goals and the new type power system strategy, bringing unprecedented challenges and significant opportunities for technological innovation to our electrical engineering discipline. At the end of last year, China’s installed capacity of renewable energy such as hydropower, wind power, and photovoltaic power reached 1.21 billion kilowatts, surpassing coal power for the first time. This is a historic breakthrough. In the era of carbon neutrality, wind and solar power will become the mainstay of the new type power system, which also indicates that our energy and power industry will achieve further rapid development in the next 40 years. We are facing a truly limitless field of opportunities. As graduates of our Department of Electrical Engineering of Tsinghua University, you must always adhere to Tsinghua’s motto of “self-discipline and social commitment” and our department’s motto of “Strict in learning and upright in behaving” in your career. I prepared a pair of farewell couplets containing 9 pairs of words “wind and light” for you, hoping they can inspire your future work and life.

Mr. Kang Chongqing’s farewell couplets for the graduates in year 2023

Students, a few years ago you came to Tsinghua University with great expectations, and now you are about to leave with your package filled with knowledge and even greater ambitions. On the occasion of parting, I wish everyone a smooth journey without flowers all the way, peace and success, and a happy graduation! No matter where you are, you will always be graduates of the Department of Electrical Engineering. Tsinghua University and our department will always be your home. Welcome to come back home at anytime!

Thank you, everyone!