In chaotic times, it can be reassuring to see so many people working toward a better world. Young scientists are striving to employ technology to address a series of challenges to mankind. The list of MIT Technology Review’s “Innovators Under 35 in China for 2020” was unveiled on December 10. This year, two ZJU faculty members, Dr. TONG Zheming and Dr. YANG Yihao, and two ZJU alumni, Dr. SHI Yi and Dr. ZHUGE Qunbi, were recognized as top innovators in China.

TONG Zheming

Position: Researcher, School of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University

Contributions: Dr. TONG Zheming proposed a multidisciplinary collaborative digital design technology for major equipment. This technology can significantly reduce the design time and R&D costs and facilitate the efficient and accurate design of major equipment.

YANG Yihao

Position: Researcher, College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University

Contributions: Dr. YANG Yihao explored the first three-dimensional optical topological insulator at the experimental level, developed on-chip communication based on terahertz topological photonics, and discovered spin-1 quasi-particles in topological physics.

SHI Yi

Position: Researcher, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Contributions: Dr. SHI Yi made tremendous contributions to research into the infection process of major viral infectious agents, such as influenza, the Ebola virus, the Zika virus and the Lassa virus, by integrating structural biology and cell biology.

He obtained his bachelor’s degree at Zhejiang University College of Life Sciences in 2006.

ZHUGE Qunbi

Position: Associate Professor, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Contributions: Dr. ZHUGE Qunbi made outstanding contributions to promoting the construction of ultra-large-capacity optical communication systems and flexible and intelligent optical networks.

He obtained his bachelor’s degree at Zhejiang University College of Optical Science and Engineering in 2009.