Yu Aihua is a member of the Communist Party of China and a 2021 doctoral student majoring in Materials Science and Engineering at the Institute of Engineering Technology, studying under researcher Lu Xin, and is mainly engaged in applied basic research on powder metallurgy titanium alloys. During her studies, she has published 8 SCI papers as first author or co-first author, including 7 papers in TOP journals; she has applied for 7 national invention patents as the first inventor other than her supervisor, 1 of which has been authorized; as project leader she won the First Prize in the national competition of the 17th "Challenge Cup" and the Second Prize in the Beijing division of the 8th "Internet Plus" competition, and she has won honors such as Outstanding Graduate of Higher Education Institutions in Beijing, Top Ten Academic Star of USTB, Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation, Outstanding Merit Graduate Student of USTB, Science and Technology Star, "Class of 1987 Alumni Fund" Innovation Individual and the Houde Diamond Scholarship.

Diligent Study and Keen Thinking: Building a Solid Foundation for Academic Growth

Yu Aihua upholds a rigorous and pragmatic scholarly attitude, delving deep into professional knowledge and continuously consolidating her academic foundation. Based in Materials Science and Engineering, she systematically studies professional theories, keeps broadening her academic horizons, actively studies machine learning, builds an interdisciplinary knowledge system and integrates diverse knowledge, developing solid professional skills through day-after-day accumulation and building a firm base for research innovation.

Dedicated Tackling: Scaling Peaks in Response to Demand

Yu Aihua adheres to the concept of serving the country through science and technology, focuses on the urgent demand of major equipment such as domestically produced large aircraft for low-cost, high-performance special-shaped titanium components, and carries out systematic research on key technologies such as the preparation of low-cost, high-quality titanium powder, data-driven design of new titanium materials and additive manufacturing of complex components. The related results have been applied in fields such as aerospace and national defense, and cooperative research has been carried out with units such as the COMAC Beijing Aircraft Technology Research Institute.

Learning Through Competition: Unifying Knowledge and Action to Hone Skills

Yu Aihua insists on the two-way integration of theory and practice, taking the initiative to step out of the laboratory and go to the arena of innovation and entrepreneurship, turning research results into real projects. In various innovation and entrepreneurship competitions, she coordinated all aspects of the projects throughout the process and led the team to repeatedly optimize plans and polish details. Her project "High-Strength, Low-Modulus Biomimetic Gradient Porous Pure Titanium Scaffold Material for Human Hard Tissue Replacement" won the First Prize in the national competition of the "Challenge Cup," and her project "High-Strength Titanium Biomimetic Bone Scaffold for the Repair of Human Hard Tissue Defects" won the Second Prize in Beijing in the "Internet Plus" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.

Shouldering Responsibility: Warming the Collective with Enthusiasm and Service

Besides devoting herself to research, Yu Aihua takes the initiative to shoulder collective work. While serving as the student head of laboratory safety, she assisted her supervisor in improving the safety management system and carried out regular safety inspections and skills training; while serving concurrently as the student head of finance for the team, she carefully handled guarantee work such as fund control, project liaison and materials coordination, fully supporting the orderly progress of research. At the same time, she actively participated in various academic exchanges and social practice activities of the university and IET, and attended the meeting between the President of the China Association for Science and Technology and university students as a representative of the university's innovation team, demonstrating the youthful style and sense of responsibility of USTB students in the new era.

Seven Years of Persistent Exploration: Reflections on Youthful Striving

Drawing on her experience in research and study, she summarized three profound reflections to share with young students:

Maintain a focused heart and devote yourself to study without slacking. Research requires enduring loneliness and calming the mind to think. Every subtle exploration and every repeated attempt on the road of research, through the precipitation of time and the accumulation of experience, will become a solid cornerstone for breakthroughs, innovation and the pursuit of dreams.

Keep a resilient heart and face difficulties head-on. Failed experiments, iterated ideas and optimized schemes are the norm in research tackling. Only by facing setbacks directly, not fearing challenges, summarizing experience through repeated trials and analyzing problems through in-depth review can one gradually grasp the essence and overcome difficulties.

Cultivate a deep sense of responsibility and anchor to demand while staying true to the original aspiration. Truly valuable research innovation is always based on the real needs of national development and industrial upgrading, demonstrating the value of research and fulfilling the responsibility of youth in solving technical problems and responding to the challenges of the times.