More youths answer Xi's call in science

Bold innovation

Yao Rui, the researcher behind FAST's feed cabin, said that at the age of 28, two years after joining the team, she was tasked with creating the "pupil" of the "Sky Eye", a cabin that would be suspended 140 meters above the instrument's reflective surface.

Yao spent the next two years traveling between Beijing and Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, to attend workshops and meetings on the project.

Some of her most challenging tasks involved downsizing the cabin's weight from 34 to 30 metric tons, while preserving most of the internal systems and leaving enough room to fill it with as much intricate and sensitive equipment as possible.

Yao's solution was to change the frame of the cabin from a cylindrical to a diamond-shaped structure. The redesign was bold and almost seemed counterintuitive, but later testing revealed that it worked perfectly.

"Encountering a problem is the least of my worries, because wherever there is a problem, there is an opportunity to conduct further research," she said. "As a young scientist, I am lucky to align my personal passions with the needs of the nation, so I can improve and grow together with the country."

Sun Jinghai, 38, said he had spent the last 15 years at FAST perfecting and protecting the giant machine. This ranged from creating new control systems to installing lightning protection equipment on the telescope's six supporting towers.

Nan often stressed that FAST not only needed to be precise and sensitive in its applications, but it should also be beautiful to look at. "He expected nothing less of an instrument of national significance," Sun said.

"I devoted 15 years to FAST, and, in return, FAST helped me grow, expanded my knowledge and expertise, and rewarded me with confidence as I overcame numerous obstacles and setbacks," he added.