On September 22, hosted by the Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science as well as the State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex Systems (LTCS), and supported by the College of Engineering (COE) Alumni Association, the 60th anniversary celebration of the Peking University (PKU) mechanics discipline was grandly held at PKU Yingjie Exchange Center. Over four hundreds alumni returned to the Alma Mater for the grand celebration. Many distinguished guests, predecessors of the discipline, and friends from the mechanics departments of over 30 universities and institutes attended the ceremony. Professor Shiyi Chen, dean of COE and director of LTCS, presided over the ceremony.

Distinguished guests included PKU Former President Shisun Ding, PKU President Qifeng Zhou, Members of Chinese Academy of Science Yilong Bai, Lin Huang, Wenrui Hu, Baoyong Liu, Menglun Yu, Member of Chinese Academy of Engineering Chengwei Sun, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (CSTAM) Quanshui Zheng, and Vice Board Chairman of Zhou Peiyuan (P. Y. Chou) Foundation Rupin Zhou.

One of the discipline founders Yaosong Chen, Then-Secretary General of the Department of Mathematics and Mechanics Jianxiang Lin attended the ceremony along with current COE leaders.

The mechanics discipline was established in the Department of Mathematics and Mechanics at Peking University in 1952, as the first of its kind at that time, by Peiyuan Zhou ( P. Y. Chou), a deceased renowned theoretical physicist of China, and a former president of Peking University. A dozen scholars such as Min Qian, Linxiang Wu, Kaiyuan Ye, Yaosong Chen, Tiebao Dong, Ren Wang, Guangjong Zhou, and Tianfeng Sun were hugely involved in the discipline’s establishment and development. Based upon the discipline was founded the Department of Mechanics in 1979, which became the Department of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering after merging into the College of Engineering in 2006. In the past 60 years, over 5000 students graduated from the discipline, many of whom are now taking major responsibilities in all walks of life in China.

“In the past six decades, the discipline has made remarkable impact on the advancement of the nation’s economy, science and technology,” said President Qifeng Zhou congratulating on the celebration.

The morning’s celebration included a memorial video of P. Y. Chou, speeches from Yaosong Chen, alumni Dajun Wang (1952’), Lin Huang (1953’), Kefu Huang (1981’), an overview of the department’s updates in faculty constitution, teaching, scientific research and international exchange given by Department Chair Jianxiang Wang, speeches from alumni Baoyong Liu (1954’), Jing Fan (1983’), Wei Luan (1996’), and remarks from representatives of peer universities as well as current students.

In addition, the Mechanics Development Foundation of PKU was unveiled on the morning’s ceremony, which meets the alumni’s rising aspiration of supporting the department’s growth. The foundation intends to provide stipends, scholarships and research funds for the department students and teachers. Two alumni Lunan Wang and Changseng Wan donated 50,000 RMB and 10,000 USD respectively.

On the afternoon, three panel meetings, namely Alumni’s Advice on Career Development, Mechanics Education Forum, and Mechanics Research Forum were held parallel. Many alumni also visited the COE laboratories including Wind Tunnel Laboratory, Aerodynamics Laboratory and Solid Mechanics Laboratory.