On February 13, a special doctoral dissertation defense was held at the National Graduate College for Elite Engineers (NGC) at Southeast University. Zheng Hehui, an engineering doctoral student jointly trained by Southeast University and CCCC Second Harbor Engineering Company Ltd., successfully passed his practice-based dissertation defense with his intelligent construction technology for prefabricated steel reinforcements, which has already been implemented in several major domestic bridge projects. This marks the first case in Jiangsu Province of applying for a doctoral degree based on practical achievements since the implementation of the new Degree Law.
Unlike other doctoral students, the "first hurdle" of Zheng Hehui's defense was set on the banks of the Yangtze River. On January 4, prior to his regular pre-defense, he completed the "additional test" of his practical achievement evaluation on-site at the Changtai Yangtze River Bridge. Facing the experts, Zheng confidently pointed to the world's largest-span cable-stayed bridge and said, "We build bridges just like playing with building blocks." In traditional bridge construction, tens of thousands of heavy steel bars rely on manual tying by workers at high altitudes. Zheng's achievement transforms loose steel bars into "giant blocks" that are prefabricated in factories and assembled on-site. Modular steel blocks are precisely formed in the workshop, transported steadily to the bridge site via roads, assembled at low positions under the bridge, and then hoisted and installed integrally by large cranes. Zhang Hong, Chief Scientist of CCCC Second Harbor Engineering, stated that this system reduces the number of high-altitude workers by more than 60%, shortening a process that previously took four days to as fast as one day.
"How does modular design adapt to different bridge tower shapes?" "During road transportation and integral hoisting, how do you ensure that the giant steel modules do not deform and lose precision?" At the defense site on the 13th, Wang Jingquan, Vice President of Jiangsu University, successively raised key questions, hitting directly at the core. Zheng Hehui responded calmly with engineering examples, winning high praise from the evaluation experts.
"This achievement closely meets the needs of the industry, truly writing the thesis on the vast land of our motherland," said Yu Xiangjun, Deputy Chief Engineer of China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co., Ltd., echoing the consensus of the evaluation experts. Liu Jiaping, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Chief Professor of Southeast University, believes that this achievement promotes the transformation of steel construction for ultra-high bridge towers towards industrialized intelligent construction, having reached an outstanding level.
The new Degree Law clearly stipulates that practical achievements can also serve as an important basis for applying for a degree. This proactive exploration by Southeast University sets an example in the reform of breaking away from the "paper-only" evaluation criteria. A relevant official from the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education stated that this is a landmark event in the reform of master's and doctoral engineering education in Jiangsu. In the future, a replicable and scalable model should be formed to cultivate more elite engineers for the nation who are rooted in the front lines and capable of tackling tough challenges.
As an explorer in the first batch nationwide and the first in Jiangsu to apply for a doctoral degree with practical achievements, Zheng Hehui's practice has also attracted the attention of international top-tier journals such as Nature. In an issue published on February 5, the journal commented that this "demand-pulled, practice-driven" cultivation method is expected to promote the transformation of China's engineering education from a "discipline-oriented" to an "industry-oriented" approach.
