Wang Yongqing, chief designer and top researcher at the Aviation Industry Corp of China's Shenyang Aircraft Design and Research Institute, during work. (Photo provided to China Daily)
Aeronautical aspiration
In his four decades at AVIC, the country's dominant aircraft maker, Wang has mostly kept a low-profile although he is the chief designer of several models of supersonic combat jets.
Born in February 1965 to a farming family in Dehui, Jilin province, Wang was one of the first among his contemporaries to see a plane in person. This was because his home and primary school were near an Air Force aircraft repair workshop.
"I would often see planes in the skies," he recalled. "I also heard many of my classmates talking about how their parents repaired planes at work. This was one reason that led to my interest in aircraft."
As a young boy, witnessing air defense measures at home and other places he asked his parents about them, and they told him about the "menace from the skies". "I gradually learned about the power of aircraft and consequently developed a personal interest in them," he said.
At the age of 17, Wang needed to select a university and major before the national college entrance examination that summer. He decided to study aircraft design at the Beijing Institute of Aeronautics, now known as Beihang University.
"I thought carefully and considered several factors," he said.
"First, I wished to study in Beijing. Second, I was sure that designing aircraft was what I wanted to do. And finally, considering my scores, the Beijing Institute of Aeronautics was not too difficult for me to apply to," he recalled.
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