Zhang Wei

Zhang Wei, born on May 22, 1913, in Beijing, was from a family of tax officials. His father was a student at the Old Imperial University of Translation and later worked at the Tax Bureau in Anyang County, Henan Province, while also serving as a family tutor. Zhang Wei's father passed away two years after his birth; the family’s livelihood largely depended on his father's savings and his elder brother’s wages, and their economic situation was relatively difficult.

In 1918, Zhang Wei started elementary school in Beijing. In 1929, he was admitted to Beijing No. 4 High School, and later transferred to the preparatory department at Beiyang University in Tianjin. In 1933, he gained admission to Tangshan Transportation University (now Southwest Jiaotong University) in the Civil Engineering Department with outstanding grades, showing a strong interest in mathematics and physics, especially excelling in mathematics. During his university years, he performed excellently academically. Between 1933 and 1934, he authored a highly regarded paper exploring the mechanics principles in railway bridge standards.

In 1937, Zhang Wei arrived at Imperial College London, studying civil engineering under Professor Pipard, and obtained his degree after one year. Subsequently, he studied at the Civil Engineering Department of the Berlin University of Technology in Germany, under Professor Tetter, focusing on shell theory research. During his time in Germany, in 1941, he married Lu Shijia.

In 1942, Zhang Wei served as an assistant lecturer in engineering mechanics at the Berlin Institute of Technology, engaging in teaching and scientific research, including tunnel stress analysis and elastic wave petroleum exploration. In 1944, he completed his doctoral thesis with excellent results, pioneering the solution of stress states in ring shells under rotational symmetric loads on an international level.

After the war, Zhang Wei planned to return to China. In 1946, he resigned from his position as a research engineer at the Escher-Wys Machinery Factory in Marseille, France, and traveled via Saigon and Hong Kong back to Shanghai with his family. Upon returning to China, he taught successively at Tongji University, Beiyang University, and then joined Tsinghua University, where he lectured on materials mechanics and structural mechanics, also培养大量人才。

In 1952, Zhang Wei became the head of the Department of Civil Engineering at Tsinghua University. In 1954, he served as Director of the Tsinghua Construction Committee. He led the civil and water conservancy group in the national scientific planning project and participated in the ten-year scientific development plan, proposing that anti-blast and anti-earthquake research be included as key national development priorities.

During the Cultural Revolution, Zhang Wei temporarily停职, but resumed his work in 1977. In 1978, he participated in the formulation of the Eighth Five-Year Plan for science and technology development, serving as the executive deputy leader of the theoretical and applied mechanics group. From 1987 to 1990, he was responsible for the National Education Commission's Science and Technology Committee. He also served as the first president of Shenzhen University, promoting multiple educational reforms. In 1994, he was elected as one of the first academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He passed away on October 4, 2001, at the age of 88.

Zhang Wei’s scientific research mainly focused on the structural mechanics of circular shells. He achieved the first asymptotic solution for the stress state of ring shells under rotational symmetric loads, which has been applied in nuclear power plants and fast neutron breeder reactors. He received numerous honors, including the First and Third Class Science and Technology Progress Awards from the State Education Commission and the Chinese Academy of Engineering Science and Technology Progress Award. His academic writings, involving the teaching and theoretical development of engineering mechanics, made significant contributions to the advancement of engineering mechanics in China.