On October 14, 2020, theLectures was held as scheduled. Professor Guo Wanlin, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, gave a lecture titled “My Experience and Research on Mechanics: The New Frontiers of Mechanics—Crossing Dimensions and Scales: From Engineering to Science.”

After Professor Ge Xin’s introduction, Professor Guo first described his work experience and research interests at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Then, he talked about the progress of science from Newtonian mechanics to engineering mechanics and to quantum physical mechanics. He pointed out that Newton was the pioneer who created the rational era of modern science.

Professor Guo pointed out that one of the challenges that people have to face in the 21st century is the contradiction between the increase of energy extraction and the gradual decrease in energy supply. In this regard, people in recent decades have intensified their research and development of new energy sources such as wind, water and solar energy. In particular, he mentioned water flow power generation and water potential effect.

Then, Professor Guo expressed his wish to pursue a scientific hotspot by developing hydrovoltaics in an original way. He shared his ambition as a teacher to use his expertise to lead students in science, build up confidence in teacher education, and contribute all his strength to the development of society.

At the end, Professor Guo gave detailed answers to the students’ questions. One student expressed his doubt that the prospect of biology, as a single discipline, may still be very good in its future development, especially for brain science. In response, Professor Guo said that brain science is a very important part of the life sciences and it involves the exploration of complex areas of the human brain, the understanding and development of neuroscience. The future research, he held, will focus more on the inter-dependence of various disciplines, and inter-disciplines will play an increasingly important role.

The lecture helped students expand their horizons.