Lu Maikao is a postgraduate student of Grade 2022, majoring in Mechanical Engineering at the School of Mechanical Engineering and Electronic Information. When he first entered university, Lu Maikao embarked on a journey of e-commerce entrepreneurship with sincerity and passion. In his spare time, he used his earned income to travel around the world, taste delicious food, and make friends with like-minded people, so that he accumulated rich life experiences. The economic prosperity made him start to search for more meaning in life, so he devoted himself to preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination and finally successfully passed the entrance examination to China University of Geosciences, opening a new chapter in his life.
In scientific research exploration, Lu Maikao has expanded the breadth of scientific research through in-depth research and judgment, and successfully opened up a unique scientific research path through innovation from the application level. He read plenty of literatures, self-studied path planning based on artificial intelligence technology, and proposed for the first time to combine it with traditional multi-agent control, and independently designed a connection method between the two, achieving interdisciplinary innovation in the field of automation and robotics.
With this breakthrough, Lu Maikao published his first academic paper in a SCI journal in CAS Q1. During his postgraduate studies, he authored 8 academic papers, of which, 5 have been published (including 2 Top papers in CAS Q1, 1 Top paper in CAS Q2, 1 in CAS Q3, and 1 EI conference paper) and 3 are already submitted. He continues to search for the meaning of life in scientific research.
Original Intention as Firm as a Rock: “To be a Useful Person to Society”
“I just realized that my father's words and deeds have long been engraved in my bones.”
Lu Maikao came from an ordinary working-class family in Tongshan County, Xianning City, Hubei Province. His father was a civil servant who worked hard from the grassroots level, and his words and actions deeply influenced Lu Maikao’s growth. “When I was in elementary school, my father used to take me along on village errands ......” “My father applied for low-income support for the elderly living alone in the village, worked tirelessly to renovate dangerous houses, and at the end of the year, bought rice and oil at his own expense to give to poor households.” Even the warm and friendly tone in which his father answered the phone call from the elderly in the village was vividly remembered by Lu Maiqiu. In his impression, whenever anyone faced difficulties, his father would be the first to rush forward and help without hesitation.
At that time, Lu Maikao had no profound concept of "down-to-earth" and "people who were useful to society", but after seeing many families with relatively difficult economic conditions, he gradually realized that everything he had was not taken for granted, but rather the support of society and family. It was during this period of following his father that the seed of finding the meaning of life in dedication and responsibility was quietly planted in his heart, constantly taking root and sprouting, just waiting to break through the ground!
Like most confused teenagers, Lu Maikao followed the mainstream and chose the major of mechanical design, manufacturing, and automation because of its good employment prospects. He spent a semester calmly and without any waves; until winter vacation, the bored Lu Maikao suddenly had the idea of starting a business. “I am someone who cannot be idle, and once I am idle, I will struggle with what kind of life I really want and what is the meaning of my life? But these questions cannot be answered, so I can only find something keep myself from thinking about it.”
The most immediate thing that Lu Maikao, who just entered university, can think of is that a fulfilling life and stimulating sensory enjoyment may make people feel fulfilled. So he chose the e-commerce industry with low initial investment, low risk, and relatively free time without telling his family. Perhaps a newborn calf is not afraid of tigers. He traveled alone to factories in many places, researched the market, carefully selected reliable suppliers, and with sincerity and passion, truly earned his first bucket of gold in life.
Traveling in the United States
As time goes by, the e-commerce industry has been thriving. In addition to studying, Lu Maikao used the earned money to travel around, experience various cuisines, and make different friends. He indeed had many life experiences that his peers had never had before. However, material fulfillment did not allow Lu Maikao to find inner peace. “I began to realize that simple material enjoyment and sensory stimulation cannot fill the emptiness in my heart. I need to find the true meaning of life.”
On June 15, 2020, Lu Maikao was scrolling through his phone as usual when suddenly a news video caught his eye: Head Qi Fabao opened his arms and kept the enemy out of the country! This scene deeply shocked Lu Maikao, whose heart was extremely complex but also suddenly enlightened. The meaning of life should not be limited to sensory enjoyment and material pursuit, but should be found in dedication and responsibility. He resolutely gave up his e-commerce career and began to prepare wholeheartedly for the postgraduate entrance examination, hoping to constantly broaden his horizons and use the knowledge and skills he learned to help more people.
The Long Road of Scientific Research: Breakthrough from "0" to "1"
“Scientific research is not only about pursuing results, but also a responsibility and dedication to society.”
Lu Maikao has a clear goal: he wants to make greater contributions to society through scientific research. Through unremitting efforts, he was admitted to the Major of Machinery of School of Mechanical Engineering and Electronic Information, CUG; then he quickly adjusted his state and focused his energy on scientific research. By constantly challenging himself, Lu Maikao gradually achieved a breakthrough from "0" to "1".
Group photo with schoolmates (first from right, the third row)
Lu Maikao, who has just joined the team, was also worried because he did not have any academic output during his undergraduate studies and lacked theoretical and practical reserves in scientific research. However, these concerns quickly dissipated, and supervisor Ge Mingfeng provided him with careful guidance, support, and care. “Mr. Ge has created multiple opportunities for one-on-one discussions with us. What moved me the most was that he did not completely limit our research direction, but encouraged us to explore and innovate.” With the help of Mr. Ge Mingfeng, Lu Maikao gradually clarified his research direction: path planning and control of integrated multi-agent systems based on reinforcement learning.
This is a new interdisciplinary field that combines automation and robotics technology, full of unknowns and challenges. The first major challenge is how to open up a new path. After reading a large amount of literature, Lu Maikao found that the existing field of multi-agent control has become saturated. To make a breakthrough in just three years of master's degree study, it is necessary to innovate from the application level in a new way. For this purpose, through extensive research and academic reading, as well as self-study in the field of path planning based on artificial intelligence technology, he proposed a solution to introduce path planning technology into traditional control, in order to fill the research gap of lacking decision-making ability in most existing multi-agent control methods. This program was also highly recognized and praised by Mr. Ge Mingfeng.
The second major challenge is how to translate theory into practice. With doubled confidence, Lu Maikao quickly began the simulation experiment and writing of his first academic paper. “During that time, I spent almost every day in the laboratory until late at night. From conception to experimentation, countless failures, countless breakdowns.” He recalled. However, what made him persistent was not only the pursuit of realizing his life value, but also the strong support from two teachers, Mr. Ge Mingfeng and Ding Tengfei.
A photo with Mr. Ge Mingfeng
As the leader of the team, supervisor Ge Mingfeng is like a guiding light, clarifying the overall direction for Lu Maikao. Mr. Ding Tengfei, on the other hand, tirelessly helps to perfect every detail, whether it is the logical structure or language expression of the paper. “I would happily share my progress with Mr. Ge once I made it, and even at the busiest times, he would seamlessly guide me to revise the paper together until 1:30 in the morning.” Every time he recalls, Lu Maikao's heart is filled with admiration and gratitude. Good teachers are hard to come by, let alone how fortunate he is to have met two of them.
A photo with Mr. Ding Tengfei
As far as he could remember, Mr. Ding Tengfei has always been a kind and amiable-looking teacher, and Lu Maikao has hardly ever seen him lose his temper, even if he made mistakes with his peers and even if he often bothered him. “Once, I had a sudden inspiration in the middle of the night and sent a message to Mr. Ding without thinking. To my surprise, he called me back immediately and discussed it with me for a full hour.” Similar scenes have occurred more than once or twice. Under the patient guidance of Mr. Ding, Lu Maikao’s first paper was revised more than 15 times, lasting for 2 months.
Despite the fact that the paper was well-crafted and had been guided unreservedly by two teachers, Lu Maikao, who has never published a paper before, believes that it can only be published in one journal in Q2 of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. After reviewing the entire text, Mr. Ge firmly believed that the level of the paper was sufficient to meet the standards of Q1, so he constantly persuaded and encouraged Lu Maikao to submit it to Q1. In the end, Lu Maikao’s first paper was not only accepted by IEEE Internet of Things Journal (Top in Q1 of the Chinese Academy of Sciences), but also received high praise from the reviewers.
“Mr. Ge always provides me with scientific research ideas from a macro perspective, while Mr. Ding helps me improve every detail at the micro level. Their wisdom and experience have helped me avoid many detours in scientific research.” From that moment on, Lu Maikao truly felt the teachers' concern for him and became more determined to pursue scientific research.
So far, Lu Maikao has written a total of 8 academic papers, but the most memorable one for him is still the first paper. “I am very grateful to Mr. Ge and Mr. Ding for their dedicated help during my graduate studies. Without them, I would not have been able to achieve today's results. I will never forget the days when I worked tirelessly on scientific research with the two teachers.”
For the Future: Standing on a Higher Platform to Contribute More Power
Lu Maikao’s master program is coming to an end, but his pursuit of the meaning of life has never ceased. He plans to pursue a doctoral degree and further delve into the research direction of civil aviation aircraft engines, hoping to help promote technological breakthroughs through his own research and bring domestic large aircraft to the benefit of the whole nation. Afterwards, whether continuing to engage in scientific research in the future or in any job position, he hopes to help more people through his own efforts and abilities.
Lu Maikao's experience of pursuing the meaning of life is ordinary yet extraordinary. On our path of growth, we always face many temptations and confusion. Only by breaking through the fog of material and sensory enjoyment, finding direction in dedication and responsibility, can life have a solid foundation.
Lu Maikao’s message: “I hope that the students at CUG can aspire to find meaning in the dedication and responsibility of life, and write their own colorful chapters of life!”
