My name is Haolin Zhang, my story with CIOMP started in 2012. In 2012, I graduated college and decided to pursue my master’s degree at CIOMP. Initially, the reason I chose CIOMP to do my master’s degree was very simple, that I could still live in my hometown and go back home to visit my parents every weekend. Before I started my master’s degree, I didn’t even know what kind of research CIOMP did. Nevertheless, after I got into CIOMP, I gradually learned that my institute was doing cutting-edge research. I learned from CCTV news that the Shenzhou spacecrafts used technologies developed in my institute. I learned that China’s most advanced space telescopes were fabricated and assembled here. I also read the history of the institute, that we were the ones who developed China’s first laser, and the legendary stories about Daheng Wang, who was the founder of our institute. All these stories made me feel proud to be a member of CIOMP, the kind of pride that I would tell all my college friends every time I met them.

With this kind of pride in my heart, I officially started my life in CIOMP. During my first year in the institute, I mainly took courses, which were not easy. I would usually discuss the courses with my classmates after class, and strong friendships were established during these discussions. Of course, my friendships were not limited to classrooms. Apart from course discussions, we would save Friday nights for buffets, we would play football at the weekends, or talk about our future and dreams. The friendships were one of the most valuable assets I obtained in CIOMP.

In addition, I also met my mentor, who changed my life. After I finished my first year, I started my research in the lab and gradually had more interactions with my mentor – Dr. Zhenwu Lu. The most important thing I learned from him was that to be a good researcher, you need to stay curious and keep thinking. Until today, I still adopt the same mentality to do research.

After my master’s study, I decided to move abroad to Barcelona to pursue my PhD, mainly because of my curiosity. The story with CIOMP didn’t stop although I was 10,000 km away from Changchun. In 2019, I received a message from Ms. Hui Wang, she told me she would like to visit our lab in Barcelona for a CIOMP international collaboration project. After they arrived, I felt like meeting my old friends. Ms. Wang told me that CIOMP has a new gym which is much bigger than the one I knew. She told me that we had a new conference center which has already hosted one of the most prestigious international conferences. She also talked about the exciting new research progresses made in CIOMP. Later, I introduced my PhD mentor to her, and a delightful collaboration was hence established.

Now, as a postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins University, I still check the news for stories about CIOMP from time to time. I find more high-quality papers affiliated with CIOMP have been published in top scientific journals. Some of my friends whom I studied with are already assistant professors and are currently mentoring graduate students. My mentor has already retired, having mentored more than 2 dozen of students including me. The 2.5 years in CIOMP was the best time in my life so far, I obtained true friendship, I learned the skill to make a life, and I have gained something to feel proud of in my life. Now, CIOMP is celebrating its 70th birthday, I sincerely wish CIOMP prosperity.