Guo Yonghuai (also spelled Yung-Huai Kuo, ; April 4, 1909 – December 5, 1968) was a Chinese

aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

and

aerodynamics Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...

scientist.

Biography

Guo was born in

Rongcheng, Shandong Rongcheng () is a county-level city of the prefecture-level city of Weihai, at the eastern extremity of Shandong Province, China, looking out to the Yellow Sea in all directions but the west. History According to historical records, the Qin Shi ...

. He started his

undergraduate education Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

Nankai University Nankai University is a public university in Tianjin, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. Nankai University was establ ...

in 1930, transferred to the department of physics at

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

in 1933, and graduated from Peking University in 1935. He enrolled in an oversea program in 1939 and entered the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in Canada in 1940 and obtained a master's degree there. From 1941 to 1945, Guo studied compressible hydrodynamics at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

. After obtaining a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degree in aeronautics, he stayed there as a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

. From 1946, he became an associate professor and later, professor at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. Invited by

Qian Xuesen Qian Xuesen ( zh, s=钱学森; December 11, 1911October 31, 2009; also spelled as Tsien Hsue-shen) was a Chinese aerospace engineer and cyberneticist who made significant contributions to the field of aerodynamics and established engineering ...

, Guo returned to China in October 1956 and became the vice director of the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Guo was a founder of mechanics in mainland China and made significant contributions to mechanics, applied mathematics and aeronautics. In 1958, he helped found the

University of Science and Technology of China The University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) is a public university in Hefei, China. It is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and co-funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Education of the People' ...

and served as the chair of the department of Chemical Physics. Beginning in May 1960, Guo served as vice director of the Beijing Ninth Research Institute of the Second Ministry of Industry, and became a leader of China's atomic and hydrogen bomb projects. He led work in explosive mechanics, high-pressure physical property equations, aerodynamics, aeronautics, structural mechanics, and weapon experimental environment, and solved a series of important problems. In December 1982, China's Science Press published ''The Works of Guo Yonghuai''. Guo married the linguist Li Pei. They had one daughter. He died of a plane crash near

Beijing Capital International Airport Beijing Capital International Airport is the busier of the two international airports serving Beijing, the capital city of China (the other one being Beijing Daxing International Airport). The airport is located northeast of downtown Beijing ...

on December 5, 1968, when traveling from

Qinghai Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...

to Beijing. When crashing, he and his guard, Mou Fangdong, protected the data from being destroyed.

Awards and honors

In 1985, he was awarded a Grand Prize of National Science and Technology Advancement. In 1999, Guo won the Two Bombs, One Satellite Achievement Medal. In 2018, the asteroid 212796 Guoyonghuai was named in his memory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guo, Yonghuai 1968 deaths 1909 births Aerodynamicists Chinese aerospace engineers Cornell University faculty Educators from Shandong Engineers from Shandong Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences National Southwestern Associated University alumni Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in China Writers from Weihai Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1968 National University of Peking alumni Nankai University alumni University of Toronto alumni California Institute of Technology alumni