EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW•人物專訪 2020 UMAGAZINE 22•澳大新語 52 脂，可以吸收自身倍數高達13,600倍 的吸水量，是之前世界紀錄的二至三 倍。「這塊吸水後的凝膠含水率高達 99.993%，是世界上含水量最高的物 質。」 求學路上波折重重 孫國星生於江蘇省淮安市，高中時屢獲 全市統考第一名。當年高考第一志願是 報讀清華大學最高分專業——自動化工 程，惜高考時臨場發揮失準比清華分數 線低了五分，後來入讀不在報考志願內 的北京師範大學化學專業。入大學時， 孫國星才17歲，他說當年心態未調整 好，大學前三年一直荒廢學業，成績幾 乎是全班倒數第一，「我當時一直否定 自己，覺得上學已經沒有希望。幸好大 三時碰到了我人生的第一位導師劉正平 教授，他把我拉進研究小組，讓我首次 接觸科研，畢業時我的論文還差點獲提 名為優秀本科論文。」 2004年大學畢業後，劉教授希望孫國星 留校讀研，惟他的英語和政治課不及格 令考研失敗。他於是返回家鄉，一邊在 一所職業學校教化學，一邊瘋狂複習英 文，考了三年才考上碩士班。回望這段 經歷，他說：「當時我只不過21歲，如 果拼一拼考上碩士，至少可能會改變命 conductivity. The third product is a super-absorbent resin, which can absorb up to 13,600 times its own weight of water; this is two to three times the previous world record. ‘The water content of this gel that has absorbed water reaches 99.993 per cent; you can’t find another substance with higher water content,’ says Prof Sun. Ups and Downs in His Student Years Born in Huai’an city, Jiangsu province, Sun almost monopolised the top spot in the city’s standardised examinations for high school students. When preparing for college, he selected Tsinghua University’s automation engineering programme as his first choice, which was the programme with the highest admission standard at Tsinghua University. Unfortunately, he fell short of the necessary admission marks by five points. He ended up studying chemistry at Beijing Normal University, which was not among his original choices for a college major. A 17-year-old young man who had just been denied admission to his favourite university to study a major of his choice, Sun felt completely disoriented and demoralised. As a result, he idled away his first three years in college, and sat firmly at the bottom of his class. ‘I was constantly doubting myself and everything I did, and I lost hope for my future,’ he says. ‘Fortunately, I met Prof Liu Zhengping, the first mentor in my life. He asked me to join one of his research groups, and gave me my first exposure to scientific research. By the time I graduated, my thesis was almost nominated for an excellent undergraduate thesis.’ When Sun graduated in 2004, Prof Liu encouraged him to pursue a master’s degree at the university. Sun took his advice, but failed the necessary tests in English and politics. So he returned to his hometown, teaching chemistry in a local vocational school while fervently studying English in his spare time. He took and failed the master’s entrance examination three times before he was finally admitted. Looking back, he says: ‘I was only 21 years old, but I knew I had to go all out and give it a try, because if I made it, at least I would have a chance to change my life.’ Soon after starting his master’s studies, and based on his outstanding research performance, Sun was recommended by his supervisor Prof Liu for a joint training programme conducted by the university and 孫國星教授在澳大開放日展示其發明的納米泡沫水泥 Prof Sun Guoxing demonstrates the nano-foam cement he invented on the UM Open Day
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