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An interview with New World Times (新世界时报)

Zhigang Suo's picture

The following interview appeared in New World Times (新世界时报)on 23 February 2007.

特约编辑:弥递雅

(以下简称):锁志刚教授您好!首先非常感谢您接受我的采访。我是从ISI科学论文引证系统知道您。2002年8月各个领域的统计中,论文引证最多的文章有你和(John Hutchinson)教授的论文。据统计您的论文当年被引用达三百多次,目前已经达到七百多次。您能否给我们一些关于您的背景介绍?

锁志刚教授:我在国内学的是应用力学,就是将牛顿力学用在结构上,如桥梁、飞机、建筑物等。如纽约的世界贸易中心大楼被飞机撞了以后,它不是马上倒塌,而是过了一个小时才倒下来, 为什麽?力学就可以研究它是如何倒下来的。另外如桥梁,如果时间长了或者震动得利害,就会断塌。飞机是如何飞行的,它的翅膀是否会断掉。所有的这些现象中,有两个关键词,一个是结构,另一个是材料。东西坏不坏跟这两项都有关系。材料是金属的、陶瓷的还是塑胶的?结构是什么样子?是建筑物、桥梁、还是飞机?力学最近发展到研究很小的结构。我自己做的比较多的是计算机的芯片中的力学问题。芯片的结构很复杂,里面有薄膜、还有很细的导线。材料会热胀冷缩。制造芯片的时候,一般都是五百度以上。芯片又是有很多材料组成,有金属、陶瓷、半导体、塑胶。从五百度降低到室温,每个材料热胀冷缩的程度不一样,这样芯片里就有了力,这个力控制不好就会造成破坏。芯片里边的导线都很细,有的比细胞还要小一千倍。所有的导线都要载电流。由于导线很细,电流的密度非常之高。电流把原子从导线的一端输送到另一端,就会在导线一端造成空洞或在另一端把导线撑破。芯片上有很多力学问题,这也都是目前我所做的力学问题。

 

编辑:目前你的研究组在世界上对芯片的研究处于一个什么样的位置上?你们研究组是开创性的还是其它研究组也做这方面的研究?

锁志刚:芯片可研究的问题和角度很多。世界上的各大公司如因特尔、IBM、AMD等都在研究这方面的问题。我们在学校里面做的,一般就是与工业界合作。学校也不止哈佛这一家。麻省理工、斯坦福、布朗等一些大学都有人在做。每个人做的手段和方法不一样,研究的内容也不一样,很难说谁在领先地位。我们在做关于各种各样的破坏机制。我们主要研究各种现象,看力是如何造成破坏的。我们把数学和力学的手段应用到芯片里。比方说,我们会用计算机程序研究一些现象。有些程序是现成的,有些需要我们自己编。如何解释计算结果十分重要。我们需要通过计算和建立模型来搞清楚每个现象如何发生。芯片只是我们研究工作的一个方面。我们也研究一些基础问题,比如原子在晶体表面的运动及电场引起的材料变形。

 

编辑:您原来在国内学的是大物体的结构力学,那么为什么到这边来以后,转变成做小物体的结构研究呢?

锁教授:我八十年代在哈佛做研究生。八十年代之前,研究金属材料的机械性能非常流行。用多少力可以把一个东西拉断,测量出一些数据以后,就可以应用于设计大的结构上。新的方向开始的时间不是很明确, 但大约从八十年代起,随着计算机和各种电器的广泛应用,结构力学的研究转向材料里面的微小结构。工业材料大多是复合材料。东西断了,那是分子分开了。为了增加强度及韧度,往往需要用两种或更多种材料制成复合材料。比方说,中国农村用土坯盖房,土坯里掺有稻草,这是最原始的复合材料。橡胶、树脂、碳纤维等也可以制成复合材料。它们和我们当今做的微小结构复合材料有许多共性。

 

编辑:说到前面提到的这篇文章,文章在2002年就被引证了三百多次,现在已有七百多次。可以把这篇论文的研究成果、意义及它的应用价值给大家介绍一下吗?

锁教授:我1989年博士毕业,这篇文章写于1990年。我那时还很年轻,发表文章对我很重要。我导师是一个很好的人,愿意在各方面帮助我。于是我们合作写这篇文章,我写一半,他写一半。这篇文章是在我自己博士论文的基础上加了一些新的东西。我们非常详尽的概述了我们当时所作的研究领域。文章中基础的东西,以前的文章都有,我们把它们梳理了一下。另外我们还加了很多新的内容。结果这篇文章非常成功,不但内容详尽,还有很多图表,公式。作这方面研究的人看了后就不需要分别到其他人的文章里再找资料。工业界的研究人员看了以后,也认为非常有指导意义。微电子技术发展很快,在发展过程中工业界积累了很多的问题。文章是九十年代初写出来的,到九十年代中我就认识了很多作这方面的研究人员。我的一些学生、合作者到工业界去了。工业界的研究人员很少发文章,但他们用学术界里面他们能用上的科研成果。工业界一用,这个工作的重要性就体现出来了。由于这篇论文写得非常详尽,无论从方法上、理论上对工业界都有应用。我很幸运有机会写这篇文章。

 

编辑:从这里就可以看出来,一个人的成就和他的导师及其在这个领域的权威性是有很大关系的。

锁教授:是的。但这篇文章的广为引证从另一个方面体现了理论研究对应用的重要性。这篇文章有多少实用价值,至少当时我自己不知道。一篇文章是否有意义要很多年以后才看得出来。许多人在前面做了很多基础的东西,后来这些基础的东西变得这么重要,完全出乎意料。我们的工作起了一个从基础研究到工业应用的桥梁的作用。

 

编辑:从童年到出国,您能否简单地作些介绍。如当年中小学打得基础、包括对科学的兴趣等,它们对您现在成就有什么帮助?

锁教授:我的父母原来是西安交通大学的英文教授。小时候他们教我英文,我不感兴趣。1976年四人帮倒台,我刚上中学。初二的时候,我参加了数学竞赛,还不错,拿了个名次。后来就多次参加数学竞赛,拿过很多的名次,直至在西安交大读书时得了陕西省高校数学竞赛第一名。这些数学竞赛对我后来继续学业有很大的帮助。考大学选专业时,我自己没有想法,父亲带我咨询了当时交大的一位副校长。他推荐我学力学。我父母认为只要在交大读书就可以,没有想让我报考外面的学校。所以我第一志愿就报了西安交大。力学专业西安交大在全国名列前茅。我1985年本科毕业,被推荐上了研究生。当时力学系的系主任是我在西安交大读研究生时候的导师。他希望能把西安交大力学系最好的学生送到美国最好的大学深造,于是他鼓励并推荐我到哈佛读博士。

 

编辑:可以谈一下你到美国求学的经历、以及对中美两国研究生、及老师的比较吗?

锁教授:我在国内西安交大读研究生时的导师非常强。我从本科开始,就遇到了很多很好的老师,不论是教学还是研究。他们的科研态度、学问功底等都很强。我1986年来哈佛,进工程系师从John Hutchinson。在哈佛读博士要修满12门课。第一年要修八门课。作业很多,老师教得也很深。我头8门课学得很累,主要是语言障碍。上课除了跟力学有关的,其他的基本上听不懂,都要回来看书。读书本来就比听来得慢,再加上是英文的东西,所以学得极辛苦。我在国内虽然力学学得比较好,但主要学得是结构力学;在美国学得是材料、微小结构等,新术语很多,上课就听不懂。在国内没学过的课程,过来学就是很大的挑战。但我的成绩最后基本上都是A,好像只有一个A减。修完头一年的8门课我就开始跟导师做科研。我做了一年多的研究,到了89年春季答辩,总共在哈佛不到三年。

 

编辑:毕业之后您到加州大学圣塔-芭芭拉分校做了八年的工作,这中间有什么体会?

锁教授:我在加大圣塔-芭芭拉分校受到两个系的聘用,机械系和材料系。我选择做材料方面的研究是由于Tony Evans教授。那时材料系成立不久,系主任就是Tony Evans。他是我导师的合作者,我通过导师也和他有一些合作。Evans教授是材料学方面的权威。做教授要独立开创局面,我一开始难以适应。头一两年非常辛苦。一大堆的要做的工作不想做,尤其是以前从未有过的行政工作。刚开始也有些好高骛远。后来就慢慢有了经验, 工作各方面就顺利起来。我给自己订了基本的原则:要做和别人不一样的东西,要做又创新的东西,不能再重复读博士期间的东西。于是我就开始做与电子和电子材料有关的力学和材料学研究。这是较早开始用力学的原理和方法来研究芯片的结构的研究工作。我开始作这方面的研究也是碰巧。当时IBM的人看到我在做薄膜。薄膜在很多地方都可以用。在工业界,你做芯片和你把芯片粘到什么地方是完全不一样的。IBM有个人听说了我,就请我去讲座,并且想聘用我,问我可以接受什么样的条件。我说还是愿意呆在学校里。通过这次访问,我了解到电子迁移。我就觉得这也是力学的问题。还写了几篇文章,拿了些项目。当时做了很多,也学了很多东西。通过这个研究认识了许多工业界的人。

 

编辑:那么这么说您是最早应用力学的方法,对计算机芯片的结构进行研究的。而且还在不断的推进这方面的研究。

锁教授:算是比较早的。另外几个方面的研究,也算是起步比较早。因为是作理论的,我也不需要太多资金,主要就是带学生。

 

编辑:这个开创性的研究对工业界或芯片制造业,有很重要的指导意义吗?

锁教授:我有意找工业界的人谈,看看他们有没有观察到有意思的现象;或者把我最近做得东西讲给他们听,看他们能不能用在什麽地方。我的力学基础比较扎实,加上我愿意和工业界的人沟通,所以我可以起桥梁作用,把新的力学方法和工业界新的问题联系在一起。

 

编辑:这期间我知道你还到德国作过访问科学家,在布朗大学做过客座教授,然后从1995年开始在加州大学圣塔芭芭啦分校做终生教授。这所学校可以说是加州较大的工业学校。在学校工作的这8年时间,总共有六七十篇文章发表。算起来基本上每一、两个月就有一篇文章发表。属于非常高产的。

锁教授:我是做理论的,有什么想法,就写下来,这样就有多了一篇文章。

 

编辑:在2002年,你和导师合作的那篇文章已被引证了三百多次。你的文章被引证了这么多次,有没有做过这样的统计,你所发表的文章平均每篇被引用了多少次?

锁教授:没有仔细的统计,有多篇被引证一百多次,三四百次的也有几篇。

 

编辑:如果一个人的文章发表,一般如果被引证五十次以上,就很不错了,如果十年内,一篇文章被引证一百多次以上,是非常了不起的。后来您到了普林斯顿大学,可以介绍一下那边的情况吗?

锁教授:我在普林斯顿工作了六年。在那边主要就是开了新的研究方向。我所在的系是航空与机械系,我还是做我的作力学老本行,只是研究的对象又加了纳米结构、材料表面上的原子活动,并在这时开始和校内其他系的人合作。

 

编辑:那么目前在哈佛的研究情况怎样?

锁教授:我在2003年到哈佛,现在还仍然在摸索阶段。这里和我在加州、普林斯顿都不一样。一方面由于我的年龄关系,不会像年轻的时候那样,一头扎进去,什么都不管,想做什麽就做什麽;另一方面,环境不一样,哈佛在工程方面不是很强,普林斯顿和加州大学这方面较好。我在哈佛基本上还是跟以前一样,与工业界合作。像在普林斯顿那样与学校其他系的合作不多。我们做理论的与人合作很重要,因为自己不做实验,所以就要与做实验的人合作。知道做出来的东西,对试验有什麽指导,这样的理论工作才有活力。如果合作者在学校以外,交流起来就很不方便。打电话和面对面讨论到底不一样。我目前有三个博士,二个博士后。我的学生基本上都是大陆来的。大陆有独立的力学系,学生在本科的时候就学很多力学。美国本科生力学学的很少,因为力学只是机械系里的一部分。

 

编辑:除了前面所讲的创新、合作之外,自己从求学到工作,总的来讲有还什么深刻的体会?

锁教授:很多东西,写的时候觉得不错,但后来却一般性;有的文章当时觉得不怎么样,但后来很多人都觉得很好、很有用。运气好在这里起很大作用。工业界用你的东西并不是因为文章写得多好,而是与他们所做得正好吻合。所以你在做的时候,一定要做好,做新的东西,并且不断地做。只要有几个能被用上,你就成功了。对我来说,关键是所作得东西是不是引起别人的共鸣,别人是否能用的上,用在什么地方。

 

编辑:来美国大约二十年,您对中美两国的文化上有什么看法?比如怎样面对一些苦恼。

锁教授:在加州大学的时候,有一个很深的体会:在国内我生活在校园里,邻居都认识,会互相串门,大家常在一起聊家常,我当时觉得很无聊。到了美国之后,同样在学校圈子里,但没有人和你闲谈聊天,又觉得太冷清。这时才体会到大家为什麽乐于聊家常。虽然学校里很开放,但能够交得很深的朋友很少。怎么克服呢,就交些中国朋友。另一方面是太太很重要,有什么事都可以和她说。我太太国内学英文,现在做会计。但家中主要的事情都是太太在打点。

 

编辑:您在中国担任长江学者,在培养学生方面能否谈一下?

锁教授:国内机会很多,有些教授可以拿很多科研基金。在我看来,以后的二十年中国一定会出现很多优秀的人才。当然,与国内搞合作不容易,大家兴趣不一样,相距也很遥远,所以现在还没有在国内带学生。我回去的时间很短,所以还只是挂个名。

 

编辑:我们知道申请研究经费很难,实际上是需要研究的东西能够在社会上应用或者产生经济效应,那么对年轻学者申请经费方面您有什么建议?

锁教授:这个说不好。我开始的时候拿了很多项目,而现在也有被打回头的。主要是要大胆做新东西。想清楚要做什么东西,为什么要做,想清楚之后就去申请项目,一次不行,下次再来。

 

编辑:我了解到您的孩子们都很优秀,有一个儿子还在钢琴比赛中,夺得新泽西州和全美东部地区第一名。对孩子的培养,有些什么经验?

锁教授:家里主要是太太在管。一方面,孩子自己天赋比较好,另一方面,太太管得紧一些。有时候甚至会因此和大儿子关系搞得很紧张。现在好多了。遇到什么问题,还是多以鼓励为主。只是要告诉他们,不要投机取巧,要老老实实做人。两个儿子都比较聪明,他们尽管有时候听了不耐烦,但是至少知道父母在说什么。他们如果说做什么事成功了,我们当然很高兴;如果没有成功,我们会找原因,而不是说孩子太笨什么的。我和大儿子会一起做数学。在他不到十二岁的时候,他对数学很有兴趣,我就每天花个一小时教他。现在他数学学的很好。今年被麻省理工和哈佛都录取了,最后去了哈佛,目前专业还没有定。他还没搞清楚他要学什麽。在这个问题上,我不发表意见,孩子自己只要愿意学,那就不用担心,学什麽都行。各方面条件都不错,就看他自己了。

 

编辑:目前,据统计,在美国的华人已有240万-300万,占美国总人口的1%,华人社区的活动经常参加吗,除了学术界,对华人有些什么想法?

锁教授:过节的时候,朋友之间会互相走访一下。现在各行各业里都有华人,而且都做得不错,我想华人社会逐渐壮大只是时间问题。中国本身就开始强大,所以这也给华人提供了更多的机会。

 

编辑:那么您平时有什么爱好?生活如何调节?

锁教授:主要是读书,什么都喜欢读,除了武侠小说,其他都读。阅读材料主要是英文的,因为英文的东西会新一些。博客也是今年才开始的。以前都不知道怎样上网。我的小儿子电脑很好,从他那里知道网络。我和一个学生也开了一个网站(iMechanica.org)试图把世界各地做力学的人都联系起来,利用互联网推动力学的发展。

 

编辑: 来美国二十年中的体会,最后可以用几句话给我们概括一下?

锁教授:老老实实做人,实实在在做事。这与做事要有创新,实际上是不矛盾的。机会没有来的时候,自己要做好准备,机会来了才能抓住。把自己的事情做好。

 

编辑:非常感谢您能接受我的采访,祝您在以后的事业中,取得更大的成功!

Comments

Zhigang,

 

Enjoyed reading the piece, and can't help sharing it with my students/associates who read Chinese...:) 

Rui Huang's picture

RH

Henry Tan's picture

2002年 cited 312 times (by January 2002) 的牛paper是(http://imechanica.org/node/587#comment-1558)
J.W. HUTCHINSON, Z. SUO, MIXED-MODE CRACKING IN LAYERED MATERIALS. ADVANCES IN APPLIED MECHANICS, 29, 63-191 (1992).

纽约的世界贸易中心大楼被飞机撞了以后,它不是马上倒塌,而是过了一个小时才倒下来。我们在想搞一个更牛的,撞了也不倒,反把飞机反弹回去。

最初知道这江湖上的 Z. Suo 姓锁名志刚是在做毕业设计的时候. 有一次见到导师杨卫桌上有封信,是用中文手写的,署名为锁志刚。当时我在做原子-连续介质的宏微观模拟,并未太注意他的文章。

以后知道这江湖上的两大牛人,黄永刚和锁志刚,都为刚。刚即是韧与强。一个永远,一个立志,都在搞力学。非吾等所能比。

杨卫的不少聪敏弟子去了他那里。从未见过此君。有次想找个postdoc工作做做,问他,好象是说暂时没有这个机会。因此也错过了。

想找篇他的文章挑挑茬,现在还未看到。不过我相信所有人的文章都或多或少有错,指责出来觉得爽。

Henry Tan's picture

  

L. Roy Xu's picture

I read this article several times and believe Zhigang’s story is not just a story of a successful Chinese in the US. It is indeed an interesting story from an engineering student to an outstanding faculty. I hope some important parts could be translated into English so our graduate students, researchers, engineers and faculty might be beneficial from this short interview.  

老老实实做人,实实在在做事....

给我这种在国内读phd ,却一心想着朝国外跑的人 不啻是当头一棒

zishun liu's picture

The interview is very good story. I have shared this story with many my friends even some are not in the fields of Mechanics.

Liu's picture

非常好的故事, 将与家人共享。

我在MPI, Rühle 领导的系工作时,曾和TONY在TBC及其它涂层的研究课题有过几次讨论,

并了解到你和哈佛的工作。非常遗憾, 未能在Stuttgart相见。

庆幸的是我能够与另二位杰出的华人Mechanicians, 高华建, 黄永刚

有过几次讨论, 颇觉收益。遗憾的是华建也离开了德国。

祝美国的华人Mechanicians在以后的事业中,取得更大的成功.

Temesgen Markos's picture

I am so eager to read it if I find an English version.

非常好的访谈! "老老实实做人,实实在在做事。"

这句话让我想起了大家对陕西人的评价,可能陕西人老实吧,但这恰恰是问题的关键.

 

huang peng's picture

     when I am a young college student in XJTU,I usually listen to SUO Z's legend.In mechanic department of XJTU,Suo is the best graduate.We make suo as the model of graduate of Mechanic department of XJTU.

Ji Wang's picture

The interview is really an enlightment to students in Mechanics.  I have posted it to our students list and another Applied Mechanics site:

http://appmech.blog.sohu.com

 Hope more people can read it in China.

Henry Tan's picture

Dear Ji,

It is nice to see another mechanics blog with a lot of information. Keep working on it, and let more people know and join in.

MichelleLOyen's picture

The following is an English translation by Meredith Oyen.

The following interview appeared in New World Times (新世界时报)on 23 February 2007.

特约编辑:弥递雅 Interviewer: Mi Diya

(以下简称):锁志刚教授您好!首先非常感谢您接受我的采访。我是从ISI科学论文引证系统知道您。2002年 8月各个领域的统计中,论文引证最多的文章有你和(John Hutchinson)教授的论文。据统计您的论文当年被引用达三百多次,目前已经达到七百多次。您能否给我们一些关于您的背景介绍?

A: Professor Zhigang Suo, hello! First, thank you very much for agreeing to this interview. I know of you from the ISI paper citation system. In August 2002 in every aspect of the statistics, your paper with Professor John Hutchinson was the most cited. According to the statistics, your paper was cited more than 300 times that year, to now, it has already reached more than 700 times. Can you tell me a little about your background?

锁志刚教授:我在国内学的是应用力学,就是将牛顿力学用在结构上,如桥梁、飞机、建筑物等。如纽约的世界贸易中心大楼被飞机撞了以后,它不是马上倒塌,而是过了一个小时才倒下来, 为什麽?力学就可以研究它是如何倒下来的。另外如桥梁,如果时间长了或者震动得利害,就会断塌。飞机是如何飞行的,它的翅膀是否会断掉。所有的这些现象中,有两个关键词,一个是结构,另一个是材料。东西坏不坏跟这两项都有关系。材料是金属的、陶瓷的还是塑胶的?结构是什么样子?是建筑物、桥梁、还是飞机?力学最近发展到研究很小的结构。我自己做的比较多的是计算机的芯片中的力学问题。芯片的结构很复杂,里面有薄膜、还有很细的导线。材料会热胀冷缩。制造芯片的时候,一般都是五百度以上。芯片又是有很多材料组成,有金属、陶瓷、半导体、塑胶。从五百度降低到室温,每个材料热胀冷缩的程度不一样,这样芯片里就有了力,这个力控制不好就会造成破坏。芯片里边的导线都很细,有的比细胞还要小一千倍。所有的导线都要载电流。由于导线很细,电流的密度非常之高。电流把原子从导线的一端输送到另一端,就会在导线一端造成空洞或在另一端把导线撑破。芯片上有很多力学问题,这也都是目前我所做的力学问题。

Professor Zhigang Suo: In China, I studied applied mechanics, the use of Newtonian mechanics in structures, like bridges, airplanes, architecture, etc. Like when the World Trade Center in New York was it by airplanes, they didn’t immediately fall, but fell after an hour or so, why is that? Mechanics can help explain why they fell. Another example is bridges, like when after a long time or a strong earthquake, bridges collapse. How do planes fly, will their wings break. In these phenomenon, there are two crucial words: one is structure and the other is material. Whether things break is related to these two things. Are the materials metal, ceramics or plastic? What form does the structure take? Is it a building, a bridge or a plane? Mechanics have recently developed into studying very small structures. What I do most is work on the mechanical problems of microchips. The structure of microchips is very complicated, inside there are membranes, and also very fine wires. The materials can expand with heat and shrink with cooling. When manufacturing microchips, most of the time it is at more than 500 degrees. Microchips are also made up of a number of different materials: they contain metals, ceramics, semiconductors, and plastics. When going from 500 degrees to room temperature, the extent to which each material expands and contracts is different, this kind of microchip has a kind of strength, but if that strength is not controlled well it will break. The wires in microchips are very fine, some are a thousand times smaller than cells. All of the wires have to conduct electrical current. Because the wires are very fine, the density of the electrical current is high. The electrical current transports the atom from one end of the wire to the other, so the wire on one end can have holes or at the other end can be broken. In mircrochips there are a number of mechanics problems, so this is what I’ve studied recently.

编辑:目前你的研究组在世界上对芯片的研究处于一个什么样的位置上?你们研究组是开创性的还是其它研究组也做这方面的研究?

A: At the present, how does your research group rank in terms of international research on the microchip? Is your group an innovator or are there others doing this type of research?

锁志刚:芯片可研究的问题和角度很多。世界上的各大公司如因特尔、IBM、AMD等都在研究这方面的问题。我们在学校里面做的,一般就是与工业界合作。学校也不止哈佛这一家。麻省理工、斯坦福、布朗等一些大学都有人在做。每个人做的手段和方法不一样,研究的内容也不一样,很难说谁在领先地位。我们在做关于各种各样的破坏机制。我们主要研究各种现象,看力是如何造成破坏的。我们把数学和力学的手段应用到芯片里。比方说,我们会用计算机程序研究一些现象。有些程序是现成的,有些需要我们自己编。如何解释计算结果十分重要。我们需要通过计算和建立模型来搞清楚每个现象如何发生。芯片只是我们研究工作的一个方面。我们也研究一些基础问题,比如原子在晶体表面的运动及电场引起的材料变形。

Professor Suo: There are so many different questions and aspects to research when it comes to microchips. Large international corporations like Intel, IBM, AMD etc. are all doing research on these questions. What we do in the university most often is collaborate with the corporate world. There are also schools other than Harvard. MIT, Stanford, Brown etc. these schools all have people doing this work. Everyone’s methods and means are different, and what they are researching is different, so it is very hard to say who is the top group. We are working on every sort of failure mechanism. Our research focus is on each kind of phenomenon in which strength is broken. We use math and mechanics methods and apply them to microchips. For example, we will use computer programming to research some phenomena. Some programming is ready-made, and some we have to create ourselves. How we explain the results of our calculations is very important. We need to use calculations and set up models to better understand how each phenomenon occurs. Microchips are just one aspect of our research. We also research some basic questions, like the movement of atoms in crystal surfaces and how electric fields effect changes in materials.

编辑:您原来在国内学的是大物体的结构力学,那么为什么到这边来以后,转变成做小物体的结构研究呢?

A: In China you studied the structural mechanics of large objects, why is it that after you came here you changed to study the structure of small objects?

锁教授:我八十年代在哈佛做研究生。八十年代之前,研究金属材料的机械性能非常流行。用多少力可以把一个东西拉断,测量出一些数据以后,就可以应用于设计大的结构上。新的方向开始的时间不是很明确,但大约从八十年代起,随着计算机和各种电器的广泛应用,结构力学的研究转向材料里面的微小结构。工业材料大多是复合材料。东西断了,那是分子分开了。为了增加强度及韧度,往往需要用两种或更多种材料制成复合材料。比方说,中国农村用土坯盖房,土坯里掺有稻草,这是最原始的复合材料。橡胶、树脂、碳纤维等也可以制成复合材料。它们和我们当今做的微小结构复合材料有许多共性。

Professor Suo: I was a graduate student at Harvard in the 1980s. Before the 1980s, researching the mechanics of metallic materials was very popular. How much force would cause an object to break, then after surveying a certain amount of data, you could apply it to designing large mechanisms. It is not very clear when the new direction started, but it was around the 1980s, when computers and other electronics came into wide use, structural mechanics research turned to the structure of very small materials. Industry materials are mostly complex materials. When things break, the parts have split apart. In order to increase strength and pliability, it’s often necessary to use two kinds or even more materials to create complete materials. For example, in the Chinese countryside, people use dirt to build houses, in that dirt there is straw mixed it; this is the most basic of complex materials. Rubber, resin, carbon fiber etc. can also be included in complex materials. As we create very small mechanism of complex materials today, they are especially useful.

编辑:说到前面提到的这篇文章,文章在2002年就被引证了三百多次,现在已有七百多次。可以把这篇论文的研究成果、意义及它的应用价值给大家介绍一下吗?

A: Speaking of the articles that I mentioned earlier, and the fact that your article has been referenced more than 300 times in 2002, today already more than 700 times, can you introduce to everyone the value of some of the research outcomes, meanings, and applications?

锁教授:我1989年博士毕业,这篇文章写于1990年。我那时还很年轻,发表文章对我很重要。我导师是一个很好的人,愿意在各方面帮助我。于是我们合作写这篇文章,我写一半,他写一半。这篇文章是在我自己博士论文的基础上加了一些新的东西。我们非常详尽的概述了我们当时所作的研究领域。文章中基础的东西,以前的文章都有,我们把它们梳理了一下。另外我们还加了很多新的内容。结果这篇文章非常成功,不但内容详尽,还有很多图表,公式。作这方面研究的人看了后就不需要分别到其他人的文章里再找资料。工业界的研究人员看了以后,也认为非常有指导意义。微电子技术发展很快,在发展过程中工业界积累了很多的问题。文章是九十年代初写出来的,到九十年代中我就认识了很多作这方面的研究人员。我的一些学生、合作者到工业界去了。工业界的研究人员很少发文章,但他们用学术界里面他们能用上的科研成果。工业界一用,这个工作的重要性就体现出来了。由于这篇论文写得非常详尽,无论从方法上、理论上对工业界都有应用。我很幸运有机会写这篇文章。

Professor Suo: In graduated with my Ph.D. in 1989, and I wrote this article in 1990. At that time I was very young, so publishing was very important to me. My advisor was a good person, very willing to help me in every way. As a result, when we wrote an article together, I wrote half and he wrote half. In this article I expanded upon some of the foundational elements of my dissertation. We made an exhaustively detailed summary of our field of research at that time. The foundation of the article was in other articles in the past, but we organized it. We also added some new content. So the article was very successful, not only in terms of the exhaustive detail of the content, but also in using a great deal of charts and formulas. When people doing this kind of research read it the didn’t need to go off to other articles to find other information. After industry researches read it, they also thought it was extremely significant as a guide. Microelectronic technology developed quickly, as it was in the process of developing the industries accumulated a lot of questions. The article was written at the beginning of the 90s, and by the mid-90s I knew a number of people doing this kind of research. Some of my students, collaborators went into industry. Industry researchers rarely publish articles, but they use the results of scientific research conducted in the academic world. Once industry was using it, the importance became clear. Because it was written with so much detail, whether in terms of method or theory, it was applicable to industry. I was very luck to have the opportunity to write this article.

编辑:从这里就可以看出来,一个人的成就和他的导师及其在这个领域的权威性是有很大关系的。

A: From this it is easy to see that a person’s success and his advisor and authoritativeness in the field is very closely connected.

锁教授:是的。但这篇文章的广为引证从另一个方面体现了理论研究对应用的重要性。这篇文章有多少实用价值,至少当时我自己不知道。一篇文章是否有意义要很多年以后才看得出来。许多人在前面做了很多基础的东西,后来这些基础的东西变得这么重要,完全出乎意料。我们的工作起了一个从基础研究到工业应用的桥梁的作用。

Professor Suo: Yes. But another aspect of why this article is so widely cited shows the importance of theoretical research in applications. How useful this article was I really didn’t know myself at the time. Whether or not an article will have great meaning is something you can’t see until years after it is published. Many people before us conducted foundational research, and since then this research has become very important, completely unexpectedly. Our work provided a bridge between foundational research and industry applications.

编辑:从童年到出国,您能否简单地作些介绍。如当年中小学打得基础、包括对科学的兴趣等,它们对您现在成就有什么帮助?

A: Can you give us a simple introduction of your life from your childhood until you left China. Like the basics of your elementary and middle school education, including your interest in science, and how much this contributed to your current accomplishments?

锁教授:我的父母原来是西安交通大学的英文教授。小时候他们教我英文,我不感兴趣。1976年四人帮倒台,我刚上中学。初二的时候,我参加了数学竞赛,还不错,拿了个名次。后来就多次参加数学竞赛,拿过很多的名次,直至在西安交大读书时得了陕西省高校数学竞赛第一名。这些数学竞赛对我后来继续学业有很大的帮助。考大学选专业时,我自己没有想法,父亲带我咨询了当时交大的一位副校长。他推荐我学力学。我父母认为只要在交大读书就可以,没有想让我报考外面的学校。所以我第一志愿就报了西安交大。力学专业西安交大在全国名列前茅。我1985年本科毕业,被推荐上了研究生。当时力学系的系主任是我在西安交大读研究生时候的导师。他希望能把西安交大力学系最好的学生送到美国最好的大学深造,于是他鼓励并推荐我到哈佛读博士。

Professor Suo: My mother and father were originally English professors and Xi’an Jiaotong University. When I was young, they taught me English, but I wasn’t interested. When the gang of four fell in 1976, I had just started middle school. In my second year of elementary school, I had participated in a math competition and didn’t do too badly, I placed in the rankings. After that I participated in many math competitions, and got a number of awards for placing in the rankings, all the way until I got to Xi’an Jiaotong University to study and won first place in the Shaanxi Province higher education math contest. These math contests were very helpful to my later educational career. When it came time to selecting a university major, I had no choice, my father brought me to get advice from a XJTU vice-president. He recommended that I study mechanics. My parents only thought to have me study at XJTU, they never even considered having me try to test into other schools. So my greatest hope was to test into XJTU. The mechanics major at Xi’an Jiaotong University was among the best in the country. I graduated from my undergraduate course in 1985, and was recommended to start as a graduate student. At the time the mechanics department chairman was my graduate advisor. He wanted to send XJTU’s best students to America’s best university for advanced studies, so he encouraged and recommended me to go to Harvard for my Ph.D.

编辑:可以谈一下你到美国求学的经历、以及对中美两国研究生、及老师的比较吗?

A: Can we talk a bit about your experience studying in America, and have you compare American and Chinese graduate students and professors?

锁教授:我在国内西安交大读研究生时的导师非常强。我从本科开始,就遇到了很多很好的老师,不论是教学还是研究。他们的科研态度、学问功底等都很强。我1986年来哈佛,进工程系师从John Hutchinson。在哈佛读博士要修满12门课。第一年要修八门课。作业很多,老师教得也很深。我头8门课学得很累,主要是语言障碍。上课除了跟力学有关的,其他的基本上听不懂,都要回来看书。读书本来就比听来得慢,再加上是英文的东西,所以学得极辛苦。我在国内虽然力学学得比较好,但主要学得是结构力学;在美国学得是材料、微小结构等,新术语很多,上课就听不懂。在国内没学过的课程,过来学就是很大的挑战。但我的成绩最后基本上都是A,好像只有一个 A减。修完头一年的8门课我就开始跟导师做科研。我做了一年多的研究,到了89年春季答辩,总共在哈佛不到三年。

Professor Suo: When I was studying at Xi’an Jiaotong University the advisors were very strong. Starting from my undergraduate studies, I met many very good teachers, whether they were teaching or engaged in research. Their attitude toward scientific research and their academic backgrounds were all very strong. When I arrived at Harvard in 1986 and entered the engineering department, my teacher was John Hutchinson. To get a Ph.D. from Harvard I needed to take twelve courses. The first year I took eight courses. I had a lot of homework, and the teachers taught a lot of detail. I was so tired taking those eight courses, most importantly because of the problem of the language. When in class, other than what was connected to materials, the rest of it I really didn’t understand, I just had to go home and read the book. Of course, reading is slower than listening, and add the fact that it was all in English, and so studying was very difficult. Although when I was in China I did well studying mechanics, but I studied structural mechanics, and in America I was studying materials, minute structures etc., there was a lot of new terminology, so handling my studies was a major challenge. But in the end my grades were all A’s, I think there was only one A-. When I’d completed the eight courses in the first year, I started to do scientific research with my advisor. I conducted more than a year of research, until spring of 1989 when I defended, so the amount of time I was at Harvard was under three years.

编辑:毕业之后您到加州大学圣塔-芭芭拉分校做了八年的工作,这中间有什么体会?

A: After you graduated you went to the University of California Santa Barbara to work for eight years, what did you learn in this time?

锁教授:我在加大圣塔-芭芭拉分校受到两个系的聘用,机械系和材料系。我选择做材料方面的研究是由于Tony Evans教授。那时材料系成立不久,系主任就是Tony Evans。他是我导师的合作者,我通过导师也和他有一些合作。Evans教授是材料学方面的权威。做教授要独立开创局面,我一开始难以适应。头一两年非常辛苦。一大堆的要做的工作不想做,尤其是以前从未有过的行政工作。刚开始也有些好高骛远。后来就慢慢有了经验,工作各方面就顺利起来。我给自己订了基本的原则:要做和别人不一样的东西,要做又创新的东西,不能再重复读博士期间的东西。于是我就开始做与电子和电子材料有关的力学和材料学研究。这是较早开始用力学的原理和方法来研究芯片的结构的研究工作。我开始作这方面的研究也是碰巧。当时IBM的人看到我在做薄膜。薄膜在很多地方都可以用。在工业界,你做芯片和你把芯片粘到什么地方是完全不一样的。IBM有个人听说了我,就请我去讲座,并且想聘用我,问我可以接受什么样的条件。我说还是愿意呆在学校里。通过这次访问,我了解到电子迁移。我就觉得这也是力学的问题。还写了几篇文章,拿了些项目。当时做了很多,也学了很多东西。通过这个研究认识了许多工业界的人。

Professor Suo: At UC Santa Barbara I received offers from two departments, the mechanics department and the materials department. I decided to research the materials aspect because of Professor Tony Evans. At that time, the materials department was pretty new, and the department chair was Tony Evans. He was a collaborator of my advisor, and through my advisor I had also worked with him. Professor Evans is an authority on material science. As a professor, I had to independently initiate situations, and at first I had a hard time adapting. The first year or two were very hard. I had a big pile of work I didn’t want to do, especially because I’d never had to do administrative work before. When I first started, I bit off more than I could chew. Later as I slowly became more experienced, the work aspect started to go more smoothly. I established a basic rule for myself: if I wanted to do something different from other people, if I wanted to do something groundbreaking, then I couldn’t simply duplicate what I worked on as a Ph.D. student. As a result, I started to do mechanics and material science research related to electronics and electronic materials. This was an early start to using the theories and methods of mechanics to research microchip structure. As I started to research this aspect I encountered a coincidence. At the time, someone from IBM saw a membrane I was working on. Membranes can be used in a lot of places. In industry, the microchips I made and the microchips you attach someplace were completely different. Someone at IBM heard of me and asked me to go there to lecture, they also wanted to hire me and asked what kind of requirements I had. I said that I still preferred to stay in the university. After this interview, I learned about electron mobility. I thought this was a mechanics problem. After I wrote a few articles, I got a few projects. At the time I worked a lot and studied many things. Through this research I met a great many people in industry.

编辑:那么这么说您是最早应用力学的方法,对计算机芯片的结构进行研究的。而且还在不断的推进这方面的研究。

A: Then it seems that you were the first to use the method of applied mechanics to research microchip structure. Moreover you have unceasingly promoted this kind of research.

锁教授:算是比较早的。另外几个方面的研究,也算是起步比较早。因为是作理论的,我也不需要太多资金,主要就是带学生。

Professor Suo: I was relatively early. On some other aspects of research, I also started relatively early. Because I was doing theoretical research, it didn’t require a great deal of funding, the most important part was bringing in students.

编辑:这个开创性的研究对工业界或芯片制造业,有很重要的指导意义吗?

A: Did this groundbreaking research have an important impact guiding industry or in the manufacture of microchips?

锁教授:我有意找工业界的人谈,看看他们有没有观察到有意思的现象;或者把我最近做得东西讲给他们听,看他们能不能用在什麽地方。我的力学基础比较扎实,加上我愿意和工业界的人沟通,所以我可以起桥梁作用,把新的力学方法和工业界新的问题联系在一起。

Professor Suo: I intentionally sought out people in industry to talk to, to see if they have observed any interesting phenomenon, or I’d tell them about what I’d recently been doing, see if they have any use for it. My foundation in mechanics was fairly solid, and add to that the fact that I was willing to communicate with people in industry, so I could serve as a bridge, and bring together new methods in mechanics and new problems in industry.

编辑:这期间我知道你还到德国作过访问科学家,在布朗大学做过客座教授,然后从1995年开始在加州大学圣塔芭芭啦分校做终生教授。这所学校可以说是加州较大的工业学校。在学校工作的这8年时间,总共有六七十篇文章发表。算起来基本上每一、两个月就有一篇文章发表。属于非常高产的。

A: In this period of time I know you also went to Germany to interview scientists, served as a guest lecturer at Brown University, and then from 1995 became a tenured professor at UC Santa Barbara. This school is one of California’s larger industrial schools. Working there for eight years, you’ve published a total of 60-70 articles, which comes out to publishing an article every month or two. That’s a very high yield.

锁教授:我是做理论的,有什么想法,就写下来,这样就有多了一篇文章。

Professor Suo: I work on theory, so if I have an idea, I just write it out; this way it is possible to have a lot of articles.

编辑:在2002年,你和导师合作的那篇文章已被引证了三百多次。你的文章被引证了这么多次,有没有做过这样的统计,你所发表的文章平均每篇被引用了多少次?

A: In 2002, you and your advisor collaborated on that article that has already been cited more than 300 times. Having your article cited so many times, have you ever done this kind of calculation and determined the average number of times each of your articles is cited?

锁教授:没有仔细的统计,有多篇被引证一百多次,三四百次的也有几篇。

Professor Suo: I’ve never calculated it carefully, many have been cited more than 100 times, and there are a few that have been cited 300-400 times.

编辑:如果一个人的文章发表,一般如果被引证五十次以上,就很不错了,如果十年内,一篇文章被引证一百多次以上,是非常了不起的。后来您到了普林斯顿大学,可以介绍一下那边的情况吗?

A: If an individual’s article is published and it gets cited more than 50 times, then that’s not bad. If in ten years, an article is cited more than 100 times, then that’s really remarkable. Later you went to Princeton University, can you tell us about the situation there?

锁教授:我在普林斯顿工作了六年。在那边主要就是开了新的研究方向。我所在的系是航空与机械系,我还是做我的作力学老本行,只是研究的对象又加了纳米结构、材料表面上的原子活动,并在这时开始和校内其他系的人合作。

Professor Suo: I worked at Princeton for six years. The most important thing there was that I started on a new direction in my research. My department there was aerospace engineering and mechanics, and I also worked at my old field of mechanics, it’s just that in terms of research, I added nanostructures, atomic movement on the surface of materials, and at this time started collaborating with people in other departments at this school.

编辑:那么目前在哈佛的研究情况怎样?

A: So what is the current status of your research at Harvard?

锁教授:我在2003年到哈佛,现在还仍然在摸索阶段。这里和我在加州、普林斯顿都不一样。一方面由于我的年龄关系,不会像年轻的时候那样,一头扎进去,什么都不管,想做什麽就做什麽;另一方面,环境不一样,哈佛在工程方面不是很强,普林斯顿和加州大学这方面较好。我在哈佛基本上还是跟以前一样,与工业界合作。像在普林斯顿那样与学校其他系的合作不多。我们做理论的与人合作很重要,因为自己不做实验,所以就要与做实验的人合作。知道做出来的东西,对试验有什麽指导,这样的理论工作才有活力。如果合作者在学校以外,交流起来就很不方便。打电话和面对面讨论到底不一样。我目前有三个博士,二个博士后。我的学生基本上都是大陆来的。大陆有独立的力学系,学生在本科的时候就学很多力学。美国本科生力学学的很少,因为力学只是机械系里的一部分。

Professor Suo: I came to Harvard in 2003, and I’m still in the trial and error phase. It’s different here than at California and Princeton. One aspect is related to my age, I can’t be like when I was young, jumping in head first, not caring about anything, just doing what I want to do; another aspect is that the environment is different, Harvard is not that strong in engineering, Princeton and California are both better in this regard. At Harvard in the general sense I’m just like before, collaborating with industry. In a school like Princeton, there is not much collaboration between different departments. For those of us who are theorists, collaboration is very important, because we don’t do experiments ourselves, so we need to collaborate with people who conduct experiments. Knowing how the things we make guide people who conduct experiments, is what makes this kind of theorizing work have vitality. If the collaborators are outside the university, exchanging information can be really inconvenient. Talking on the telephone and meeting face to face in the end are quite different. I currently have three Ph.D. students and two Master’s students. My student are all from the mainland. Mainland schools have independent mechanics departments. When students are still undergraduates, they are already studying lots of mechanics issues. American students do not study a great deal of mechanics as undergraduates, because mechanics is only part of mechanical engineering department studies.

编辑:除了前面所讲的创新、合作之外,自己从求学到工作,总的来讲有还什么深刻的体会?

A: Aside from the points you’ve mentioned about innovations and collaborations, from the time that you started school to when you started work, generally speaking, have you had other particularly profound experiences?

锁教授:很多东西,写的时候觉得不错,但后来却一般性;有的文章当时觉得不怎么样,但后来很多人都觉得很好、很有用。运气好在这里起很大作用。工业界用你的东西并不是因为文章写得多好,而是与他们所做得正好吻合。所以你在做的时候,一定要做好,做新的东西,并且不断地做。只要有几个能被用上,你就成功了。对我来说,关键是所作得东西是不是引起别人的共鸣,别人是否能用的上,用在什么地方。

Professor Suo: For many things, when I write them I think they are pretty good, but later they turn out to be quite average; when I write some articles I think they aren’t anything special, but then later lots of people think them good, very useful. Good luck in this area starts to have a big impact. Having industries use your work is not because your articles are really well-written, but because it aligns well with what they’re working on. So when working, you really need to do good work, create new things, and work ceaselessly. IF you have a few points that are can be used, then you are successful. To me, what is crucial is whether my work can attract others’ attention, if they can make use of it, and where they can use it.

编辑:来美国大约二十年,您对中美两国的文化上有什么看法?比如怎样面对一些苦恼。

A: You’ve been in the United States around 20 years. What’s your opinion of Chinese and American cultures? How have you faced some of your annoyances?

锁教授:在加州大学的时候,有一个很深的体会:在国内我生活在校园里,邻居都认识,会互相串门,大家常在一起聊家常,我当时觉得很无聊。到了美国之后,同样在学校圈子里,但没有人和你闲谈聊天,又觉得太冷清。这时才体会到大家为什麽乐于聊家常。虽然学校里很开放,但能够交得很深的朋友很少。怎么克服呢,就交些中国朋友。另一方面是太太很重要,有什么事都可以和她说。我太太国内学英文,现在做会计。但家中主要的事情都是太太在打点。

Professor Suo: When I was at the University of California, I learned something valuable: in China, my life was inside the campus, I knew all my neighbors, we’d all chat with each other, everybody would talk about daily life, at the time I thought it really boring. After I got to America, I was similarly living on campus, but nobody talks or chats with you, so I found it too cold. It was then that I finally understood why everyone was so happy chatting about daily life. Although the campus was quite open, but my ability to find close friends there was very limited. To overcome this, I found some Chinese friends. The other side of this is that my wife was really important, I could talk about anything with her. In China my wife studied English; now she’s an accountant. But she also takes care of all the important stuff at home.

编辑:您在中国担任长江学者,在培养学生方面能否谈一下?

A: In China, you are a “Yangtze River Scholar,” can you talk a bit about how you guide students?

锁教授:国内机会很多,有些教授可以拿很多科研基金。在我看来,以后的二十年中国一定会出现很多优秀的人才。当然,与国内搞合作不容易,大家兴趣不一样,相距也很遥远,所以现在还没有在国内带学生。我回去的时间很短,所以还只是挂个名。

Professor Suo: There are lots of opportunities in China, a few professors can obtain lots of funds for scientific research. In my mind, twenty years from now lots of outstanding talent will certainly emerge in China. Of course, collaborating with people in China is not easy, everyone’s interests are different, and the distance between is very far, so I have not yet advised students in China. Each time I go back it is only for a very short time, so this is still just a title.

编辑:我们知道申请研究经费很难,实际上是需要研究的东西能够在社会上应用或者产生经济效应,那么对年轻学者申请经费方面您有什么建议?

A: We know that it is very difficult to apply for research funding, in fact what your research needs to have some kind of utility to society or yield economic benefits, so do you have any suggestions for young scholars applying for research funds?

锁教授:这个说不好。我开始的时候拿了很多项目,而现在也有被打回头的。主要是要大胆做新东西。想清楚要做什么东西,为什么要做,想清楚之后就去申请项目,一次不行,下次再来。

Professor Suo: I can’t really say. When I started I got many projects, and now some do get rejected. The most important thing is to have the courage to work on new things. Think clearly what you want to do, why you want to do it, and after thinking clearly go apply; if the first time is unsuccessful, then apply again.

编辑:我了解到您的孩子们都很优秀,有一个儿子还在钢琴比赛中,夺得新泽西州和全美东部地区第一名。对孩子的培养,有些什么经验?

A: I understand your children are all quite outstanding, you have a son that won first place for the state of New Jersey and for the entire Eastern region of the United States in a piano competition. With regard to raising children, what kinds of experiences can you share?

锁教授:家里主要是太太在管。一方面,孩子自己天赋比较好,另一方面,太太管得紧一些。有时候甚至会因此和大儿子关系搞得很紧张。现在好多了。遇到什么问题,还是多以鼓励为主。只是要告诉他们,不要投机取巧,要老老实实做人。两个儿子都比较聪明,他们尽管有时候听了不耐烦,但是至少知道父母在说什么。他们如果说做什么事成功了,我们当然很高兴;如果没有成功,我们会找原因,而不是说孩子太笨什么的。我和大儿子会一起做数学。在他不到十二岁的时候,他对数学很有兴趣,我就每天花个一小时教他。现在他数学学的很好。今年被麻省理工和哈佛都录取了,最后去了哈佛,目前专业还没有定。他还没搞清楚他要学什麽。在这个问题上,我不发表意见,孩子自己只要愿意学,那就不用担心,学什麽都行。各方面条件都不错,就看他自己了。

Professor Suo: My wife is in charge of things at home. On one hand, if children are naturally talented, that’s better, but on the other hand, my wife was fairly strict with them. Sometimes because of this our relationship with our eldest son became somewhat strained. It’s much better now. If they have problems, the key is still to encourage them. Just tell them, you can’t take advantage of people or be an opportunist, you need to be very honest in how you treat people. Both of my sons are quite smart, although sometimes they are impatient listening to us, but at least they know what their parents are saying. If they were to be successful doing something, of course we would be happy; if they weren’t successful, we’d look for the reason why, not say that they’re too stupid or some such. My eldest son and I did math together. Even before he was 12, he was really interested in math, so every day I spent an hour teaching him. Now his math is quite good. This year, he got into MIT and Harvard, in the end he decided on Harvard, but he hasn’t selected his major. He hasn’t decided what he wants to study. On this question, I don’t give opinions, if only the kids want to study something, then there is no need to worry, they’ll study well. He’s pretty good in a lot of areas, so it’s up to him.

编辑:目前,据统计,在美国的华人已有240万-300万,占美国总人口的1%,华人社区的活动经常参加吗,除了学术界,对华人有些什么想法?

A” At present, according to statistics, there are already between 2.4 million and 3 million Chinese in the United States, making up 1% of the U.S. population. Do you participate in any activities in the Chinese community, and other than in the academic world, do you have any thoughts on the Chinese?

锁教授:过节的时候,朋友之间会互相走访一下。现在各行各业里都有华人,而且都做得不错,我想华人社会逐渐壮大只是时间问题。中国本身就开始强大,所以这也给华人提供了更多的机会。

Professor Suo: On holidays, we’ll visit friends and they’ll visit us. Now, every field has some Chinese people in it, and they all do good work. I think the slow expansion of the Chinese community is only a question of time. As China has started to be stronger, the Chinese people have had many more opportunities.

编辑:那么您平时有什么爱好?生活如何调节?

A: What kinds of hobbies do you have? How do you keep your life balanced?

锁教授:主要是读书,什么都喜欢读,除了武侠小说,其他都读。阅读材料主要是英文的,因为英文的东西会新一些。博客也是今年才开始的。以前都不知道怎样上网。我的小儿子电脑很好,从他那里知道网络。我和一个学生也开了一个网站(iMechanica.org)试图把世界各地做力学的人都联系起来,利用互联网推动力学的发展。

Professor Suo: Mostly I like to read, I’ll read anything, except for Wuxia (Kung-fu) novels), the rest I’ll read. When it comes to reading information, most of them are in English, because the English materials are newer. The blog also started this year. Before, I didn’t know how to go online. My youngest son is good with computers, so I learned from him. A student and I started a website called iMechanica.org in order to allow the people who study mechanics all over the world to communicate with each other, so they can use their interaction on the site to promote the development of the study of mechanics.

编辑: 来美国二十年中的体会,最后可以用几句话给我们概括一下?

A: Having more than 20 years experience in the U.S., can you give us a few sentences to summarize your experiences for us??

锁教授:老老实实做人,实实在在做事。这与做事要有创新,实际上是不矛盾的。机会没有来的时候,自己要做好准备,机会来了才能抓住。把自己的事情做好。

Professor Suo: Treat people honestly, complete your work seriously. This is not in contradiction with suggesting that you do original work. When there are no opportunities, you have to get yourself completely prepared, so that when opportunities do come you can grab them. Do you own work well.

编辑:非常感谢您能接受我的采访,祝您在以后的事业中,取得更大的成功!

A: We’re extremely grateful to you for this interview, and wish you great success in all your future projects!

A great researcher!!

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