Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    NIU HANBEN, Shenzhen’s first academician with Chinese Academy of Engineering and the founder of the Optoelectronic Engineering College of Shenzhen University, died from cancer in Shenzhen on Monday at 76.

    A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at the Shenzhen Funeral Home in Shawan, Buji Subdistrict, Longgang District, the funeral arrangement committee said in a public notice yesterday.

    A commemorative notice by the university attracted nearly 30,000 views hours after the notice was released on an app and many students expressed mourning.

    “When I learned my tutor passed away Monday afternoon, I drifted away into memories of the years we spent together in the laboratory. He was the person who I respected most and influenced my life most,” a student said in a posting.

    Qu Junle, dean of the College of Optoelectronic Engineering of Shenzhen University, was Niu’s student for master’s and doctorate studies beginning in 1992.

    “Niu was a pure science researcher with a truth-seeking and pioneering spirit, devoted 50 years to science research and spent most of his time in laboratories. He was still tutoring students in his 70s and discussing research projects with his students while on the hospital bed,” said Qu in an interview yesterday.

    Qu said staying in laboratories was the happiest thing for Niu and he often spent around 14 hours a day with students in laboratories, even into his 70s.

    Born in 1940 in Shanxi and graduating from Tsinghua University in 1966, Niu worked in Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of Chinese Academy of Sciences for decades before he was transferred to Shenzhen University in 1999.

    Niu specialized in research of low-light-level night vision technology, super-fast image converter tube diagnostics and biomedical imaging technology. With more than 14 national awards, Niu successfully developed the nation’s first high-speed electrostatic focusing converter tube, which contributed to China’s national defense and high-tech development.

    Niu founded an optoelectronics research institute and then the College of Optoelectronic Engineering in 2006.

    “For a low-profile person like me, to work in Shenzhen at 60 is a high-profile thing,” said Niu during an earlier interview after accepting an invitation from Shenzhen University.

    To encourage students to get involved in research, Niu set up a scholarship with his own money supporting six students yearly beginning in 2005.