Lu Shijia

Lu Shijia (; March 18, 1911 – August 29, 1986), also known as Hsiu-Chen Chang-Lu, was a Chinese physicist and aerospace engineer who helped create China's first high-speed wind tunnel. She founded and chaired the aerodynamics program at Beihang University, the first in the country.

Early life and education

She was born Lu Xiuzhen in Suzhou (Soochow) on March 18, 1911, the final year of the Qing dynasty. Her ancestral home was Xiaoshan, Zhejiang. Her superstitious mother blamed the baby for her father's death, and gave her away to be raised by a paternal uncle.

With financial help from her maternal uncle, the renowned doctor Shi Jinmo, Lu went to study in Germany in 1937.

Career After the end of the Second World War, Lu returned to China in 1946. She taught at Tongji University, the Aeronautics Department of Peiyang University, and the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering of Tsinghua University.

In 1952, Lu became a member of the preparatory committee for the establishment of the Beijing Institute of Aeronautics (now Beihang University). In 1962, she founded Beihang's aerodynamics program, the first in China, and served as its first chair. At Beihang she helped create China's first high-speed wind tunnel.

Death and legacy Lu died in Beijing in August 1986, and her husband died in 2001. According to their will, their children mixed their ashes together and dispersed them in the lotus pond on the Tsinghua campus.

On the first anniversary of her death, Qian Xuesen presided over a scientific symposium held in her memory. On March 18, 2017, Lu's 106th birthday, Beihang University established the Lu Shijia Laboratory, the first university laboratory in China named after a female scientist.