Wang Daheng

Wang Daheng (; 26 February 1915 – 21 July 2011) was a Chinese optical physicist, engineer, and inventor widely considered the "father of optical engineering" in China. He was a founding academician of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He was the founder of the Changchun Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Changchun University of Science and Technology, and the Chinese Optical Society.

Early life and education Wang was born on 26 February 1915 in Tokyo, Japan, with his ancestral home in Suzhou, China. His father Wang Yingwei was an astronomer then studying in Japan.

Wang graduated from the Department of Physics at Tsinghua University in 1936. In 1938, he won the Boxer Indemnity Scholarship to study in England. After earning his master's degree from Imperial College London in 1940, he began his doctoral studies at the University of Sheffield in optical physics and technology.

Career

United Kingdom After World War II broke out in 1939, Nazi Germany, a major maker of optical glass, banned the export of the strategic product. The British government offered support for domestic companies to develop and manufacture the product, and Wang decided to abandon his studies and join Chance Brothers, a leading British glass manufacturer. He is also considered the founder of Changchun University of Science and Technology, a spinoff of the institute. Deng accepted their proposal, which gave birth to the influential 863 Program, named after the date of their letter.