On November 11, Aosen Special Steel organized a meeting to present the research achievements of Dr. Wang Yongjin upon completion of his postdoctoral program and to hear Dr. Kong Lingzhong’s report on his proposed postdoctoral research topic. The meeting featured an expert review panel specially invited, consisting of Zhang Chaolei, Associate Dean of the College of Carbon Neutrality at Beijing University of Science and Technology; Yang Jie, Professor at Liaoning University of Science and Technology; and Chen Yan, Section Chief of the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Xinji City. Also in attendance were Wang Zhe, General Manager of Aosen Special Steel, Cui Juan, Deputy General Manager, and relevant heads from the Technology Center, Steelmaking Plant, and Rolling Mill No. 2.

Go deep into the front lines

On-site inspection of development achievements

Visit the steel plant

Before the meeting, the panel of review experts conducted an on-site inspection of the steelmaking plant, the special rolling mill, and the integrated intelligent control center. They gained a detailed understanding of the production processes and the status of intelligent upgrades, and engaged in live discussions with company leaders including Wang Zhe and Cui Juan on key topics such as advanced technologies and technological innovation.

Research-Driven Enterprise

Seamless transition for postdoctoral researchers entering and leaving the station.

At the outset of the meeting, Cui Juan delivered a speech on behalf of the company, warmly welcoming the leaders from the Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau as well as the distinguished experts and scholars. She emphasized the company’s strong commitment to technological innovation and the cultivation of high-end talent, and expressed her hope that the postdoctoral workstation would continue to produce high-quality research outcomes, injecting powerful momentum into the company’s development.

In his speech, Chen Yan fully affirmed the achievements made by the Aosen Special Steel Postdoctoral Workstation in promoting the integration of industry, academia, and research and enhancing regional innovation capabilities. He expressed his hope that Dr. Wang Yongjin and Dr. Kong Lingzhong would continue to maintain their innovative spirit, courageously scale new technological heights, actively promote the commercialization of research findings, and contribute to the overall development agenda. At the same time, he urged Aosen Special Steel to keep strengthening its scientific research platform and solidifying its talent base. He also stated that the Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau will continue to optimize the postdoctoral working environment and policies, providing enterprises with even higher-quality and more convenient services to support their scientific and technological innovation.

Wang Yongjin delivered the concluding report.

During the project completion review, Dr. Wang Yongjin delivered a detailed report on his research project titled “Study on the Online Softening Behavior and Microstructure/Property Control of Cold-Heading Steel SWRCH35K with Reduced Annealing and Tempering.” This project achieved an ideal spheroidized microstructure online by precisely controlling rolling temperature, deformation amount, and cooling path, thereby laying a solid process foundation for the production of short-process, low-cost cold-heading steel.

Kong Lingzhong delivers the opening report.

In his proposal titled “Research on the Thermomechanical Coupling Characteristics of Continuous Casting Billets under Low-Pressure Casting Technology,” Dr. Kong Lingzhong proposed a research approach that combines multiphysics coupling simulation with process optimization to systematically explore the underlying mechanisms governing continuous casting billets during the low-pressure casting process. By developing a thermomechanical coupling model and an electromagnetic field–multiphase solidification coupling model, he aims to precisely optimize the pressing parameters and electromagnetic stirring parameters. Ultimately, this approach will establish a closed-loop quality control system spanning the entire “continuous casting–rolling” process, with the goal of significantly improving billet quality and enhancing the yield of finished products.

After carefully listening to the reports presented by the two doctoral researchers, the expert review panel provided in-depth comments. The panel unanimously agreed that Dr. Wang Yongjin’s final report had clear research objectives and abundant, detailed data, and that its findings were already ready for industrial application. Therefore, the panel approved his successful completion of the exit assessment. Regarding Dr. Kong Lingzhong’s proposal, the expert panel highly praised its cutting-edge nature and practical value, noting that the research plan was systematic and the technical approach was clearly defined. The panel unanimously approved the proposal.

The picture shows Wang Zhe.

In his concluding remarks, Wang Zhe first expressed gratitude to the Xinji Municipal Government and the review experts for their strong support of Aosen Special Steel. He shared three key insights regarding the establishment of the postdoctoral workstation and the company’s development: First, the postdoctoral workstation serves as an important bridge between universities and enterprises, continuously promoting deep integration among industry, academia, and research. It is a core driving force for fostering technological innovation, strengthening the company’s talent base, and comprehensively boosting industrial upgrading. Second, enterprises must closely follow the policy guidelines of the 15th Five-Year Plan, explore new trends in industrial development, dynamically adjust their development strategies, and precisely meet the needs of customers and the market. Third, it is crucial to attach great importance to the commercialization of scientific research achievements, take a long-term perspective, and ensure that the value of innovation is effectively translated into productive forces, thereby injecting continuous momentum into the company’s sustainable development. At the same time, he emphasized that enterprises should not only invest in equipment and R&D but also place greater emphasis on talent development. He expressed hope that, leveraging the postdoctoral workstation as a platform, the company could attract and integrate more research findings, build a high-quality talent pool, and collectively move toward the goal of becoming a world-class special steel enterprise.

In the future, Aosen Steel will fully leverage the platform advantages of its postdoctoral workstation to deepen collaborative efforts in industry-academia-research partnerships with top universities and research institutions. We will continue to invest heavily in cutting-edge R&D in special steel and in cultivating high-end talent, focusing on breaking through critical process and technological bottlenecks. We will promote greener processes, higher-end products, and smarter manufacturing, providing customers with products that are more efficient, more stable, and deliver superior performance. By doing so, we will continuously strengthen our core competitiveness and sustainable development capabilities, and keep contributing Aosen’s strength to the upgrading of the regional economy and the high-quality development of the industry.