He had known mines since childhood.
He had experienced the physical reality of underground work, the rhythm of labor crews, the demands of construction and the way engineering systems affect the people who actually work inside them.
That experience did not replace academic knowledge.
Instead, it gave him a different foundation from students who first encounter such environments through formal education.
As his studies became increasingly advanced, the relationship between his past and his research became clearer.
China Daily reported that his postgraduate work included more than a year of research in coal mines. During his doctoral studies, he also spent extended periods undertaking fieldwork, including work in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Accounts published by Beijing University of Technology describe his experience living and working at engineering sites and going underground with experienced engineers.
His academic work was tied to underground and tunnel engineering, environments where practical conditions matter enormously.
Engineering underground is not simply a matter of solving equations.
It involves geology, machinery, pressure, safety, excavation, construction efficiency and the unpredictable behavior of the earth itself.
The child who had once entered mines because his family needed income had eventually become a researcher investigating complex engineering problems connected to the underground world.
That is what makes his journey more interesting than a simple “rags-to-riches” story.
He did not merely escape the environment of his childhood.
In an important sense, he returned to it with entirely new tools.
The People Behind the Achievement
His dissertation acknowledgments also attracted attention because they did not portray success as an individual performance.
He thanked his parents, teachers, colleagues, classmates, engineers, friends and his partner.
He described his father as a lifelong fighter and his mother as gentle but resilient, someone who had sacrificed deeply for the family.
Those descriptions help explain why the story cannot be reduced to personal ambition alone.
His early work was part of a family economy in which everyone carried responsibility.
Later, other people helped carry him.
China Daily reported that he credited his doctoral supervisor with transforming the direction of his academic life.
According to the acknowledgments, his supervisor accepted and guided him during one of his most difficult periods, offered financial assistance when money was scarce, taught him practical field skills and painstakingly helped improve his English academic writing.
The professor also emphasized research ethics, logical thinking, discipline and confronting problems rather than postponing them.
This kind of support is easy to overlook when success stories are retold.
The public remembers the doctorate.
It rarely sees all the conversations, corrections, encouragement, financial assistance and mentorship behind it.
He also thanked an undergraduate roommate who supported him during difficult periods.
China Daily reported that the roommate gave him his first mobile phone and helped him financially at a time when he was preparing for postgraduate study, reducing the need for him to spend so much time earning money through restaurant work.
The details seem small.
But they reveal something important.
Persistence often depends on relationships.
No one completes a journey this long entirely alone.
From Vocational College to Doctoral Research
In September 2020, he entered Beijing University of Technology as a full-time doctoral student.
Five years later, in June 2025, he completed the program and received a doctorate in engineering.
Beijing University of Technology confirmed his enrollment after his story attracted national attention, stating that he had studied full time at the university's College of Architecture and Civil Engineering between September 2020 and June 2025.
By that point, more than two decades had passed since he had first followed his father underground.
The contrast is striking.
At 12, he was performing physical work because his family needed income.