In July 1962, Zhong Zhihua was born in a peasant family on the shores of Dongting Lake. His poor family background made him study harder. He began studying in 1970. In September 1978, he skipped the college entrance examination and entered Hunan University. In 1982 He graduated from Hunan University majoring in mechanism in July at the age of 20. From then until January 1984, he studied English and Swedish at Guangzhou Institute of Foreign Languages ??and Beijing Language Institute, and was admitted to the University of Leo in Sweden to study for a doctorate with excellent results. In May 1988, he received an associate's degree from Leo University and a doctorate from Link?ping University in Sweden. In the same year, he continued to engage in postdoctoral research. Thereafter, he was employed by Link?ping University as an assistant professor and one of the prestigious "tenured associate professors".
While in Sweden, he began research on the finite element method, which uses a discrete system with finite variables to approximately describe a continuous system with infinite variables, and uses a It can be expressed in the form of calculation and simulation, and applied to the contact collision research of thin plate systems, providing a reliable theoretical basis and calculation method for automobile safety design and body stamping forming. The book "Finite Element Method for Contact Collision Problems" written by him was published by Oxford University Press in the UK. It has won a great reputation in the academic community and enjoys high reputation and popularity.
In 1995, he resolutely returned to China and was hired by Hunan University as a doctoral supervisor in the vehicle engineering discipline. He also served as deputy dean and dean of the School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering of Hunan University. Before returning to China, he and his wife had green cards and a car and a car rental. Some of his research projects were adopted by several large foreign companies, and he also participated in EU high-tech projects as a main researcher and sub-project leader. However, the superior material life failed to change his innocent heart of serving the motherland. In response to doubts, he said that a person with a sense of nationality and social responsibility, no matter how well he does abroad, will never have a real sense of pride and ease in the face of the country's wealth and power. Even from a natural emotional point of view, it is appropriate to return to the motherland and hometown where one was raised to serve. A rice combine harvester suitable for the South is a research topic that China has invested a lot of manpower and material resources in during its “Sixth Five-Year Plan”, “Seventh Five-Year Plan” and “Eighth Five-Year Plan”. However, due to the harsh working environment in rice fields, complex rice growth conditions, underdeveloped rural mechanized farming roads, and farmers' requirements for low prices and reliable performance, no fully qualified products have been developed to meet the needs of agricultural production. Zhong Zhihua believes that developing a rice combine harvester is both technically difficult and of great social value. China's modernization drive cannot be without modernized agriculture, and the overall progress of the country must include the progress of rural areas. Therefore, he abandoned the practice of senior scholars generally not doing research on agricultural machinery, and decided to develop a rice harvester at his own expense, in order to change the "face to the loess and back to the sky" farming method that had been practiced by farmers in the south for generations. Therefore, he took advantage of the advantage of teaching part-time in the mechanism major of Hunan University to return to China 2 to 3 times a year at his own expense, go deep into the countryside to understand the situation, and repeatedly compare and construct sketches.
After returning to China to settle down in 1995, he squeezed out time and insisted on developing a small rice harvester suitable for rice operations in the south. Regardless of the high temperature, scorching heat, wind or rain, he always went to the fields to test in person. After countless sleepless nights in the workshop and the fields, he finally developed three models with advanced principles and performance, breaking through the problems that plagued my country's agricultural machinery. For decades, the industry has faced major technical difficulties in harvesting machines that cannot operate in deep muddy fields, and has been awarded two national patents. In January 1996, the topic "Thin Plate Stamping Process and Mold Design Theory, Calculation Methods and Key Technologies and Application in Car Body Manufacturing" was formally established. The research team led by Professor Zhong Zhihua and Professor Lee Kuan Yew started a battle to overcome the difficulties of the machinery manufacturing industry. At first, his research team took the initiative and took the software it developed to various companies to introduce it. Later, companies took the initiative to come to them and ask for their help in solving problems. Their theories, technologies, and equipment are gradually recognized by enterprises, helping them improve product quality, shorten product development cycles, and reduce development costs.
In 2004, after 10 years of research, the research team successfully developed the CAE system software for automobile collision simulation analysis with completely independent intellectual property rights, and completed the design and improvement of automobile collision safety and airbag design. A complete set of technologies and equipment with independent intellectual property rights, including theory and technology, new collision energy-absorbing structures and methods, and key engineering application technologies. In addition, the research team also proposed and developed new adaptive airbag theories, design methods, and a complete set of technologies and equipment for simulation and experimentation, providing an effective way to reduce accidental injuries caused by airbags to vehicle occupants and maximize the protective effect of airbags. Countermeasures: Developed a number of important innovative automobile collision buffering energy-absorbing structures and devices, and developed a complete set of internationally advanced automobile collision safety test technologies and equipment represented by mechanical energy storage spiral track drum traction devices. , proposed vehicle safety designs for various models, etc., and successfully implemented them in enterprises. The successful development and application of collision safety of three models of SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co., Ltd. alone has added more than 3 billion yuan in output value and new products. Increased profits by more than 120 million yuan and increased tax revenue by more than 230 million yuan. In July 2005, Zhong Zhihua took over as the president of Hunan University, which not only gave him a broader platform for performance, but also opened a new era for Hunan University to move forward at full speed towards the goal of "research-oriented, open-minded, and comprehensive" . After preliminary research and analysis, at the Teachers' Day Commendation Conference in September, he proposed the idea of ??"building Hunan University into one of the top 30 key universities in the country" as the overall goal of the school's 11th Five-Year Plan.
During his tenure, in order to comprehensively strengthen the school's curriculum teaching, he creatively proposed specific reform plans based on the actual conditions of the school such as "responsible professors" and "credit person system". "Responsible professor" refers to a professor who is responsible for a major, a subject or a course. It aims to encourage teachers to study course content in depth, explore teaching methods with great concentration, build excellent courses, condense and lead subject directions, and create high-quality majors and disciplines. . The implementation of the "credit person system" and related measures has enabled the construction work of "improving teaching quality and reducing school running costs" to achieve leapfrog development.
During his tenure at Hunan University, he preferred the title "Teacher Zhong" to some extent compared to his two roles as president and academician. Although he is busy as the principal, he has been offering a course called "The Path to Talent for College Students" for undergraduates since 2005. This course is deeply loved by the students, and the number of students who take the course is overflowing every year. However, he just explores the path of "becoming a talent" with his classmates with a peaceful attitude.
In December 2005, Zhong Zhihua stood out from 526 candidates and became one of the youngest academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. In December 2010, Zhong Zhihua left Hunan and was appointed director of the Chongqing Municipal Science and Technology Commission by the Standing Committee of the Chongqing Municipal People's Congress. In January 2011, the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee decided that Zhong Zhihua should concurrently serve as deputy director of the Liangjiang New Area Management Committee. After more than three months of research and visits, he proposed a novel "grape" theory, that is, every specific scientific and technological project is important, but if scattered projects are not strung together in a centralized manner, the effect of each project will be limited. Just like grapes, these grapes are scattered on the plate and cannot be picked up at once, but if the grapes are bunched together, the effect will be the sum of all the individual grapes.
In April 2011, the Sixth National Committee of the Third Chongqing Association for Science and Technology elected Zhong Zhihua as Chairman of the Chongqing Association for Science and Technology until October 2014 when he was transferred to the Party Leadership Group Member and Secretary-General of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
As decided by the 67th Executive Meeting of the Chongqing Municipal People's Government on October 31, 2014, Zhong Zhihua was removed from the position of deputy director (concurrently) of the Chongqing Liangjiang New Area Management Committee.