On the morning of November 29, Professor Didier Queloz, the 2019 Nobel Prize laureate in Physics from the University of Cambridge, visited the "Tiandu-Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) Joint Laboratory for Deep Space Exploration" at the School of Mechanical Engineering.

Didier Queloz is a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and a Professor at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. In 1995, together with his doctoral supervisor Michel Mayor, he discovered the first exoplanet orbiting a main-sequence star, 51 Pegasi b. For this groundbreaking achievement, he, along with Michel Mayor and James Peebles, was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for their contributions to our understanding of the evolution of the universe and Earth's place in the cosmos.

Professor Chang Honglong, Dean of the School of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Tiandu-NPU Joint Laboratory, extended a warm welcome to Professor Queloz and presented him with a special souvenir from the laboratory. Professor Queloz expressed his gratitude.

During the visit, Professor Queloz toured the Tiandu-NPU Joint Laboratory and the Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Systems for Aerospace (Ministry of Education). Professor Chang Honglong introduced the laboratory's recent progress in deep space exploration.Professor Queloz highly appreciated the laboratory's achievements.

Background on the Joint Laboratory:

The Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL), jointly established by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the Anhui Provincial People's Government, and the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), focuses on cutting-edge aerospace technology and national strategic needs. It conducts strategic, forward-looking, and fundamental research for major national deep space projects and international science programs. The laboratory is directed by Academician Wu Weiren, Chief Designer of the China Lunar Exploration Project and an alumnus of NPU's School of Mechanical Engineering.

To support the national deep space exploration strategy, foster original innovation, facilitate technology application, and cultivate high-level talent, DSEL and NPU established the "Tiandu-NPU Joint Laboratory for Deep Space Exploration" in 2023, based on principles of strategic cooperation, complementary advantages, collaborative innovation, and mutual development.