Pic story: director of Photonic Manufacturing Systems and Application Research Center in Xi'an

Yang Xiaojun (R) discusses research progress with colleagues at a laboratory of MICROMACH in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) 

Yang Xiaojun is director of the Photonic Manufacturing Systems and Application Research Center of Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

He was employed by the institute after graduating with a Ph.D degree in 2008, and led his team to incorporate the MICROMACH company in 2015 to speed up the industrial application of his achievements in ultra-fast laser manufacturing research.

Over the years, the company's workforce has grown from around 30 to over 450 employees. According to Yang, entrepreneurship requires self-evolution that keeps overthrowing pre-existing knowledge and ideas.

Yang Xiaojun (L) discusses research progress with colleagues at a laboratory of MICROMACH in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Yang Xiaojun (R) discusses research progress with a colleague at a laboratory of MICROMACH in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Yang Xiaojun shows a new type of turbine blade processed at a workshop of MICROMACH in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Jan. 19, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

An ultra-fast laser micro-machining device engraves characters on a match head at a workshop of MICROMACH in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Jan. 19, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Yang Xiaojun checks experiment progress at a laboratory of MICROMACH in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

A worker shows the words engraved on a match head with ultra-fast laser micromachining technology at a workshop of MICROMACH in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Jan. 19, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

This photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows a portrait of Yang Xiaojun. Yang Xiaojun is director of the Photonic Manufacturing Systems and Application Research Center of Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Yang Xiaojun (R) adjusts experimental equipment at a laboratory of MICROMACH in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)