应浙江大学李蔚老师的要求发表于此怀念彭老师。
In memory of Dr. Xiaofeng Peng from the Zhejiang University
I received a call from the head of the department, at noon on September 15: “Prof.
Jianren Fan is here, can you come to my office?” Jianren is a highly respected name
in the field of combustion. “I came back from Dr. Peng’s funeral in Beijing last
night.” I saw Jianren’s suddenly turn sad. “Academician Puxuan Wang wants to
collect articles to cherish the memory of Dr. Peng, you write something for three of
us.” Jianren looked at me. Prof. Wang is a respected founder of modern thermal
science research in China, and had guided Peng’s Ph.D. study in the early 1980’s. Prof.
Wang is over eighty years old. An eighty-year-old teacher held a funeral for his
beloved forty-year-old student. How sad it was!
I returned to China in 2006 after 14 years in the states. I first met Dr. Peng last
November at the National Heat Transfer Conference, where I listened to his
impressive keynote lecture on dynamic micro-channels. In April this year, I visited
Academician Zongyuan Guo of Tsinghua University, the leader of the Chinese heat
transfer engineering community. In the spare time after my visit, I decided to go to Dr.
Peng’s office. He was surprised to see me: “Have a seat, please.” While he talked on
the phone, exchanged instant messages, and wrote emails. Two students entered with
questions. After 15 minutes, he finally stood up: “I am sorry to let you wait so long.” I
said: “Oh, it is OK. I did not schedule an appointment beforehand.” Then, he
enthusiastically told me about his new patents. . . . . . . The connection to Dr. Peng I
feel, I cannot express in words. Some people you work with for ten years remain only
co-workers. Some people you consider as friends whom you have only talked to for
an hour. Dr. Peng and I have lot of things in common: our self-commitment, high
expectations, honesty, and love of research. When I returned to my university, I had
mailed Prof. Ralph Webb’s book, Principle of Enhanced Heat Transfer, to him. One
week later, I received from him a Chinese translation of the book, Wärmeübertragung
A-Z: Systematische und ausführliche Erläuterungen wichtiger Gröβen und Konzepte,
by Heinz Herwig. He did the translation. I saw his handwriting on the first page: “Prof.
Wei Li, I wish you could tell me any corrections needed. Sincerely yours, Xiaofeng
Peng on April 31, 2009.”
2009 Inaugural US-EU-China Thermophysics Conference - Renewable Energy was
held on May 28-30. Dr. Peng presented a keynote on the request from Prof.
Chongfang Ma, the organizer and the chair of Society of Thermophysics of China.
Once Prof. Ma praised Dr. Peng in front of us: “He has noble knight’s manner!” Dr.
Peng went to my university the next day after this conference.
NSFC sponsors conferences for outstanding scientists who are younger than 45 years
old around the country to meet. This year’s conference was held at the Zhejiang
University on May 31. Dr. Peng was the host for the morning and Prof. Jianren Fan
entertained the afternoon. The two respected figures received warm appreciation from
the audience. They were such humorous, energetic hosts that everyone had a
wonderful time. It was the last time I saw Dr. Peng. NSFC arranged a delicious dinner
and a tour of West Lake, which is known as the most beautiful place in China, for the
attendees at night. Dr. Peng left and went back to Tainghua University at noon.
This summer, I undertook a lengthy trip to visit six universities and three companies
after I attended the Heat Transfer conference at San Francisco in July. At Purdue, I
made an appointment to meet Prof. Garimella. He arranged for Dr. Zhen Yang to give
me a tour of his labs. Zhen told me that he got his Ph.D. under Peng’s guidance. I told
him about my meeting with Dr. Peng. Zhen was happy to hear that: “I can drive you
to Indy airport if you want.” Then I met with Prof. Garimella in his office. He said:
“I know that Zhejiang University is one of the best Chinese universities. Does your
department have openings? Zhen wants to return to China next year.” I said: “I just
talked about it with Zhen. I think he would like to go to Tsinghua University.” “No,
No, Peng is at Tsinghua now!” I smiled. I certainly respect his view of Dr. Peng.
“Where are you going to go from Purdue?” He continued. “I will go to Houston.”
“Dong Liu joined University of Houston two years ago, you may see him.” I
thought to myself: Prof. Gariballa is such a good-hearted person.
In my hotel in Houston, I searched for Dong Liu’s resume in UH’s web page. I read:
Ph.D. Advisor: Suresh V. Garimella. M.S. Advisor: Xiaofeng (X. F.) Peng. It is very
rare that a professor lists his M.S. supervisor in his official curriculum vita.
Three weeks ago, I was shocked when a director of NSFC told me that Dr. Peng had
developed a serious lung cancer. He was such a kind, happy person! Dr. Peng
suddenly left us forever. I wish that his time in heaven will be as wonderful as his 48
years on Earth. Tears block my sight . . . . . . .
Wei Li
At mid-night on September 19, 2009
In Zhejiang University
