Chen Liquan's childhood without electricity inspired his lifelong work on lithium-ion batteries, which now power a third of the world's electric vehicles.
Ben De taught himself English in eight weeks to read foreign technical papers, leading to the development of China's first phased-array radar for fighter jets.
Both scientists overcame extreme resource limitations—Chen built China's first solid-state ionics lab from scratch, and Ben built the 7010 radar with no prior domestic research.
Their achievements align with China's strategic push for technological self-sufficiency, spanning civilian EV batteries and military radar systems.
Despite being in their eighties, both scientists continue active research—Chen on solid-state batteries and Ben on space-based radar and microwave photonics.
