A Pakistani student: chasing his dreams in China

Editor's Note: Usman Ghani is a Ph.D. student at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). He has published ten research articles in high-impact journals throughout his five-year doctoral studies. As a scholarship fellow, he received sponsorship from the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC). Besides his excellent academic performance, he is also an overseas goodwill ambassador for the SJTU graduate admission programs abroad. He loves books and uses the pseudonym “Shehab” in his writing of poetry and prose. Traveling, social work, sports, and cooking are some of his other passions.

Dream path

Pakistani kids foster love of China in their early childhood, for reasons unknown to them, and was so in Ghani’s case. Growing up with this unknown love, he gathered information about China’s thriving economy, scientific and technological advancements, historical culture, Pak-China people-to-people cordial relationships, and lively metropolitan cities like Shanghai, which convinced him to pursue higher education in China.

After completing his master’s degree in Atomic and Molecular Physics and gaining two years of teaching experience, he applied for Ph.D. at SJTU and was selected as a full-time CSC scholarship student in 2017. A rainy but calm night on September 7, 2017 marked his first day in Shanghai, China. It was love at first sight for him.

“Well, the first-day smelt pleasingly different but seemingly familiar because of the humble and friendly Chinese students I met at Siyuan gate and the registration desk of the new administration building. The lady at the registration desk called me use-man, to which I responded; honey! You can call me useful-man,” said Ghani.

Although five years have passed, his first interaction with SJTU feels like yesterday to him.

In the company of his best Chinese friends, whom he met in his first couple of weeks at the university, he often visited Shanghai to experience her people, food, culture, old and new architecture, and the unique atmosphere.

Ghani feels privileged to be a part of the research group headed by professor Liu Qinglei.

Red dreams

After passing coursework and reviewing research literature, Ghani started his experimental research work. Owing to the growing worldwide demand for green and sustainable energy, he chose to study advanced energy storage devices (batteries). His Ph.D. research focuses on biomass-derived porous hard carbon materials for sodium-ion batteries. Although new in the field, Ghani learnt quickly. Thanks to the supervision of his teachers and the friendly laboratory environment. The excellent teamwork thus resulted in some quality research which has been published in high-impact journals. So far, he has published ten research articles as a first author, equal contributor, and co-author, and three of his articles are currently under revision for different journals. Currently, he is summarizing his research work in the form of a detailed review article.

Ghani also actively participated in SJTU co-curricular activities. In 2018, he gave a lecture on “The Modern Education System” as an active member of TEDX SJTU. He was selected as an overseas goodwill ambassador for the SJTU graduate admissions program in 2020, where he still works. Due to the COVID-19 travel ban, he arranged two online sessions for Pakistani college students in 2021 and 2022. He also led the two weeks “SJTU-Xichang Cultural Innovation & Globalization Camp,” an unforgettable memory that blended professional experiences in education, innovation, city planning, business, culture, and agriculture. This detailed visit to Xichang, Sichuan province, and the future vision of the CPC for the city compelled him to compose a poem for the hardworking Chinese and Xichang in particular.

He also visited many cities in China, such as Beijing, Hangzhou, Hefei, Nanjing, Wuhan, Guiyang, Wuxi and Jiaxing.

“If a nation has built this mighty wall, why wouldn’t their history be great,” was his thought when he visited the Great Wall of China in Beijing.

He also joined the Shanghai Cricket Club in 2018, where he regularly plays cricket for K2 and Hotdogs cricket teams.

Strangely enough, Ghani considers himself fortunate to be have been stranded in Wuhan during the first wave of COVID-19. He explains that the lockdown provided him with an excellent opportunity to analyze his personality and think more critically about his goals and purpose in life. The immense love he developed for English literature during the lockdown is a habit he values the most. Surviving the lockdowns in Wuhan and Shanghai has made him a true COVID-19 war veteran, which he considers a unique memory of his experience in China.

Future dreams

Ghani believes completing his Ph.D. studies is the first part of his dream, which he termed as the earning of dreams. He equipped himself with rich scientific, technological, socio-economic, and cultural knowledge and skills during the years. The second part of his dreams is to repay the dreams, where he wants to utilize his knowledge and expertise in developing his country, especially in the field of energy. Before coming to China, he was a physics teacher in Pakistan and he wants to carry on in the same profession, drawing an academia-research-industry triangle this time.

People like Ghani can not only play a critical role in developing their own countries, but also build bridges of cultural exchange, improve people-to-people relationships, and become long-term assets in the long-term developmental projects like the Belt and Road initiative.

The CPC’s phenomenal role in China’s socio-economic growth inspires Ghani. He sees centralization, unity, and discipline as common ingredients of every patriotic Chinese citizen.