BEng in Mechanical Engineering, from Tsinghua University - BUAA program, School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation. MSc in Virtual Product Design, from Loughborough University, Department of Design and Technology, with part scholarship. PhD in Optimising Additive Manufacturing to Archaeological Restoration, from Loughborough University, Design School, with full scholarship.
Worked as Research Associate in Digital Archaeological Restoration in Design School, Loughborough University, for two years. Projects with The Forbidden City and Summer Palace were broadcast on Discovery Channel and BBC radio.
Joined The Studio, Loughborough University, and started a private company which links with LU and has both UK and China branches. Won a place in the Thousand Scholar Scheme, as one of the only two young scholars in the top thousand winners out of hundred thousands applicants.
Currently a Visiting Fellow in Loughborough University School of Design and Creative Arts, acting as an assistant to the Dean in creating links with China, coordinator of summer school, and international promotion of SDCA.
Research group: Digital Design Fabrication
Digital archaeological restoration for world leading museums, e.g. multi-materials (gold plating copper, wood, jade, cloisonne) furniture restoration, outdoor pavilion restoration and preservation in The Forbidden City, 2D-3D creation in the palace exhibitions, full size bronze lions and marble pedestals (3.6m tall) replication in the Summer Palace. Intelligent manufacturing in sculpture and film industry, e.g. manufacturing for Beowulf sculpture (6m, bronze, Qinghai Lake Tibet Highland), statue of the only female emperor in Chinese history (76m, bronze, Suzhou), landscape traffic hub facility (85m, stainless steel, Wuhan), digital masks and post special effects in movies.
Design Summer School - 3D scanning; 3D software tutorials
Joint virtual courses between LU and CAFA (Central Academy of Fine Arts) - Design Thinking and UX Design
My restoration research projects for the Forbidden City has been broadcast on BTV-It's New The Forbidden City, became the top viewing rate program on one of the main Chinese TV channels, now on season 3. The 2D-3D creation projects for two exhibitions that reached 80,000 visitors per day, and the Palace Museum reached 17 millions annual visitors before the pandemic visitor number control. Also, some projects collaborated with world leading museums like The British Museum London, Manchester Museum Manchester, Versailles Palace Paris, Summer Palace Beijing. In addition, won a design prize with SDCA team for Beijing Daxing Airport. Worked with prod Ian Campbell to establish the Pinnacle Research Institute of Medical Engineering in Nanjing, China, receiving 10 million RMB funding to support further development of education programs, collaboration with top Chinese universities, as well as research and commercial projects.
El Webster's industrial advisor for digital archaeological restoration and museum exhibition design.