Genius China engineer cements love with concrete engagement ring
- Outstanding alumnus of top university accused of being ‘cheap’ online
A post-doctoral graduate, whose invention was used on the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics arena, has been derided for using an engagement ring made of cement to propose to his future wife.
Tsinghua University, one of the most prestigious in China, refers to Yao Guoyou, 36, as an outstanding alumnus.
As a doctoral student in the School of Civil Engineering from 2011 to 2016, Yao worked tirelessly to invent a nano silicon ion material that increases the waterproofing quality and lifespan of the most widely used building material in the world.
The clever graduate sprayed the material on China’s South-to-North Water Diversion Project, and many other hydraulic engineering projects, to test and promote it.
“It proved to be a great success,” Yao said.
His invention won him the Tsinghua Qihang Scholarship Gold Award in 2016. At the awards ceremony, he proposed to his girlfriend, now his wife, with a cement ring he had made and sprayed with his invention.