Biography

Weicheng Cui, born in 1963 in Haimen, Jiangsu Province, was the "National Excellent Scientific and Technological Workers" (2010). On May 17, 2013, as a representative of Jiaolong R&D and sea trial team, he was received by the top leaders of the Party and the state, and was awarded the Medal and Certificate of "Manned Deep-diving Hero" at the subsequent commendation meeting. In 2016, he was named "Ten Science Stars of China" by Nature magazine. Bachelor of Solid Mechanics, Tsinghua University, 1986, and Doctor of Structural Reliability, University of Bristol, UK, 1990. Returning to China in February 1993, he was employed by China Ship Science Research Center as a senior engineer and master's supervisor. He was promoted to be a research professor and doctoral supervisor in 1995. In 1999, he was appointed by Shanghai Jiaotong University and served as vice dean of School of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering. In 2002, he was appointed as the Director of China Ship Scientific Research Center. He was also the Head of the Overall and Integration Project of Jiaolong and the First Deputy chief Designer. In 2013, he joined Shanghai Ocean University and founded the first Hadal Science and Technology Research Center in domestic universities. He was one of the early persons in China who introduced the new mode of industry-university-research cooperation of "state support + private investment" and "scientist + entrepreneur", and initiated the project of "Rainbow Fish Challenging the Challenger Deep". The goal is to develop the Hadal Science and Technology Movable Laboratory, which consists of full ocean depth manned/unmanned submersible vehicles. Climbing the peak of manned technology in the world and making positive contributions to fill the gap of Hadal Science in China. He has joined West Lake University full-time since September, 2018 and has been appointed as Chair Professor in School of Engineering and the head of Deep Sea Technology research center. He is also an adjunct professor and Director of Hadal Science and Technology Research Center of Shanghai Ocean University.

Research

Professor Weicheng Cui's research group mainly carries out multidisciplinary design optimization method research and deep-sea equipment development, such as manned/unmanned submersibles, lander/buoy development, manipulator/propeller/ high-pressure seawater pump/underwater camera and other important components development, metal/organic glass/solid buoyancy material damage mechanism and strength prediction method research. Since 2013, as the project leader, the research and development of "Hadal Science and Technology Movable Laboratory" has been in progress to about half and is planned to be completed in the next five years. Innovative achievements have been made in the field of ultimate strength analysis method of marine structures, fatigue life prediction method, multidisciplinary design optimization method and its application in submersible design. More than 300 papers have been published in SCI and EI cited journals, ranking first on Elsevier's list of "China's Highly Cited Scholars" in 2017. Because of his outstanding contribution to the Jiaolong manned submersible development project, he won the Oceanology International 2013 Award for achievement in manned submersible technology in 2014 and the Blancpain Hans Hass Fifty Fathoms Award. He is the first person to win the award in Asia. In 2016, he was named "Ten Science and Technology Stars of China" by Nature magazine. In 2017, he was awarded the first National Innovation Competitive Talents Award. He is currently a member of editorial board in five international journals, Marine Structures (1998-), Journal of Marine Science and Technology (2001-), Journal of Engineering for the Maritime Environment (2002-), Ships & Offshore Structures, Design, Construction and Operation (2004-), Ocean Engineering (2006-).

Representative Publications

1. Jian Zhang, Meng Zhang, Weicheng Cui, Wenxian Tang, Fang Wang, Binbin Pan. (2018). Elastic-plastic buckling of deep sea spherical pressure hulls. Marine Structures, 57 (1): 38-51.

2. J. Zhang, W.M. Wang, W.C. Cui∗, W.X. Tang, F. Wang, Y. Chen (2018). Buckling of longan-shaped shells under external pressure. Marine Structures, 60 (2): 218-225.

3. Wang Fang, Zhang Sujie, Yu Shuang, Du Qinghai, Cui Weicheng (2018). Design and analysis on a model sphere of full-ocean-depth manned cabin made of maraging steel, Ships and Offshore Structures, Published online.

4. Weicheng Cui*, Yong Hu, Wei Guo (2017). Chinese Journey to the Challenger Deep: The Development and First Phase of Sea Trial of an 11,000-m Rainbowfish ARV, Marine Technology Society Journal, Volume 51,Number 3, May/June 2017, pp. 23-35.

5. Qinghai Du*, Yong Hu & Weicheng Cui (2017). Safety assessment of the acrylic conical frustum viewport structure for a deep-sea manned submersible， SHIPS AND OFFSHORE STRUCTURES, VOL. 12, NO. S1, S221–S229.

6. Wang, F., Wang, K., Cui, W. C. (2015). A simplified life estimation method for the spherical hull of deep manned submersibles. Marine structures, 44, 159-170.

7. Wang, F., & Cui, W.C. (2015). Experimental investigation on dwell-fatigue property of ti-6Al-4V ELI used in deep-sea manned cabin. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 642,136–141

8. Weicheng Cui*, Yong Hu, Wei Guo, Binbin Pan, Fang Wang (2014). A preliminary design of a movable laboratory for hadal trenches, Methods in Oceanography, 9 (1): 1–16.

9. K. WANG, F. WANG, W.C. CUI*, T. HAYAT and B. AHMAD (2014). Prediction of short fatigue crack growth of Ti-6Al-4V, Fatigue &Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structures, Vol. 37,1075–1086.

10. Cui, Weicheng* (2013). Development of the Jiaolong Deep Manned Submersible. Marine Technology Society Journal, May/June, Vol.47, No.3, pp.37-54.

Research directions:

(1) Research and development of mimetic Robofish; 

(2) Fundamental issues in General Systems Theory and Multidisciplinary Design Optimization.