Dr. Jiangning Wu

Jiangning Wu knows how lucky she is to be an engineer. Raised during China’s Cultural Revolution, which banned many from attending university, Wu grew up thinking that her future was out of her control. All that changed when, after a decade, the revolution ended. Finally, she was able to pursue the chemical engineering degree she’d been hoping for.

Wu and her classmates were among the first to study engineering after the education restrictions were lifted. The pressure to excel was immense, but they stuck together, supporting one another through the long hours of studying. “We were very motivated,” she says. “We knew how fortunate we were to be in school.”

Today, Wu is making exciting strides in wastewater treatment through ozone technology. It’s a challenging field because the planet’s environmental problems can feel so enormous. But Wu is not daunted; that same teamwork-oriented outlook that got her through university keeps her pushing ahead. “It takes more than one person to fix all the water problems we face,” she says. “But if I train students and eventually they train students, together we can make a real impact.”