Dr. To Minh Nhat (born in 1996) is currently an aeronautical mechanical engineer, specializing in aircraft engine manufacturing at the Safran Group (France). Eight months ago, Nhat graduated with a PhD from the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space, the number 1 prestigious school in France for aerospace engineering. “Three years ago, I came to France with two suitcases and a dream of conquering the sky. Three years later, I have more luggage, but that desire has never cooled,” Nhat said.

To Minh Nhat is currently an aviation mechanical engineer (Photo: NVCC)

The Quang Ngai boy is a former student of Duc Pho High School No. 1. Nhat is also a laurel wreath winner and a month-rounder in the Road to Olympia contest. Because of his love for the movie "Iron Man", Nhat gradually developed a passion for flying robots in the sky. Therefore, the male student decided to take the entrance exam to the University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City National University. Being in the group of people with high scores, Nhat registered for the Vietnam - France High-Quality Engineer training program. In the first years, the curriculum was heavy on theory, the number of credits was double that of the general system, there were months when students "had to take exams every day". Studying a lot of theory but not being able to practice made Nhat frustrated, even thinking "should I retake the university entrance exam?". By the end of the second year, when the major division exam began, Nhat chose Aeronautical Engineering. Having deepened his knowledge of manufacturing techniques and had more contact with the industry, Nhat's passion gradually returned. “At that time, I was exposed to technical parameters of real aircraft, interned at some aviation companies in Dong Nai, Binh Duong... The knowledge I gained made me want to stick with the profession even more,” Nhat said.

Nhat is also a face that won the laurel wreath and entered the monthly round of the Road to Olympia contest. (Photo: NVCC)

At the end of his 4th year, thanks to his excellent academic performance, Nhat was one of two students selected to do a 6-month internship in France at the Polytechnic's affiliated school, the National School of Mechanics and Aviation (France). Here, the Vietnamese male student worked in a research lab related to Fluid Mechanics. Although his French was not very good at that time, Nhat still decided to defend his graduation thesis in front of the French council in French. As a result, the male student achieved a perfect score of 20/20 and graduated as valedictorian with a GPA of 8.19/10.

Vietnamese guy chooses to do PhD at French National Institute of Aeronautics and Space. (Photo: NVCC)

Recognizing the student's potential, at the end of the internship, Nhat's supervisor suggested that the male student should stay and do a PhD. However, Nhat decided to return to Vietnam and work at a Swiss simulation software company related to the field of Structural Mechanics and Materials. During a year of working, there were many things about the industry that Nhat wanted to learn but was not satisfied. Thinking that "if you want to go further in your career, you have to continue studying", Nhat "found a way" to study for a PhD. Since 2020, the 9X has started to "spread" his application. Graduating as valedictorian gives Nhat many advantages. In addition, Nhat has a letter of recommendation from the head lecturer of the Department of Aviation and the supervisor when he was interning in France. The assessments related to research capacity, initiative... helped Nhat get accepted into the lab by many professors. The Vietnamese guy then chose to study at the French National Institute of Aeronautics and Space in the city of Toulouse. “This is the headquarters of many aviation companies. Thanks to that, I have the opportunity to directly interact with the aviation industry, opening up things I have never seen before,” Nhat said. Also here, Nhat had the opportunity to do a 1.5-year exchange at a school in the city of Tarbes. “Before studying for my PhD, I determined that this would be a journey of ‘swimming on my own’. But luckily, the professors who guided me were all dedicated, closely following me in my work, always encouraging me to ‘try hard, everything will be fine’. Therefore, the journey was no longer too stressful.” During 3 years of research at 2 schools, Nhat had 6 professors guiding him in 3 labs, specializing in structural - mechanical engineering, adhesives and polymer materials. Before the day Nhat defended his doctoral thesis, all 6 professors listened to the Vietnamese guy’s draft presentation and edited every word in preparation for the important presentation. “Those are all positive memories and experiences of a friendly, open environment, ready to share knowledge with each other,” Nhat said.

Nhat and his teachers on the day of his doctoral thesis defense. (Photo: NVCC)

About 6 months before graduation, the professor recommended Nhat for a postdoctoral research position. However, according to Nhat, in the field of aeronautical engineering, the gap between research and application is quite large. Therefore, the 9X wanted to delve deeper into the application direction. During the final period of his PhD, Nhat applied to several large aviation companies in France. Among them, Safran was the first company to interview and hire Nhat right before graduation, in the position of aeronautical mechanical engineer, specializing in aircraft engines. Having a "dream" job, Nhat believes that he still needs to try to improve and explore many different aspects of the field of manufacturing engineering. "The more I go out, the more I feel that I know little, I just want to become a frog with strong legs, able to jump out of the well to a large well, to see the sky more clearly. I hope to further cultivate my thinking and knowledge so that I can contribute more or less to the aerospace industry in Vietnam one day in the near future," Nhat said.

Vietnamnet.vn

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/nam-sinh-duong-len-dinh-olympia-tro-thanh-tien-si-hang-khong-tai-phap-2345912.html