Without this woman, China would have lost the computer race

Once isolated from the world, China has risen to become a leading country in the computer manufacturing industry thanks to this woman's great contribution.

In April 1960, the 107th computer model was first made in China.Engineers, machine builders Ha Buc Tuc made history for this computer platform.

Not merely making a computer, Ms. Xia has brought more value to the Chinese computer industry, especially in the field of training. She built computer science organizations and developed accompanying materials to train hundreds of students for Chinese computer science. After the damage of the war, her country 's shaping and industrial contributions have been influential to this day.

Xia Beu (1923-2014) was born into an academic family in southeastern Chongqing. She has an excellent local learning process. She graduated from National Central University in 1945 with an electrical engineering major and studied for a PhD in electrical engineering at Edinburgh University. In her thesis, she developed a method that can more accurately predict variations in frequency and amplitude in electronic systems, so that applications are widely used for any system. with an electric frequency, from radio, TV to computer.

Picture 1 of Without this woman, China would have lost the computer race
Portrait of female computer engineer Ha Buc Tuc.(Photo: BBC).

The first bricks of Chinese computer industry

In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party won the Nationalist Party in the civil war, the situation of the Second Sino-Japanese war was tense due to the transfer of political parties. Mao Zedong took power. China's economy, industry and infrastructure are increasingly weak and lagging behind Western countries. Industrial production centers, finance, schools and higher education institutions must relocate to Wuhan, Chongqing, then to Chengdu, a remote and impoverished province. The Chinese government basically exists, but does not have the capacity to invest in electronics engineering or weapons design, etc.

When the Chinese Communist Party came to power, they also tried to rebuild the lost infrastructure. But it was not easy when the United States at that time supported the Nationalist Party, which had failed in the previous civil war. At the same time, other Western capitalist countries simultaneously rejected aid and exports to China at that time.

Chairman Mao was forced to turn to a relationship with his northern neighbor. Seeing the opportunity to bring China into the eastern communist bloc, the Soviet Union agreed to cooperate and support China to strengthen its economy, science and technology, including computer technology.

Picture 2 of Without this woman, China would have lost the computer race
China receives science and technology aid from its northern neighbor.(Image: BBC)

Xia Beu became closely attached to the Sino-Soviet partnership when she was recruited to the computer research group at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1953. She was one of three members. Founder of China's first computer research group.

After many years, the CAS team developed a plan to design electronic computers, but it was not until 1956 that computer technology was identified by the government as an important technology field to build a national defense system.

Picture 3 of Without this woman, China would have lost the computer race
CAS developed a 3-year computer design plan but was not approved until 1956.(Photo: BBC).

Electronic computers can be widely used, even in nuclear weapons testing, large-scale transportation system management, and the development of outer space satellite programs. China understood that to compete with major powers like the Soviet Union, England, France, and the United States, they must have a strong position in economy and military.

China has come a long way to get today's computer manufacturing industry. The industry spans the areas of math, engineering and physics. Workers must have a prior knowledge of building a computer.

That same year, Ms. Xia was a key factor when participating in research and study in the Soviet Union on computers. She then translated a 1,000-page instruction document on computer design from the Soviet Union. Chinese language to teach students in the country. Under the auspices of CAS, she established a computer science department with the Computer Technology Institute, training hundreds of students from 1956-1962.

A pioneering computer for the potential industry

By 1959, China succeeded in replicating two Soviet electronic computer designs, models 103 and 104, each based on Soviet M-3 and BESM-II computers. Unfortunately, when China has just begun to make the first advances in computer production, the relationship between the two countries has been broken.

The climax of the two countries' relationship shattered when the Soviet Union withdrew all technology aid from China. CAS researchers continue to pursue computer science technology by themselves. The Model 107 was the first computer that China developed itself after the Soviet Union stopped supporting investment. This model is not based on Soviet designs like the 103 and 104 models. This is the first domestic version and soon be replicated installed throughout Chinese training facilities.

Throughout the 1960s, China continued to develop more sophisticated and sophisticated computers at CAS. In 1972, an American computer science delegation visited China, they were surprised by what China could do. In 1978, Ms. Xia founded China Computer Magazine and Computer Science and Technology Magazine, the country's first English-language computer magazine. In 1981, she successfully developed a 150AP high-speed processor, increasing the speed of computer operations to 20 million per second.

Picture 4 of Without this woman, China would have lost the computer race
China is one of the world's leading countries in the computer manufacturing industry.(Photo: BBC).

Thanks in large part to Ms. Xia's contribution, independent research in computer science and the computer manufacturing industry have emerged, although China has had a turbulent start to the economy. The influence of this woman also spread to both the students and her later generations. CPU designer Loongson, a former student of Ms. Xia personally honored her mentor by naming China's first CPU processor, "Xia Xia 50".

Since 2011, China has surpassed the US to become a world leader in the PC manufacturing industry. This segment is expected to generate USD 6.4 billion in revenue this year.

Dubbed China Computer Technology's Oa, Ms. Xia was named for the award in honor of women engineers or female scientists who have made outstanding achievements or contributed to industry, science and technology. education.