Shun Jie Fan - From Enigma to Biosensor Control System
During his childhood in his home town of Handan, which is situated approximately 400 kilometers south of Beijing, Fan dreamed of having a career as a librarian. In his fantasy, he would spend his life tranquilly browsing through ancient tomes every day and working on deciphering mysteries that had never before been solved. However, as the years slipped by, reality began to set in. “The economic viability of such a career seemed highly questionable to me, especially in such a rapidly growing society as China’s,” he recalls.
Fan, who is now 34, chose a more reliable path by enrolling in Beijing’s Tsinghua University in 1991, completing his Bachelor of Engineering degree in process automation instrumentation, and finally wrapping up his university career in 2001 with a doctorate in control engineering. This was followed by a three-year scientific research stint at Imperial College London in the UK in the field of systems and process engineering. After that he was offered a job as an engineer by a young Beijing technology company in 2004 and returned to China.
When Siemens offered Fan a job in 2005, he didn’t have to think twice. With his experience in the automation of processes in the areas of petrochemicals, synthetic materials and biotechnology, the assignment seemed tailor-made for him. The goal was to adapt biosensors commonly used in medical applications – devices which, for example, are used in the identification of blood cells and metabolic substances such as blood sugar, cholesterol, and urea – to industrial biotechnology. Fan immediately found himself in his element – mainly because he frequently had to solve a problem by means of his wealth of experience and his interdisciplinary knowledge.
And he has done so with resounding success. Fan’s team recently developed the world’s first biosensor platform for biotechnology – a prototype that works flawlessly. In fact, following initial experiments, the platform promises to dramatically improve the efficiency of bioprocess automation. And Fan, needless to say, is pleased with himself. After all, he has managed to partially fulfill his childhood dream and solve a complex enigma that no one had ever unraveled before. Besides having a passion for his job in technology, Fan is the father of a two-year-old son and an enthusiastic amateur athlete. His favorite pastimes are swimming and chess.