From a poor student receiving a scholarship, Nguyen Thai Binh became a respected professor.

Poor student works as a porter to earn money for school

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Trung Viet (49 years old), graduated with a PhD from Tohoku University, Japan in 2007 and was recognized as a professor in 2018. Prof. Viet has made great contributions to the irrigation industry in general and the hydraulic engineering industry in particular. He is currently Vice Principal of the University of Water Resources.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Trung Viet, Vice Principal of Thuyloi University

Vu Tho

Few people know that when he was a student, he had to work as a porter to earn money for his studies. "I was born and raised in Vinh Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, Nghe An in a poor family. My father was a war invalid fighting against the French and the Americans, losing an arm, my mother was often sick, and had to raise 5 siblings to study, I was the youngest child in the family," he shared.

In 1993, he entered the University of Water Resources, studying hydraulic engineering. At that time, his family could only provide 150,000 VND/month. To earn money for his studies, he worked many jobs, from making coal, carrying bricks, helping with air conditioner installation..., he did whatever people hired him to do. Because his family was poor, he was quite self-conscious. In the first year, although he was sent by the school to compete in the National Math Olympiad, he did not dare to participate. Later, seeing his classmates winning prizes, he boldly participated and had 2 years of high achievements: first prize in the Olympiad on mechanics in strength and materials in 1996; second prize in the Olympiad on soil mechanics in 1997.

Thanks to that effort, in 1996, the poor student was awarded the Nguyen Thai Binh scholarship by Thanh Nien Newspaper with a value of 1 million VND/scholarship (equivalent to 2 taels of gold at that time) and the scholarship became a profound mark in his life. With the scholarship and the money he saved from working part-time, he was able to buy his parents an electric rice cooker. "Receiving a scholarship is very precious. I feel sorry for my parents in the countryside who have to cook with straw. My mother is weak, so my father often has to cook rice, using only one hand to stir the straw to cook, it was very pitiful to see. Therefore, I spent part of the scholarship money to buy my parents an electric rice cooker," he emotionally recalled.

Motivation to achieve success

The Nguyen Thai Binh scholarship is not only valuable in material terms, but it is also a spiritual motivation that helps him strive to rise up, eliminates his inferiority complex, and urges him on his journey to conquer many other successes. "From the Nguyen Thai Binh scholarship of Thanh Nien Newspaper, I have boldly and confidently applied for other scholarships at home and abroad and have received many valuable scholarships to complete my master's and doctoral degrees," he shared.

He completed his doctoral thesis at Tohoku University and returned to work at the University of Water Resources. During his teaching and research, he was invited to present at many prestigious conferences around the world, and evaluated doctoral theses at several prestigious universities such as Delft University of Technology (Netherlands), Curtin University (Australia), Aix-Marseille University and Toulouse University (France). He and his research team have won many domestic and international scientific research awards such as: Award for highly applicable articles at the 19th National Conference on Hydromechanics in 2017...

In 2014, he was also invited by the Japan Foundation for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) to conduct research and collaborate at Tohoku University. He was honored to be appointed as a member of the Executive Board of the International Association for Hydrological and Environmental Engineering Research, Asia-Pacific Region (IAHR-APD) and a member of the Executive Board of the Asia-Pacific Association of Marine Engineering (APAC). Since 2019, he has been a member of the State Council of Professors specializing in irrigation. Notably, in 2022, Professor Viet was awarded the Outstanding International Cooperation Award by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE).

Sharing his memories on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Thanh Nien Online Newspaper, Mr. Viet said that now when talking to students, he is always proud to talk about the Nguyen Thai Binh scholarship. In his scientific resume, he always respectfully records his first achievement as "Nguyen Thai Binh Scholarship awarded by Thanh Nien Newspaper", because it helped him strive to become what he is today.

He hopes that Thanh Nien Newspaper will continue to maintain the scholarship fund and have many forms of support for poor students to contribute to encouraging young people and students to live with ideals and ambitions, follow in the footsteps of previous generations, strive to improve themselves and contribute to the country.

"Information on Thanh Nien Online Newspaper is always fast, accurate, and has a large spread in society thanks to multi-platform information channels. Therefore, the influence of Thanh Nien Online Newspaper is very large. This is also an important information channel to orient education and encourage young people and students on the path of learning and training, applying science and technology to reach success. I hope that the Newspaper will strengthen cooperation with universities to organize useful activities for students, such as the recent organization of the Vietnam Youth Student Football Tournament at Thuy Loi University, bringing a lot of emotions to the student community in general and the university's students in particular," shared Professor Viet.

From the Nguyen Thai Binh scholarship of Thanh Nien Newspaper, I was bold and confident to apply for other scholarships at home and abroad and received many valuable scholarships to complete my master's and doctoral studies.

— Professor Nguyen Trung Viet

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tu-sinh-vien-ngheo-nhan-hoc-bong-nguyen-thai-binh-tro-thanh-vi-giao-su-dang-kinh-18523121115595895.htm