Foreigner's skills boost China's aerospace sector

Muhammad Ibrahim, 28, a Pakistani aerospace technology scientist who works at Benewake, a Chinese company headquartered in Beijing, believes the efforts made by China to achieve a moderately prosperous society have opened doors of opportunity for the rest of the world.

"It's very well-known that China has set this goal. In working to achieve it, the country has brought peace and stability to human society and promoted technologies," he said, speaking of the vision, known in Chinese as xiaokang shehui.

"Xiaokang society has made a major contribution to the development of China. We know that it was established by former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, who thought China would one day become a nation where people are moderately well-off — where economic prosperity is capable of moving most of the population into comfortable means," said Ibrahim, who is familiar with the modern history of China.

As an international student who got his master's degree and found a job in his field after graduation, Ibrahim said he has benefited from China's Xiaokang society in science and technology and meanwhile has contributed to the process through what he has learned in China.

As one of the few young scientists specializing in the design of quadcopters with stable balancing systems in Pakistan, Ibrahim came to China with the clear purpose of continuing his research with top scientists in the aerospace field.

Unlike many foreign students who came to China because of their interests in Asian cultures and want to learn the Chinese language, Ibrahim searched for professors who have research interest in the control of flying vehicles because he wanted to continue his master's degree in that area.

"Once I found one of the professors at the Beijing Institute of Technology, I applied for his master's program in the aerospace engineering school," he said. "I wanted to combine electronics and principles of control theory and apply it in aerial robotic systems."