"Don't let anything stop you and do miracles!"
—Musk Caltech Commencement Speech
In the early morning of February 10, Beijing time, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) announced the list of new academicians. The 2022 class of U.S. Academy of Engineering includes 111 academicians, with another 22 foreign academicians. Among them, there are 8 Chinese scholars such as Zhang Hongjiang and Fang Daining, and Musk in the list of 22 international members has another identity - academician.
After the list of academicians was announced, Musk retweeted a tweet from the National Academy of Engineering through personal social media with the text: "Much appreciated!" (Thank you very much).
After Musk was elected as an academician, a variety of voices emerged, and some netizens sent heartfelt congratulations on social media, and some netizens questioned: You are not an engineer, so how much did you spend to become an academician?
Regarding the netizens' doubts, in fact, it is understandable, after all, most people's understanding of Musk is not very comprehensive. Academicians in various countries should be the highest honor in each field, generally synonymous with [scientist], and Musk as an entrepreneur does not seem to be compatible with this status, especially Musk is only a bachelor's degree.
However, according to the public information of the National Academy of Engineering, as the CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX, the important reason why Musk was selected as an academician by the National Academy of Engineering is precisely his achievements in SpaceX, which is considered to have made breakthroughs and contributions in the field of rocket reusability and new energy systems, in design, engineering, manufacturing, and operation.
Here I want to briefly introduce the National Academy of Engineering, which is not the same as the meaning of academician in our country.
Founded in 1964, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization in the United States, affiliated with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), responsible for carrying out engineering projects needed by the nation, guided by education and research, recognizing and affirming the value and achievements of engineers. There are currently 2388 US members and 310 international members.
The new NAE membership is elected for a period of one year and is recognized for those who have "made significant contributions to engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, to the engineering literature," "have made outstanding contributions to the development of emerging and developing technological fields and made significant advances in traditional fields," and "innovative approaches to developing/implementing engineering education." Musk's academician is actually deserved!
Musk is a brilliant creator with vision and extraordinary abilities.
Elon Musk was born in South Africa in 1971. His mother, Maye Musk, is a model and nutritionist. His father, Errol Musk, was an electrical mechanic. Musk's foresight was already evident in his middle school days. After graduating from high school, Musk reportedly applied for a Canadian passport through his Canadian-born mother, after realizing that it would be easier to enter the United States from Canada. While waiting for documents, he studied at the University of Pretoria for five months; this allowed him to avoid forced service in the South African army. Musk arrived in Canada in June 1989 and spent a year living with his second cousin in Saskatchewan,[31] working odd jobs on farms and timber mills. In 1990, he entered Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Two years later, he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania and graduated in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in economics and a bachelor's degree in physics.
After graduating from Penn, Musk went to Stanford University to pursue a doctorate, but on the second day of school, Musk decided to drop out of school to start a business. This also means that Musk became an American academician when he was an undergraduate.
But he wasn't a perfect hero. According to some employees, he is very hardworking, often working 80 hours a week and hoping his engineers will work as crazy as he does. And employees are often immediately fired for trivial things, and he does things quickly, sometimes too fast, so much so that he has to apologize multiple times for his tweets. U.S. stock exchange regulators are also watching him closely, as his Twitter posts often cause stock prices to fluctuate.