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Engineer Nguyen Nhu Thanh – winner of the Ho Chi Minh Prize 2022 for science-technology in the field of military and national defense |
Graduated from the Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunications of Hanoi University of Science and Technology in 2012, Nguyen Nhu Thanh received numerous invitations to work in major companies at that time. However, he decided to join Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group (Viettel) after strict hiring procedures. With the thought that ‘a challenge successfully tackled is a chance for personal capability growth’, even though the working environment there is like in the military, his passion and devotion have helped him to overcome all obstacles.
Thanh is now Level-2 Processing Manager of the Radar Center under Viettel Hi-tech Corp. (member of Viettel) and is one of the responsible engineers for the radar work that won the Ho Chi Minh Prize 2022 for science-technology in the field of military and national defense. He is also the correspondence author of the project ‘VRS-MCX, a multi-tasking X-band medium-range mobile radar station that is capable of vigilance and targeting’. Once completed, the product is expected to earn a revenue of VND2 trillion (US$85.1 million) in the 2022-2025 period when launching 15 stations.
Thanh shared that formerly, his team mostly focused on national defense technologies; however, in the future, Viettel aims more at research in the radar field to create civilian products and update current ones such as smart multi-task radars so as to export them. Viettel has been making international-standard items in this field to serve different purposes of the air force, navy, and community. Yet Viettel is now facing certain challenges, including the most prominent of establishing customer trust among global clients.
“Our biggest advantage is the ability to satisfy the demands of each customer, which is not easy for large enterprises to do. Our products can combine research results and practical needs. I strongly believe that in the near future, Viettel’s products can conquer the international community thanks to their useful features”, affirmed Thanh.
Besides the Ho Chi Minh Prize, Thanh was honored as one of the ten most prominent young figures in 2022 by the National Defense Ministry and one of the ten excellent young Vietnamese in 2022 by Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee.
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Engineer Pham Duong Nam – winner of the Ho Chi Minh Prize 2022 for science-technology in the field of military and national defense |
When winning the Ho Chi Minh Prize for science-technology in the field of military and national defense last May, Pham Duong Nam was only 27 years old – the youngest to receive this prestigious prize
“Due to the nature of my work, it is impossible for me to talk about my work even with my family. Only when attending the award ceremony did they know about what I and my colleagues were doing”, said Nam.
Graduated from the Military Technical Academy in 2018, Nam had worked for another company before joining Viettel as a software engineer in the Radar Center. At that time, he changed his job thinking that he would have more chances to develop in Viettel. When knowing that he had been chosen for the radar project, Nam was extremely eager and excited.
Nam shared that he never dared to dream about winning such a prestigious prize, and if it had not been for coming to Viettel, he would not have achieved it. He explained that it is necessary to have a strong team that cooperate with one another in solving key problems in order to obtain such a result. And that can be achieved with Viettel.
The thought of ‘protecting the country’ has been a motto everywhere in Viettel to encourage employees to devote more to current projects. That is also a motive for Nam and his colleagues to overcome all challenges during their work, thinking that what they do is truly meaningful.
“My desire now is to develop more radar-related products exploiting advanced technologies to contribute to protecting our nation. I also wish for long-term collaboration with my team”, shared Nam.
Opposite to his initially thought that a software engineer merely works inside a comfortable office, in reality, Nam and his teammates have to continuously go for business trips to each army unit, battlefield in order to perform ‘battle’ operations with fellow soldiers on new equipment. This asks for physical health and perseverance to fulfill those projects.
“During the Covid-19 outbreak in 2021, I and 10 colleagues had to separate from our family for 2 months to carry out our project for the National Defense Ministry. At that time, my daughter was only 7 months old. When I came back home, she refused to let me hug her. My wife also complained that I did not spend enough time with my family. All I can do is to make full use of my vacation time to compensate for my family”, recalled Nam.
The Ho Chi Minh Prize for science-technology in the field of military and national defense was given to the Viettel team, including Nguyen Nhu Thanh and Pham Duong Nam. It is a recognition of the Central Party and the Government, the community to silent contributions of Vietnamese military scientists to achieving remarkable results for the purpose of protecting the independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of the Fatherland. These achievements also increase the global status of Vietnam in the field of hi-tech national defense industry.
