Shen Zhiyuan, a native of Liyang, Jiangsu Province, was born in November 1929. When he was six years old, he studied in Jinan Chengdong Middle School, junior high school in Liyang Tongji Middle School and County High School, and senior high school in Shanghai. In May 1948, he was dismissed for participating in the Progressive Student Movement. In 1949, he started working in Liyang. In 1956, Shen Zhiyuan was admitted to Zhejiang University as a transfer. In 1959, he was selected to graduate ahead of schedule and stayed in school to teach. In 1980, Shen Zhiyuan was sent by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to the United States to work as a visiting scientist at the New York University of Technology. Since 1983, he has worked as a senior engineer and research scientist in many famous American industrial companies, engaged in research and development of microwave electronics. From 1984 to 1989, he was employed as a part-time professor of the Bridge and Port Engineering College. In 1990, he was employed by the Central Research Institute of DuPont Corporation and successively served as a researcher, academician, etc. Currently, he is a senior academician, responsible for the research on the application of high-temperature superconductors.