Foreigner's skills boost China's aerospace sector

Wang Jianan, Ibrahim's tutor and professor at the school, said he selected Ibrahim from a list of five competitive candidates for the program because of his strong academic background.

"He has performed better than the average Chinese researcher in the field," Wang said. "I'm glad that he kept up his studies in LiDAR technology after graduation which was his research direction and I hope that he will become the bridge between China and Pakistan in this field in future."

LiDAR refers to distance measurement by reflections of laser light. Slight time differences in the reflections can be used make 3-D images of the target object.

Ibrahim chose a career that echoed the wish of his tutor that he work in a Chinese startup company. Benewake focuses on LiDAR research and development and on manufacturing and technical engineering support.

He supports Benewake customers from 41 countries and regions by providing technical assistance, including selection of suitable products for their applications, solving LiDAR-related problems and consulting on other technical issues.

"I configure LiDARs. I write and modify programming codes to use LiDARs with different mini and micro controllers," he said. "I act as a communication medium between overseas customers and the R&D teams in the company."

Li Yuan, CEO of Benewake, who founded the company in 2015 with the aim of being the best producer of robotic eyes (currently LiDAR), has recognized the contribution of Ibrahim, saying that he has accelerated the localization of the company in overseas markets and helped the team adjust to global competition.

"As a high-tech company, we are highly internationalized in terms of technologies and markets, which requires talent from all over the world," Li said.

He added that China has been transforming from exporter to importer for high-end talent, as the country becomes stronger economically and in scientific technology in recent years.

"To build China into a more prosperous country with the power of science and technology is what drives companies like ours to absorb overseas talent," he said.

"We are like explorers who opened up a new maritime navigation era in the 16th century, looking to seek treasure at first but discovering a new land by the end."