Dr. Thai Mai Thanh calls the Vingroup Science and Technology Scholarship for Master's and Doctoral Studies Abroad a life-changing scholarship, creating an opportunity for him to step out into the world and conquer new horizons of knowledge.

"Not only providing financial support, the scholarship also helps candidates to enroll in the world's top schools and join a network of outstanding scientists," shared Dr. Mai Thanh - one of the candidates receiving the Vingroup Science and Technology Scholarship in 2019.

A thorny research journey

Dr. Thai Mai Thanh said that he has been passionate about robots since he was a 9-year-old boy. That passion has grown over time and that is also the reason why he decided to choose the Mechatronics major at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology. With that same passion, Thanh excelled in becoming the valedictorian of the school, winning a master's scholarship at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

Stepping out into the world, Thanh realized that the field of robotics had been developing for decades, so it was difficult for young people to make a breakthrough. He decided to shift his research to specializing in biomedical robots, with the desire to contribute to bringing a better life to the community.

This orientation was given wings when in 2019, Thanh registered and received the Vingroup Science and Technology Scholarship for Master's and Doctoral Study Abroad to participate in the doctoral program in Biomedical Engineering at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia.

The time he had to start getting used to a foreign land was also the time when Covid-19 broke out, Australia's social distancing forced him to learn how to overcome mental pressure. Mai Thanh made the most of the little time he was allowed to go to the school's lab, borrowing his instructor's account to listen to presentations by professors he admired in online seminars.

But the biggest challenge was when Thanh decided to do his graduation thesis on the system of printing materials inside the human body - a new topic that Thanh had to explore and experiment on his own.

Because the robot prints materials inside the human body, it must be very small. Many difficulties followed when it took a year to build the robot with two increases in nearsightedness. Thanh had to test to prove that the robot could print biomedical materials, but the doctor refused to let him use the materials because the robot was too new.

When the research process became deadlocked, under the guidance of his teacher, Mai Thanh continued to find and test many other materials, from toothpaste to liquid chocolate to replace biomedical materials in all Australian family supermarkets.

"After 4 months of research without any progress, the pressure was terrible and sometimes I felt hopeless, but I always told myself to continue to strive and persevere towards a better future. I spent my youth studying abroad, given the opportunity and trust, I had to achieve some results, I couldn't return empty-handed," Thanh said.

With perseverance, Thanh found a type of silicone with the right viscosity, successfully printed it to prove that his robot could work. The test was successful, Thanh received an international patent for the world's first robot to print materials inside the human body. "It was an extremely happy moment," he said.

Life changing launch pad

Thai Mai Thanh is one of the first candidates to receive the Vingroup Science and Technology Scholarship for Master's and Doctoral Studies abroad. In addition to tuition fees, monthly salary allowances and health insurance, the program has provided Mai Thanh with maximum support in the process of applying to the world's leading universities - something that would be difficult for candidates to do if they applied on their own. At the same time, he was connected and accompanied by outstanding scientists in the Vingroup Scholars Network during his studies and research.

"For me, the Vingroup Scholarship is an opportunity to change my life. I believe that with this scholarship, the community of talented people who study at the world's leading schools, have both knowledge and want to contribute to the country will grow stronger, making an important contribution to making Vietnamese science and technology competitive with the world," said Dr. Thanh.

Returning to Vietnam and taking up the position of lecturer and assistant professor of the Mechanical Engineering Program, Institute of Engineering and Computer Science, VinUni University, Dr. Thai Mai Thanh said he is pursuing three research projects. In particular, the project focusing on the immediate future is to create a device to support people with knee and elbow injuries to practice physical therapy properly at home while connecting information to doctors.

A longer-term research topic is to develop touch-sensitive gloves that allow people to control robots with their hands through virtual grasping and holding sensations. Dr. Thanh's greatest aspiration is to continue developing the topic of creating a system to print materials inside the human body so that it can be applied in practice, bringing life to patients.

"Up to this point, this is the topic I am most passionate about in my career," said Dr. Thai Mai Thanh.