Ablimit Aili examines a radiative cooling system at the University of Colorado Boulder in the United States. CHINA DAILY

Ablimit Aili still remembers a scene from nearly 20 years ago. During a train journey of more than 40 hours from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region to Wuhan, Hubei province, strong winds whipped up dust and set the blades of towering wind turbines spinning outside his window as the train passed through Dabancheng, an area known for its powerful winds.

Watching the turbines stretch across the vast landscape, he realized just how large Xinjiang was, how vast China was, and that "the world might be even bigger".

He was traveling thousands of kilometers from home for the first time. Until then, the farthest he had ventured was Kashgar, about 70 kilometers from his home village in Yengisar county.

Little did he know how far his journey would eventually take him.

From Yengisar, Ablimit went on to attend high school in Wuhan, pursue undergraduate studies in Beijing, earn a master's degree in the United Arab Emirates and a doctorate in the United States, and conduct postdoctoral research in Singapore.

Today, he is a researcher at Zhejiang University's Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province.

Each chapter of his journey was like a gust of wind, carrying him to new places and greater heights.

Yet he has never forgotten where that wind first blew.

Ablimit attended elementary and middle school in his village, where educational resources were limited.

The school was frequently faced with teacher shortages. When teachers were absent, students with strong academic records were sometimes asked to teach their classmates. Ablimit was one of them.

A turning point came when he was admitted to a government program known as the Xinjiang senior high school classes in inland China, which enables students from Xinjiang to attend high schools in other parts of China, giving them greater access to quality education.

"The school's facilities were excellent, and there were so many outstanding teachers and students. It was the first time I really felt pressure from my peers," Ablimit said of his time at Wuhan No 1 High School.

Years later, Ablimit has witnessed significant changes in educational opportunities in Yengisar. During visits home, he has seen schools expand, laboratories upgraded and more teachers arrive through educational assistance programs.

He summed up the generational shift this way: "The question we faced back then was, 'Do I have an opportunity?' For today's children in Yengisar, it's 'Which path should I take?'"

From there, the decisions become more specific: What should they study? Which city should they go to? What careers should they pursue?

After studying and researching around the world, Ablimit Aili hopes to bring green technologies and research opportunities back to Xinjiang.

To make those choices, young people first need to understand what is possible. Ablimit believes one key to science education is giving children opportunities to meet scientists and engineers in person.

"If they can see a real‑life example of someone working in science, they'll know that becoming a scientist is a genuine career option," he said.

His own journey offers one such example: a student from a village in Yengisar went on to become a researcher.

While pursuing his doctorate in mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder in the US, Ablimit studied radiative cooling, a technology that uses certain materials to release heat into outer space, reducing reliance on conventional cooling systems.

He found that radiative cooling generally works better in dry environments, where the air contains less water vapor.

That finding brought Xinjiang to mind. With its dry climate and substantial demand for cooling during the summer, could the region's natural conditions help improve cooling efficiency and reduce energy consumption in buildings?

"I realized that my hometown was part of the scientific question, and also part of the answer," he said.

Today, Ablimit focuses primarily on two research areas: green buildings and smart microgrids.

Green building research tackles a practical challenge: How can buildings reduce air‑conditioning use in summer and heating demand in winter without sacrificing indoor comfort?

Smart microgrids address another question: How can a village or industrial park use rooftop solar panels, energy storage systems and other technologies to generate, store and manage its own electricity?

Both fields hold considerable potential for Xinjiang.

In Ablimit's view, the region's natural conditions, including abundant sunshine, wind resources and large temperature differences between day and night make it promising for research and applications in both areas.

He hopes to establish joint laboratories with universities and companies in Xinjiang, find suitable buildings in places such as Kashgar for pilot projects, and bring students from Xinjiang to Zhejiang for research opportunities.

For now, however, that vision remains unrealized. It is another goal he hopes to achieve, one step at a time.

That is also a message he would share with his younger self and children growing up in Yengisar today. "Knowledge is like a staircase. Every problem you figure out becomes another step that can help you go farther in the future. The world is much bigger than what you find in textbooks," he said.

But however far those steps take them, he hopes they will remember where they started.

"You will go to many places in the future but never forget the wind of Yengisar. It is dry and scorching hot, but it comes from the place that shaped you into who you are," he added.