Published: Aug. 7, 2010 at 1:57 PM

SHANGHAI, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Hundreds of people gathered Saturday to mourn Qian Weichang, a Chinese physicist known as the "Father of Mechanics."

Qian died July 30 at the age of 98, Xinhua, the official government news agency, reported.

Top officials wearing black armbands joined Qian's family, friends and former students for the service. His body was then cremated.

Hu Yunpeng, 84, one of the mourners, was Qian's student at Tsinghua University more than 60 years ago.

Qian graduated from Tsinghua in 1937 and received a doctorate in applied mathematics at the University of Toronto in 1942. He spent four years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the United States, returning to China after World War II.

He taught in Beijing and Shanghai for more than 50 years and served as president of Shanghai University. Hu said his former teacher encouraged China to develop its own rockets.

Nicknamed the "Father of Mechanics," Qian Weichang, Qian Xuesen, the "Father of Space Technology," and Qian Sanqiang, the "Father of China's Atomic Bomb" became known as "The three Qians" of 20th century Chinese science.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2010/08/07/Chinese-Father-of-Mechanics-mourned/UPI-72101281203870/