In June 1948, Du obtained a master's degree of aeronautic engineering from Stanford.

In September 1948, Du turned to Harvard University and studied hydrodynamics under the academic advice of Richard von Mises.

In September 1949, Du went back to Stanford and did research on aeronautic light structure with Stephen Timoshenko and Goodier.

[2] Du was a founder of Chinese modern aeronautic and astronautic material engineering.

He was also a founder of the teaching and research of mechanics and material engineering at Tsinghua University.