Prof. Pan has been a professor in Chongqing University since 1993. He also worked in Oxford University, Stuttgart University, Chiba University, University of California, Queen Mary, and University of Queensland as visiting professor, guest scientist or honorary professor. He has supervised 17 Postdocs, 43 PhD, 57 Master Students. He holds 132 authorized patents, and has published 12 books, 612 journal papers, 12 national and industrial standards. He has undertaken 55 national and provincial key scientific projects. He was awarded the HLHL Prize, the National S&T Prize of China, USA Dupont S&T Innovation Prize and so on.
Prof. Pan discovered and identified the important roles of basal solid-solution strengthening in weakening basal texture, which laid important foundation for the design and development of high plasticity magnesium alloys. 16 high plasticity magnesium alloys were invented, and some of these alloys have been put into mass production and applications successfully. Pan found the obvious improvement of formability of magnesium alloys by using non-uniform stress filed, which is completely different from traditional process. On the base of this discovery, a novel asymmetric extrusion technology was invented, and the first large-scale magnesium sheet line was put into mass production in the world. Pan and his co-workers also discovered the new movement pattern of impurity and special settlement rules of inclusions in the Mg melt during anti-gravity process. The low-cost melt purification technologies invented by Pan and co-workers have been successfully used for mass production of high purity magnesium and magnesium alloys.\
Pan also serves as the director of National Engineering Research Center for Magnesium Alloys (CCMg), president of Chongqing Academy of Science & Technology (the biggest research organization in the southwestern China). The CCMg created by him has become the biggest magnesium research center in the world. Pan is also director of National International Cooperation Base and National Center for International Research.
Pan is devoted to many academic societies and organizations. He is the chairman of ISO TC 79/SC 5 (Magnesium and Magnesium Alloys), vice president of Chinese Materials Research Society, foreign member of Academy of Mining Sciences in Russia, chairman of Chinese Committee of Magnesium and its Applications, president of Chongqing Materials Society. He founded the world’s first magnesium alloy journal, Journal of Magnesium and Alloys (JMA) by Elsevier, and served as Editor in chief since 2013. JMA has become a well-known international journal in the field of magnesium alloys and is indexed by web of science.