Zhang Ruiwu started working at Tsinghua University in 1959 after graduating from the Department of Automation of the same university. He engaged in teaching and scientific research in the State Key Laboratory at the Department of Automation, the Department of Architecture and the Department of Environmental Engineering successively. His research focus included the engineering design and new technology development of national large-scale building, measurement and automatic control required by water supply and drainage, non-electric electricity measurement, intelligent, integrated and optimized management of intelligent building and its weak current system. He retired as a researcher in 1997.