In 1981, Lu returned to ZJU and continued his teaching position as a lecturer. He soon was promoted to associate professor and was the research group leader of the Laboratory of Fluid Power Transmission and Control at ZJU. 1983, Lu was promoted to professor, and was the Director of the Institute of Fluid Power Transmission and Control, Department of Mechanical Engineering, ZJU. From 1985 to 1987, Lu served as Vice-president of ZJU; and from 1988 to 1995, he was the President of ZJU. Lu is also a part-time professor at Tsinghua University.