January 11 - As the saying goes, "It's easy to go up to the sky, but hard to enter the ground." The underground space is complex, and the discontinuity and heterogeneity of various media greatly hinder engineering construction. The scale and difficulty of China's underground engineering projects are recognized worldwide as the most challenging. The "Huang Danian-style Teacher Team" led by Professor Li Shucai, the "Geotechnical Engineering Center Team of Shandong University," with the power of fearing no challenges, has long been engaged in teaching and research on advanced geological prediction and treatment of water and mud inrush disasters in underground engineering and tunnel engineering.
　　The prevention and control of major water and mud inrush disasters is a major need for national construction, involving multiple fields such as civil engineering, transportation, water conservancy, and mining. Due to complex geological conditions, disaster prevention and control faces severe challenges, so it is urgent to break through effective prediction methods and treatment technologies. With the joint support of the National 973 Program, Key Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation, National 863 Program, National Key R&D Program, and a large number of major engineering projects, Li Shucai's team has conducted long-term in-depth research on the engineering problems of disaster sources that are "undetectable, inaccurately detected, difficult to quantify, and difficult to treat," and has made important breakthroughs in the positioning and quantitative prediction of water bodies and disaster treatment, forming two landmark achievements: theories, technologies, and equipment for advanced prediction of adverse geology in tunnels; and methods, materials, and technologies for treating water and mud inrush disasters in tunnels.
　　The Shangyuanmen Station of Nanjing Metro is adjacent to the Yangtze River. During construction before the Youth Olympic Games, water gushed from the station foundation pit. After Li Shucai's team urgently received the task, they used advanced geophysical methods and self-developed grouting materials to successfully handle it in less than a month. In Jiangxi, there was a tunnel that could not be constructed for more than 2 years, and their team succeeded after going there. Focusing on the problems in major national construction needs, Li Shucai's team developed usable innovative technologies and provided technical services for 262 domestic engineering projects, ensuring smooth construction without a single water and mud inrush disaster.
　　Professor Li Shucai was awarded the Highest Science and Technology Award of Shandong Province in 2016. He is currently Vice President of Shandong University, Director of the Geotechnical and Structural Engineering Research Center of Shandong University, Distinguished Professor of the Changjiang Scholars Program of the Ministry of Education, recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, Chief Scientist of the "973" Project, expert in the modern transportation technology field of the "863" Program, national-level candidate of the "Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Talent Project," and academic leader of the "Ministry of Education Innovation Team." He has undertaken more than 10 national and provincial/ministerial projects, including National 863 Projects, 973 Topics, the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars and Overseas Young Cooperation Fund, and Key and General Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation. The research results of the "Huang Danian-style Teacher Team" he leads have won 8 Second Prizes of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, 1 Second Prize of the National Technological Invention Award, 13 First Prizes of Provincial and Ministerial Science and Technology Progress Awards, more than 150 national invention patents, and 3 international patents.