On July 6, 2019, the "28th Award Ceremony of the Beijing Mao Yisheng Science and Technology Education Foundation and the 9th Bridge and Tunnel Engineering Technology Forum," jointly hosted by the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the China Railway Society, and the Beijing Mao Yisheng Science and Technology Education Foundation, was held in Chengdu.

　　Guests attending the meeting included Sun Yongfu, former Executive Vice Minister of the Ministry of Railways, Chairman of the Beijing Mao Yisheng Science and Technology Education Foundation, and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; and He Huawu, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Vice Chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, Executive Vice Chairman of the Beijing Mao Yisheng Science and Technology Education Foundation, and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

　　The opening ceremony of the conference was presided over by Ye Yangsheng, Vice Chairman of the Foundation. Wang Jianguo, Party Secretary of Sichuan University, delivered a welcome speech. Academician He Huawu, Executive Vice Chairman of the Mao Yisheng Foundation, presented a "Portrait of Mao Yisheng" to Sichuan University on behalf of the Mao Yisheng Foundation.


　　Chairman Sun Yongfu delivered an important speech at the meeting. He said that this year marks the 100th anniversary of Mr. Mao Yisheng's return to China after studying abroad. One hundred years ago, after obtaining a Doctor of Engineering degree from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in the United States, Mr. Mao Yisheng returned to the motherland full of aspirations to serve the country. From then on, he devoted his entire life to the prosperity and strength of the motherland. He built the first modern steel bridge on the Qiantang River designed and constructed by the Chinese themselves; he served as Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge and creatively solved 14 technical problems in the bridge's construction; he served as head of the structural review panel for the Great Hall of the People, providing technical assurance for the safety of its large-span steel structure; he long served as President of the Railway Science Research Institute of the Ministry of Railways, making important contributions to China's railway science and technology and engineering construction; he successively served as president, dean, and professor of five universities including Tangshan Jiaotong University, cultivating a group of outstanding talents in civil engineering for the country; he served as Vice Chairman of the Sixth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Honorary Chairman of the Central Committee of the Jiusan Society, Honorary Chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, President of the Western Returned Scholars Association, Chairman of the China Civil Engineering Society, and Vice Chairman of the China Association for Science Popularization, among other positions, playing an important role in promoting the development of national science and technology education and uniting broad sectors of the science and technology education community to contribute to socialist modernization under the leadership of the Party.

　　Sun Yongfu said that the Mao Yisheng Science and Technology Education Foundation was initiated and established in 1991 by more than a dozen organizations where Mr. Mao Yisheng had held positions during his lifetime, with the aim of carrying on Mr. Mao Yisheng's legacy and promoting the development of China's science and technology education. Over the past 28 years, the Foundation has carried forward Mr. Mao Yisheng's cause and spirit and has always closely centered its work on the major policies of the Party and the state. Through commemorative activities, the creation of Mao Yisheng classes, exhibitions, and film and television productions, the Foundation promotes Mr. Mao Yisheng's spirit and encourages science and technology educators to contribute, like Mr. Mao Yisheng, to building a modern country and realizing the Chinese Dream; the "Mao Yisheng Science and Technology Award" it established has honored more than 3,000 outstanding individuals who have achieved remarkable results in science and technology education; it has held dozens of high-level science and technology exchange and science popularization activities, among which the "Belt and Road" Civil Engineering Technology High-end Forum and others have produced positive and favorable influence; since 2000, it has carried out more than 30 cross-strait science and technology exchange activities, fulfilling Mr. Mao Yisheng's wish to build a bridge of cross-strait exchange; in response to the national call for new rural construction and contiguous and targeted poverty alleviation, it has carried out the "Mao Yisheng Public Welfare Bridge" activity, building safe bridges to school for children in remote and impoverished areas in eight provinces and municipalities across the country, producing a positive social impact.

　　Sun Yongfu said that at present we are in a new historical era of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The purpose of holding this conference today is to take Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as our guide, carry forward Mr. Mao Yisheng's spirit of "patriotism, science, struggle, and dedication," and make greater contributions to realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation!

　　Academician Qin Shunquan of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Ma Fuhai, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the China Railway Society, delivered speeches at the meeting. Qin Shunquan said that the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Mao Yisheng Foundation have jointly hosted the "Bridge and Tunnel Engineering Technology Forum" for nine consecutive years since 2011. He pointed out that the present is a critical period for the development of bridge and tunnel engineering technology in China, and that this year the state has fully launched the planning and construction of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway. The construction difficulty of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway is unprecedented. For this reason, this year's bridge and tunnel forum takes "Innovating Bridge and Tunnel Technology to Serve the Sichuan-Tibet Railway" as its theme, in the hope of providing strong technical support for the bridge and tunnel projects of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway. Ma Fuhai said that the China Railway Society is willing to join with academicians, experts, and engineering and technical personnel to gather strength from all quarters, pool collective wisdom, and strive to solve the various difficulties faced in the planning and construction of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway and to write a vivid and magnificent chapter for the new journey of China's railway development!


　　After the opening ceremony, the award ceremony for the 28th Mao Yisheng Science and Technology Award was held. The "Mao Yisheng Science and Technology Award" was approved and established by the National Office for Science and Technology Awards and has 10 sub-awards, among which the Bridge Grand Award and the Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Grand Award have become recognized as the highest individual honor awards in China's civil engineering field. The winners of the Mao Yisheng Science and Technology Award are all outstanding talents who have achieved distinguished accomplishments in related fields; among them, 17 later became academicians of the two academies, some became Changjiang Scholars, and more became leading figures in their professional fields. This year's Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Grand Award was conferred on Mr. Liu Songyu, Distinguished Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at Southeast University. The conference also presented the Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Youth Award, Railway Science and Technology Award, Railway Engineer Award, Beijing Youth Science and Technology Award, Wood Science and Technology Award and Wood Science and Technology Education Scholarship, Engineering Education Student Award, and Railway Education Hope Star Award. A total of 188 people won awards at this award ceremony. These winners come from more than 20 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions across the country, covering outstanding frontline engineering and technical talents in the fields of railways, highways, bridges, and urban construction; outstanding scientific researchers in science, engineering, agriculture, and medicine and other fields; and outstanding students from institutions of higher learning.

　　Finally, the conference held the 9th Bridge and Tunnel Engineering Technology Forum. Academician He Huawu announced the opening of the forum and delivered an excellent speech. With the theme "Innovating Bridge and Tunnel Technology to Serve the Sichuan-Tibet Railway," the forum aimed to better serve the construction of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, promote the industrialization of academic achievements, and advance technological and management progress in the planning, design, construction, and operation of major bridge and tunnel projects. Academician He Huawu, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; Academician Qin Shunquan, Chairman of China Railway Major Bridge Reconnaissance & Design Institute Group Co., Ltd.; and Zhao Yong, Deputy General Manager of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway Company, delivered keynote reports respectively on major engineering challenges and countermeasures for the Ya'an-Linzhi section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, research on the structural system of super-long-span cable-stayed bridges, and key technologies for tunnel construction on the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, giving participants a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and solutions for the bridge and tunnel projects of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway.

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