Six Scientists and Technologists from Shanghai Win 2024 Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Awards
On December 3, the 2024 Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Awards Ceremony was held in Beijing. This year, the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation honored 56 scientists and technologists, including 1 recipient of the “Science and Technology Achievement Award,” 33 recipients of the “Science and Technology Progress Award,” and 22 recipients of the “Science and Technology Innovation Award.” Shanghai had 6 awardees, accounting for 10.7% of the national total. Among them, Han Bin, Ning Guang, Ma Yugang, Dong Shaoming, and Chen Yong received the “Science and Technology Progress Award,” while Liu Qi received the “Science and Technology Innovation Award.”
The six awardees from Shanghai were recognized for their outstanding research achievements in various fields, including plant genetics, life health, nuclear physics, ceramic matrix composites, civil aircraft design, and chip storage technology.
Han Bin
Academician Han Bin from the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences conducts research on rice genomics and genetics. He was the first to complete precise sequencing of the fourth chromosome of rice internationally, established a research system for high-throughput genotyping and genome-wide association analysis of complex traits in rice, and created a new strategy for hybrid rice design and breeding.
Ning Guang
Academician Ning Guang from Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine has achieved innovative results in the diagnosis, treatment, and research of endocrine tumors and diabetes. He pioneered the establishment of a standardized metabolic disease management center (MMC), creating an integrated, standardized, and normalized management model for metabolic diseases that combines online and offline diagnosis and treatment.
Ma Yugang
Academician Ma Yugang from Fudan University specializes in medium- and high-energy nuclear physics research. He led his team to make several important discoveries in the study of antimatter nuclei and the properties of quark-gluon plasma. He also led the STAR China Group to develop a large-scale time-of-flight spectrometer based on multi-gap resistive plate chambers, which was successfully applied to experiments on heavy-ion colliders for the first time.
Dong Shaoming
Academician Dong Shaoming from the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has long been engaged in basic research and application of ceramic matrix composites. He has invented ceramic matrix composites with different properties such as high thermal stability, high dimensional stability, ultra-high temperature resistance, and long service life. These materials provide key basic materials and components for China’s high-speed series, new aircraft series, and new-generation aero-engines, achieving full-chain integration from basic research to engineering application and industrialization of ceramic matrix composites.
Chen Yong
Researcher Chen Yong from Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. works in the field of civil jet aircraft research. Since 2008, he has served as the chief designer of the ARJ21 aircraft series, developing China’s first jet regional aircraft. This broke the technical blockade and monopoly of European and American countries in civil jet aircraft and achieved a historic leap for China’s jet regional aircraft from none to existence.
Liu Qi
Professor Liu Qi from Fudan University has been focused on research in new memory technologies for nearly 20 years. He discovered the regulation laws of memory performance and developed several internationally leading resistive memory, memory-computing, and brain-like chips. He collaborated with enterprises to launch a series of chip products embedded with resistive memory, promoting the application and commercialization of resistive memory technology.
The Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation was established in 1994 by patriotic financiers Ho Sin Hang, Liang Xiuqu, Ho Tim, and Lee Kwok Wai from Hong Kong to reward outstanding Chinese scientists and serve the country’s modernization construction. Over the past 30 years, the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation has conducted 31 selection and award ceremonies, honoring 1,638 outstanding scientists and technologists. It has become a successful example of a science and technology award created by social forces in China. A total of 182 individuals from Shanghai have been awarded, accounting for 11% of the total awardees nationwide. Among them, six scientists—Wang Yinglai, Qian Weichang, Su Buqing, Zhang Xiangtong, Gu Chaohao, and Lin Yuanpei—received the Science and Technology Achievement Award. Of all the awardees from Shanghai, 134 are academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, accounting for 74%.
