2017 was a year of great accomplishments, growth, and achievements for Tsinghua. At the beginning of 2018, we have compiled a list of top ten news stories of 2017.
1. Tsinghua Research Achievements Win 22 State Science and Technology Awards
22 Tsinghua research achievements recently were recognized at the 2016 State Science and Technology Awards. Tsinghua professors accepted the awards on January 9th at the annual National Science-Technology Award Ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Of Tsinghua’s awards, four were State Natural Science Awards, two were State Technological Invention Awards, and sixteen were State Scientific and Technological Progress Awards. Altogether eight research achievements were completed by Tsinghua as the lead research institution in collaboration with others.
2. Tsinghua University and Politecnico di Milano collaborate in the establishment of Sino-Italian Design Innovation Hub
On February 22, under the witness of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Italian President Sergio Mattarella, the President of Tsinghua University Qiu Yong and the President of the Politecnico di Milano Ferruccio Resta signed the agreement, in the Great Hall of the People, for collaboration to establish the Sino-Italian Design Innovation Hub in Milan. It will be the first education and research base set up by Tsinghua University in Europe, indicating the comprehensive implementation of Tsinghua University’s global strategy.
3. The Suanbiao in Tsinghua Bamboo Slips：the World’s Oldest Decimal Multiplication Table Awarded by Guinness World Record
The Suanbiao, a bamboo-slip manuscript of twenty-one bamboo slips in the Tsinghua collection, is a decimal multiplication table for numbers up to 99.5 when it is reconstructed in the correct order. It was awarded the Guinness World Record for “the oldest decimal multiplication table” in the world on April 23, 2017.
4. Liu Yandong opens the Asian Universities Alliance Founding Assembly and the first AUA Summit
Integrate Asian Wisdom, Shape a Better Future
The Asian Universities Alliance Founding Assembly and the first AUA Summit were held in Beijing on April 29th. Vice-Premier Liu Yandong attended the summit and delivered the keynote speech.
The AUA is a university alliance jointly established by 15 representative universities from Asian countries on the basis of the developing trend of higher education in Asia and following a proposal by Tsinghua University.
At the AUA Board Meeting held on April 28th, 2017, Tsinghua University was elected the founding President of AUA.
5. Tsinghua President Qiu Yong Addresses the Commencement of the Inaugural Class of Schwarzman Scholars-Encouraging the Schwarzman Scholars to be a sailor of the world
Tsinghua University President Qiu Yong attended and addressed the commencement of the inaugural class of Schwarzman Scholars, held at Schwarzman College on July 1st.
A landmark scholarship for the defining challenge of our time, “Schwarzman Scholars at Tsinghua University” is a Master’s degree program designed to prepare the next generation of global leaders.
6. Tsinghua founds Department of the History of Science and begins construction of the Science Museum
The founding ceremony for the Department of the History of Science, Tsinghua University, was held at Tsinghua on June 30th.
The Department will carry out academic research focusing on four aspects: the history of Western science and technology, the history of modern science and technology in China, the philosophy of science and technology, and scientific communication and science museum studies.
7. Global Innovation Exchange (GIX) Opening Celebration- The GIX Building in Seattle Opens
The GIX (Global Innovation eXchange institute) celebration to mark the opening of the GIX building and to welcome the first two cohorts of GIX graduate students was held on September 14th at the GIX building in Bellevue Spring District, Washington State, the United States.
The Global Innovation Exchange (GIX) is a collaboration between universities and industry partners from around the world, focused on developing leaders in innovation. The first two academic partners are Tsinghua University and the University of Washington with foundational support from Microsoft.
8. 2017 ACM Gordon Bell Prize awarded to Chinese team led by Tsinghua on Nonlinear Earthquake Simulation employing the world’s fastest supercomputer
ACM named a 12-member Chinese team, five of whom are from Tsinghua University, as the recipients of the 2017 ACM Gordon Bell Prize, for their research project, “18.9-Pflops Nonlinear Earthquake Simulation on Sunway TaihuLight: Enabling Depiction of 18-Hz and 8-Meter Scenarios.” Using the Sunway TaihuLight, which is ranked as the world’s fastest supercomputer, the team developed software that was able to efficiently process 18.9 Pflops (or 18.9 quadrillion calculations per second) of data and create 3D visualizations relating to a devastating earthquake that occurred in Tangshan, China, in 1976. This is the second time that the prize has been given to a Chinese research team.
The ACM Gordon Bell Prize tracks the progress of parallel computing and rewards innovation in applying high performance computing to challenges in science, engineering, and large- scale data analytics.
9. Four Tsinghua professors elected to the Chinese Academy of Engineering and four professors to the Chinese Academy of Sciences
On November 27th, the Chinese Academy of Engineering announced its 2017 list of newly elected academicians, which includes four Tsinghua professors and seven alumni.
The four professors are Professor Dai Qionghai from the Department of Automation, Professor Zhou Ji from the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Professor Zhang Jianmin from the School of Civil Engineering, and Professor Dong Jiahong from the Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital.
On the following day, November 28th, a list of new members was announced by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which also included four Tsinghua professors and four alumni.
The four professors are C.N.Yang Professor Wang Xiaoyun from the Institute for Advanced Study, Professor Chen Yeguang from the School of Life Sciences, Professor Ouyang Minggao from the Department of Automotive Engineering, and Professor Duan Wenhui from the Department of Physics.
10. The Tsinghua Laboratory of Brain and Intelligence and the Future Laboratory unveiled
On December 15th, the Tsinghua Laboratory of Brain and Intelligence (THBI) and the Future Laboratory, Tsinghua University (THFL), were officially unveiled.
As a new measure to fully implement the national strategy of innovation-driven development, and to deepen the comprehensive reforms, including the reforms of the systems and mechanisms of scientific research carried out by Tsinghua, these two new interdisciplinary research institutes will target the forefront of science and technology, further promoting interdisciplinary research.
Editor: Guo Lili, Zhu Lvhe
Photos: Yang Daiying, Yuan Jie