Recently, the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the CPC, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, China Association for Science and Technology, and the Central Committee of the Communist Young League of China announced the winner list of the 16th China Youth Science and Technology Award. Professor Chen Yan from the School of Mechanical Engineering was selected to receive the award.

Professor Chen has been engaged in the study of structure for a long time and has made a series of achievements in the field of deployable structures. At the international academic frontier of the inter-discipline of mechanism and structure, Prof Chen and her team has solved the problem of origami of thick panels, one of the major challenges in origami engineering. She creatively combines mechanics and structural mechanics, and conducts engineering application research on deployable structures used in aerospace, medical treatment, robotics, and other fields.

Prof Chen has presided over projects such as the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars and National Key R&D Program of China. She was awarded Tianjin Youth Science and Technology Reward, Tianjin May 1st Labor Medal and other honorary titles.

In 1987, Hsue-shen Tsien, a world-renowned Chinese scientist and other senior scientists proposed the establishment of China Association for Science and Technology Youth Science and Technology Award (renamed China Youth Science and Technology Award in 1994). It is awarded every two years, and the number of commendations for each year is limited to 100. Since its establishment, 1,395 young scientists have been awarded the prize, 142 of them have been elected as academicians of the two Academies, and 80% have become academic leaders in various disciplines. A large number of the winners have occupied important leadership positions in colleges and universities, research institutes, large enterprises, international organizations, and the departments of the Party and the Government.

Since 1994, a total of nine experts from Tianjin University have been selected to win the award.

By Chen Binrui

Editor: Eva Yin