From August 5 to 9, 2018 at US West Cost Time, the annual meeting of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Power & Energy Society (IEEE PES) was held in Portland, Oregon, USA. The theme of this annual meeting is "Re-imaging the Electric Grid". About 3,200 researchers and engineers in the field of electricity and energy attended the meeting.

On the evening of August 7, Karen Bartleson, former President of the American Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, presented the 2018 IEEE Herman Halperin Electric Transmission and Distribution Award to Prof. He Jinliang of Department of Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University, in recognition of his outstanding achievements in lightning protection of transmission lines, including his promoting the progress of analytical methods and the innovation of line arresters.

He Jinliang's address at the Award Presentation Ceremony

Karen Bartleson, former chairman of IEEE, said in his award speech that Prof. He Jinliang's outstanding achievements in lightning protection of transmission lines have greatly improved the lightning strike effect of high voltage transmission lines, and Mr. He’s lightning electromagnetic transient analysis model and lightning shielding analysis method can more accurately simulate the real process of lightning strike. Moreover, Mr. He also pioneered the development of smaller, lighter and safer composite coat arresters, which can deeply limit the transient overvoltage caused by lightning strikes and eliminate lightning strikes on transmission lines.

Over the past century, IEEE has paid tribute to outstanding professional and technical personnel in the field of electrical and electronic engineering in the form of association awards, commending them for their outstanding achievements and contributions, which have had a lasting impact on the technical, social and engineering fields. Every year, the IEEE Award Committee selects winners from all over the world and awards them the highest honors. The IEEE Herman Halperlin Electric Transmission and Distribution Award is one of the Technical Field Awards established by the IEEE Board of Directors. It is the highest achievement award in the field of international power transmission and distribution technology and commends the world's outstanding experts in the field of power transmission and distribution. The Award was established by the IEEE Board of Directors in 1986, and its name was the William M. Habirshaw Prize for Power Transmission and Distribution from 1959 to 1986. The award is funded by the Herman Halperin and Edna Halperin Foundation. He Jinliang is the first Chinese scholar since the award was established 59 years ago.

Ms. Karen Bartleson (left), former Chairman of IEEE, and Prof. Saifur Rahman (right), Chairman of the IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES), presented the Medal to Prof. Jinliang

Certificate of IEEE Herman Halperin Electric Transmission and Distribution Award

IEEE Herman Halperlin Electric Transmission and Distribution Medal

Mr. He Jinliang received his Ph.D. Degree in March 1994 from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University. He is currently the Director of the Institute of High Voltage and Insulation Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University. He was awarded the National Outstanding Youth Fund in 2004, elected the IEEE Fellow in 2007, awarded the Cheung Kong Scholar Chair Professor, Minister of Education in 2009, and appointed the chief scientist of 973 projects by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2014. For his outstanding achievements in lightning protection and transient characteristics of grounding systems, he won the Technical Achievement Award of IEEE EMC Society in 2010, the Asia-Pacific EMC Society Award in 2012, the 6th Hoshino Prize of the Institute of Electrical Installation Engineers of Japan in 2013, the Distinguished Contribution Award of Asia-Pacific International Conference on Lightning in 2015, and the Rud Heinrich Gold of International Conference on Lightning Protection (ICLP) in 2016.