On May 30, the Main Event Celebrating the 10th National Science and Technology Workers’ Day and the Award Ceremony for the Fourth National Innovation Excellence Awards was held in Beijing, where award-winning teams and individuals of the Fourth National Innovation Excellence Awards were officially recognized. Among the honorees, Professor Zeng Rong from the Department of Electrical Engineering received the “National Innovation Excellence Medal.”

Zeng Rong

Zeng Rong is a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Tsinghua University. Born in November 1971, he is a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars and a Distinguished Professor under the Ministry of Education’s Changjiang Scholars Program. He has long been engaged in research on ultra-high-voltage (UHV) and extra-high-voltage (EHV) direct current transmission technologies. He led the development of core power semiconductor devices for DC transmission as well as key equipment including DC circuit breakers, DC transformers, and hybrid commutation converters. He also overcame key technological challenges related to protection against strong electromagnetic shocks in UHV/EHV DC systems, supporting the implementation of China’s West-to-East Power Transmission initiative and national energy transition strategy. He has received one Second Prize of the National Technology Invention Award, two Second Prizes of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, as well as the IET E&T Innovation Awards, among other honors.

About the National Innovation Excellence Awards

To thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech at the National Conference on Science and Technology, the National Conference on Science and Technology Innovation, and the Congress of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, to extensively promote innovation-driven excellence initiatives, further unite and inspire the nation’s scientific and technological workers to strive for distinction and contribute to building China into a global science and technology powerhouse, and to establish role models in national scientific and technological innovation for the new era, the National Innovation Excellence Awards were established in 2017 with the approval of the central authorities.

The National Innovation Excellence Awards are jointly organized by the China Association for Science and Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. The awards recognize collectives and individuals that have made outstanding contributions in areas including basic research and frontier exploration, major equipment and engineering breakthroughs, commercialization of scientific achievements and innovation-driven entrepreneurship, and public service. The first awards selection and recognition program was conducted in 2017, followed by the second in 2020 and the third in 2023.

The awards are granted to no more than 10 advanced collectives, which are presented with the National Innovation Excellence Plaque in recognition of outstanding scientific and technological teams, and no more than 300 advanced individuals, who are awarded the National Innovation Excellence Certificate in recognition of outstanding scientific and technological workers. Among them, no more than 30 scientific and technological professionals with especially significant contributions receive the National Innovation Excellence Medal.