Selection of "top ten engineering achievements in the world in 2022"
Dear Professor,
Greetings from Engineering, the flagship journal of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE)!
To draw global attention to engineering science and technology and promote its progress and innovation,Engineering and Global Engineering Frontier Project Office of CAE jointly launched the election of the Global Top Ten Engineering Achievements in 2022. The election of the Global Top Ten Engineering Achievements in 2022 shall be an accomplished result and accepted separately or jointly by multiple countries five years prior to the election year (2017‒2021).
After global call for nominations, recommendations by domain experts, and preliminary selection, there are 16 candidate engineering achievements shortlisted.
In view of your outstanding influence in related fields of engineering science and technology, we would like to invite you to answer the questionnaire about “Global Top Ten Engineering Achievements”. Please send us back the questionnaire forms before 30th September 2022.
Thank you for your consideration and support!
Engineering and Global Engineering Frontier Project Office of CAE
2022/9
*The following 16 candidate engineering achievements are divided into two groups. Please select at most 4 of the 8 engineering achievements in each group.
Group 1
Spot & Atlas Robot
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In June 2020, Spot, a quadruped robot manufactured by Boston Dynamics, was put on sale. In 2021, the company's new generation Atlas, a biped humanoid robot, was released. The robots of Boston Dynamics use batteries to provide power and hydraulic system as the driving output power, so as to control the movements of each limb and achieve flexible movement of the body. Spot can provide terrain movement, 360 degree obstacle avoidance, navigation at all levels, remote control and autonomous control, payload support, and other functions. Atlas has strong environmental awareness, adaptability and autonomous action ability, and can naturally and coherently complete jumping, tumbling, handstand, dancing, parkour and other actions. The robot of Boston Dynamics represents the world’s most advanced robot technology, have broad application prospects, and open a new era of human manufacturing intelligent robots.
RTS,S/AS01 Malaria Vaccine
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In October 2021, the World Health Organization approved the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline, which is the first vaccine in the world that can effectively prevent plasmodium falciparum malaria with the highest mortality rate. Clinical trials of 800,000 children in Kenya, Malawi, Ghana, and other countries in Africa show that the vaccine can provide 50% protection against severe malaria within one year after vaccination. RTS,S/AS01 vaccine, combined with existing preventive measures, is expected to reduce nearly 70% of malaria deaths, greatly accelerate the progress of malaria control in Africa, improve children's health and save lives. The advent of this vaccine is an important milestone in the history of human fight against malaria, which brings hope to human control of malaria and even the final elimination of malaria.
Third-Generation Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor-HPR1000
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In 2021, the “HPR1000” China Fuqing Nuclear Power Unit #5 and Pakistan Karachi Unit #2 developed by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group (CGNPC) were put into commercial operation. As China’s first million kilowatts third-generation advanced pressurized water reactor nuclear motor type, “HPR1000” is designed with the safety concept of “active and passive combination”. It adopts 177 fuel assembly reactor cores, multiple redundant safety systems, single reactor arrangement, and double-layer containment to ensure that the nuclear power plant can maintain the system operation under extreme conditions and meet the highest international nuclear power safety standards. It is the preferred scheme of the third generation nuclear power.
Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge
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On October 24, 2018, the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge, a bridge and tunnel project connecting Hong Kong, Zhuhai, and Macao, was officially put into operation. The 55-kilometer sea crossing bridge, which took nine years to build, is designed to last 120 years and can withstand earthquakes of magnitude 8, typhoons of magnitude 16, impacts of 300,000 tons and floods of the Pearl River Estuary that occur once in 300 years. The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge adopts the construction form of “bridge, island, and tunnel in one”. It is composed of three navigable bridges, one subsea tunnel, four artificial islands and connecting bridges and tunnels, non-navigable continuous beam bridges in deep and shallow water areas, and land connecting lines in Hong Kong, Zhuhai, and Macao. It is a super bridge with the largest span, longest length and longest immersed tube tunnel that has been built in the world.
BeiDou Navigation Satellite System
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On July 31, 2020, the BeiDou-3 Global Navigation Satellite System was officially launched, which is the third mature global navigation satellite system after GPS and GLONASS. The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System consists of three parts: space segment, ground segment, and user segment. It can provide positioning, navigation, and timing, global short message communication, and international search and rescue services globally, and satellite-based augmentation, ground-based augmentation, precise point positioning and regional short message communication services for the Asia-Pacific region. It has been successfully applied in the fields of transportation, marine fishery, hydrological monitoring, geographic surveying and mapping, power dispatch, disaster relief and mitigation, weather forecast, emergency search and rescue, and has produced significant economic and social benefits.
New Generation of Electric Vehicles
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Under the background of increasingly severe global ecological environment and energy supply, the new generation of electric vehicles powered by on-board power supply and driven by motors are experiencing rapid development. The new generation of electric vehicles, represented by Tesla, Toyota, and BYD, have realized the integration and innovation of information and communication technology and automobile manufacturing, and upgraded the vehicle into a software-defined mobile intelligent platform with functions such as environmental awareness, intelligent decision-making and collaborative control. The global sales of electric vehicles reached 6.5 million in 2021. The new generation of electric vehicles has set off a subversive change in traditional automobile manufacturing, leads the automobile to a new journey of electrification, electronization, networking, intelligence, and green development.
Chinese Lunar Exploration Program
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In January 2019, Chang’e 4 successfully landed in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon; in December 2020, Chang’e 5 successfully returned to the Earth with 1.73 kilogram of lunar soil samples from young KREEP terrain in the northern region of the Lunar Oceanus Procellarum, marking that Chinese Lunar Exploration Program has successfully achieved the goal of “orbiting”, “landing”, and “returning”. Chinese Lunar Exploration Program realized the first soft landing and patrol survey of a human probe on the far side of the moon, left the first footprints in the history of the world’s lunar exploration on the far side of the moon, obtained the first geological profile of the nearside and far side of the moon, and opened a new chapter in human exploration of the mystery of the moon and development and utilization of the moon.
3D Bioprinting
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In recent years, 3D Bioprinting has been widely used in the field of tissue and organ regeneration, achieving the evolution from single-cell printing to multi-cell printing, and gradually being used for tissue and organoid printing. In 2018, Shanghai Jiaotong University transplanted customized printed auricular cartilage for five children with congenital microtia. In 2019, Tel Aviv University in Israel successfully designed and printed a heart with cells, blood vessels, ventricles and atrium for the first time. In 2020, the University of Minnesota printed out a heart pump that can beat normally. The advances of 3D Bioprinting are triggering a new revolution in the field of life sciences and opening up a new technological path for human organ regeneration and transplantation.Group 2
Hywind Scotland Floating Wind Farm
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In October 2017, Hywind Scotland power farm, the world's first commercial floating wind farm, was completed and put into operation. This wind farm is jointly developed and operated by Masdar Company of the United Arab Emirates and Statoil ASA. It is deployed in the sea area 25 kilometers away from the coast of Peterhead, Aberdeen, Scotland, with a water depth of 95–120 meters. It is composed of five wind turbines. Each buoy weighs 11,200 tons, and the total height of each unit is 258 meters. Among them, 178 meters of the structure are floating on the water, and the other 80 meters are submerged underwater. The total installed capacity is 30 MW, which is enough to provide power for 20,000 households. The commercial development and operation of floating wind farm have broadened the market and application fields of the entire offshore wind power industry.
Mangrove Ecological Restoration
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Due to human activities, climate change, invasive alien species, and other factors, 35% of the world’s mangroves have disappeared, posing an increasingly severe challenge to coastal ecosystems in coastal countries. Since the beginning of the new century, China, Vietnam, Thailand, and other countries have taken active actions to carry out ecological restoration of degraded mangroves and lost mangrove areas in coastal areas through large-scale artificial planting and biodiversity protection. As of 2021, China had successfully repaired more than 7000 hectares of mangroves, built a standard system for mangrove ecological restoration that synergizes biodiversity and “blue carbon” sink enhancement, and effectively slowed down the degradation of global mangrove communities.
Solar Energy Generation System
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Solar photovoltaic power generation has technical advantages such as safety and reliability, no noise, no pollution, and convenient station construction. In recent years, affected by global climate change and energy transformation, solar photovoltaic power generation has achieved unprecedented rapid development. As of the end of 2021, the world’s cumulative PV installed capacity had reached 942 GW. China, the United States, and the European Union were ranked among the top three. Breakthroughs have been made in silicon solar cells, thin-film solar cells and concentrated solar cells. The energy conversion rate of crystalline silicon battery in laboratories has reached 26.7%, and the energy conversion rate of large-scale application is close to 20%. As the most popular and promising technology path for human beings to use solar energy, solar photovoltaic power generation is expected to lead the future global green energy revolution.
COVID-19 Vaccine Development and Application
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Since 2020, in response to the global outbreak of COVID-19, researchers in various countries have urgently carried out the development of COVID-19 vaccine. The research and development of COVID-19 vaccine adopts five technical routes: inactivated vaccine, nucleic acid (mRNA or DNA) vaccine, recombinant protein vaccine, adenovirus vector vaccine, and attenuated influenza virus vector vaccine. The research and development cycle is greatly shortened to 10–18 months, creating a new record for human vaccine research and development, and realizing the large-scale application of mRNA vaccine for the first time. As of December 31, 2021, more than 8 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been vaccinated worldwide, playing a significant role in preventing novel coronavirus infection and morbidity, especially in significantly reducing serious cases and deaths.
Falcon Heavy Recoverable Rocket
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On February 7, 2018, Space X launched the “Falcon Heavy” (FH) carrier rocket, and the two boosters were successfully recovered in the lander area for the first time. With a total height of 69.2 meters and a weight of 1420.8 tons, FH has a carrying capacity of 63.8 tons to low Earth orbit, 26.7 tons to geosynchronous orbit and 16.8 tons to Mars orbit. The total thrust provided by all engines at the initial stage of launch is over 5 million pounds, making it the largest carrier rocket in service in the world. The rocket is designed with a core-stage parallel structure with 40% redundancy of structural strength. The first stage of the rocket can be recovered and reused, which greatly reduces the operation cost and can provide a more economical and efficient vehicle for human to enter deep space.
Rejuvenation Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) train
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In June 2017, the China Rejuvenation EMU train developed by China Railway Corporation was launched in both directions on the Beijing–Shanghai line; In January 2019, the Rejuvenation EMU achieved the world’s first automatic drive at 350 kilometers per hour. So far, Rejuvenation EMU train has formed various models with different speed levels, different marshalling, centralized or decentralized power, which can meet the travel needs of complex and diverse environments, long-distance, long-term, and continuous high-speed operation. As of the end of 2021, Rejuvenation EMU had been equipped with 1191 units, ran 1.358 billion kilometers safely, and transported 1.37 billion passengers. Rejuvenation EMU has opened a new era of high-speed railway transportation.
Hyperscale Public Cloud Computing Platform
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In recent years, the hyperscale public cloud computing platform built based on the new generation of information technologies such as big data and AI has transformed enterprise level computing, storage, network and other technical resources into inclusive basic services, and has been widely applied in the national economy and people's livelihood scenarios such as government, industry, energy, medical care, finance, transportation, education and so on. In 2021, the global cloud computing market represented by IaaS, PaaS and SaaS has reached nearly 300 billion US dollars, and Amazon, Microsoft, Alibaba, Google and Huawei have become the world's major cloud service providers. The hyperscale public cloud computing platform provides an advanced ICT foundation for social and economic development and industrial innovation, greatly promoting the rapid development of the global digital economy.
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
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On December 25, 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a space telescope for infrared observation jointly developed by NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, was launched. It took thousands of scientists and engineers more than 20 years to design JWST, which consists of 18 giant hexagonal sub-mirrors with a diameter of 6.5 meters and a weight of 6.2 tons. As the most powerful space telescope ever built, JWST can effectively receive light in bands ranging from 0.6 to 28.3 microns, and is mainly used to investigate the residual infrared evidence of the Big Bang Theory and observe the initial state of the visible universe today.All pictures come from the Internet. Please contact us if you have copyright problems.
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