On the morning of Jan. 8, 2019, the 2018 National Science and Technology Awards Conference was held in Beijing. President XI Jinping, Prime Minister LI Keqiang, and other national leaders attended the conference, and President XI et al. presented the awards to the representatives of the winners.
At this award conference, two outstanding scientific and technological achievements of NHRI won the 2018 National Science and Technology Awards. The research findings of the project, Impacts of Climate Change on Regional Water Resources and Droughts and Floods and Key Technologies for Risk Response, won the Second Prize of the 2018 National Science and Technology Progress Award, and those of the project, Key Technologies and Application of Hydraulic Shiplift, the Second Prize of the 2018 National Technology Invention Award.
With supports from the National Major Scientific Research Program, MWR Public Welfare Industry Special Projects and other research projects, following research achievements have been made after more than 10 years’ joint research for the project, Impacts of Climate Change on Regional Water Resources and Droughts and Floods and Key Technologies for Risk Response, i.e. proposal of an evaluation theory of water resources and droughts and floods based on water circulation system, construction of regional water resources and droughts and floods driving mechanism identification technology based on "separation-coupling", and establishment of a comprehensive response technology for water resources and droughts and floods based on the “three-layer risk” assessment, which have overall reached the international leading level, and been widely applied with remarkable socio-economic and eco-environment benefits gained. Besides, the achievements have promoted the technological progress of the water industry in addressing climate change and water security. More than 300 papers were published, and 28 invention patents authorized. The main accomplishers of the project won 20 titles of national talents successively, and 1 special prize and 3 first prizes at provincial or ministerial level.
More than 10 years efforts have generated the findings of the project, Key Technologies and Application of Hydraulic Shiplift. A new type of shiplift, hydraulic shiplift, is invented by the utilization of hydraulic energy as driving force and safety measure. A complete set of technological system of hydraulic shiplift theory, design, manufacture, construction and operation has been put forward, which is a technological leap in the history of shiplift development, and a theoretical breakthrough of the technical bottleneck of traditional shiplift, providing a new, advanced, practical and safe technology choice for high dam navigation. The Jinghong Hydraulic Shiplift, the world first, is built with complete intellectual property rights in China. 21 invention patents were authorized, and 2 monographs and over 100 papers published. In addition, there are 5 standards/codes in compilation. 2 special prizes at ministerial or provincial level and 1 prize of China patent award were granted. The Expert Evaluation Committee agreed that the project results, a major innovation in the world's navigation technology, were the world first and China original, reaching the international leading level.