Recently, Jiangsu Provincial Federation of Trade Unions commended a group of advanced collectives and individuals emerged from the great journey of high-quality development in the new era. NHRI Hydraulic Engineering Department was awarded the honor of Pioneer Workers.

The Department, set up in 1935, is the earliest for hydraulic research in China, undertaking studies for national major hydraulic, hydropower and water diversion projects successively, such as the Three-Gorge Project, the Baihetan Hydropower Project, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the Water Diversion Project from the Yangtze River to the Tai Lake, etc., and solving a series of key technical difficulties in the operation safety of large reservoirs with high dams, water diversion and navigation. The Department participated in the research project of Reservoir Dam Safety Guarantee Technology, findings of which won the First Prize of 2015 National Science and Technology Progress Awards. The Department independently developed the key technology of hydraulic ship lift with successful application, which won the Second Prize of 2018 National Award for Technological Invention. As a major completion unit, the Department carried out studies for the Three-Gorge Project at the Yangtze River, the achievement of which won the Grand Prize of 2019 National Science and Technology Progress Awards. A package of technology for improving the fluidity and water quality of urban river network, developed on the basis of the study of Suzhou urban area, has been applied in more than 20 cities like Changzhou, Changshu, and the core zones of G20 Summit Meeting in Hangzhou and China International Import Expo in Shanghai, remarkably improving the urban water environment and thus winning the Second Prize of 2019 National Science and Technology Progress Awards. In recent 5 years, a number of leading experts in the Department have won various kinds of honors and titles.