Jin Yilian, a Tsinghua alumnus and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, was recently presented the 2002 National Science and Technology Award for his outstanding work in computer science research.

A 1951 graduate of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Professor Jin is currently Dean of the National Research Center of Computer Engineering and Technology.

Professor Jin has made great contributions to the development of computer science and helped to bring the field to an internationally advanced level. He was the head designer of the Shen Wei Grand Computer System, a major state-sponsored project, and has improved the peak calculation speed of China's high performance computer from 1,000,000,000 floating point per second to 3,000,000,000,000 floating point per second.

Shen Wei Grand Computer System has become an indispensable high-end computing tool for projects in the fields of meteorology, oil exploration, life science, aeronautics, materials science and engineering, environmental science and basic science, playing an important role in China's economic build-up and scientific research.

(Liu Aixiang 10-03-2003)