The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) announced on 4 December names of the 168 inventors around the world selected as its 2019 fellows, among whom Dr. Samuel Yin, founder of the Tang Prize Foundation and innovative chairman of the Ruentex Group, together with Dr. Fu-Tong Liu, vice president of Academia Sinica, are the two Taiwanese receiving this great honor.

Dr. Yin is known for integrating theories and practice to develop unique ways of making steel reinforced concrete and to devise a combination of precision precast technologies. Over the past decades, he has been making a series of crucial breakthroughs for the community of civil engineering. Many of his inventions have been incorporated into the seismic design codes in Taiwan and China as well as been used in constructing high-tech facilities and buildings. The huge differences they have made to the world can’t be ignored.

So far, 574 of Dr. Yin’s inventions have been patented in Taiwan, China, America, Japan, Europe and Great Britain and have also been allowed for fair use in different countries to improve standards of living and ensure greater safety by using fewer building materials. Moreover, among the 95 patents he decided to open up to the pubic, 19 of them are for people in Taiwan and America, and 7 of them have benefited those in China.

Renowned and respected all over the world for his expertise in civil engineering, Dr. Yin has won numerous academic honors, including the Henry L. Michel Award for Industry Advancement of Research from American Society of Civil Engineers, Life Achievement Award from the Chinese American Academic and Professional Society, the Engineering Prowess Award from the Russian Academy of Engineering, the International Engineering Academy Star of Fame Order from the Russian Academy of Engineering, elected academician of the Russian Academy of Engineering, gold medal of the National Invention and Creation Award from Taiwan's Ministry of Economics, the Outstanding Entrepreneur Chair Honor from the College of Engineering at National Taiwan University, elected member of the Chinese Institute of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering, the Outstanding Contribution Award from the Chinese Taiwan Society for Earthquake Engineering, and the Best Academic Paper Award from the Chinese Institute of Engineers. In September 2019, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and this honor from the National Academy of Inventors is only the cherry on the cake.

In addition to his achievements in civil engineering, Dr. Yin has been making conscientious efforts in various fields of education. He founded the Tang Prize with the vision of recognizing people whose original research findings have made great contributions to society. Thus, the prize is intended to be an important agent for the sustainable development of human civilization.

Every year, inventors and innovative scholars from research universities, government departments or non-profit scientific institutes around the world will be honored by the NAI. Together, these NAI fellows claim more than 41,500 US patents, which have created more than 11,000 authorized technologies and companies, provided more than 36 million jobs, and generated incomes of more than 1.6 billion US dollars.

On October 16 and 17, an international scientific and technical symposium titled “Modern Engineering Problems of Industries” was held in Moscow, under the auspices of UNESCO, within the framework of “The Second International Kosygin Readings”, and co-organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, the Kosygin State University, the International Academy of Engineering (IAE), and the Russian Academy of Engineering (RAE). In the plenary session of this symposium co-hosted by Prof. B.V. Gusev, president of the RAE and Prof. Belgorod Valery Savelievich, president of the Kosygin State University, CEO of the Tang Prize Foundation Dr. Jenn-Chuan Chern was invited to introduce the Tang Prize in his talk, “Tang Prize-Sparking the Future” while Prof. Duu-Jong Lee from National Taiwan University also gave a speech on “Biomass Energy—An Assessment” in the same session. It was hoped that an important occasion like this which attracted around 2700 people can bring together academicians from RAE and IAE for more exchanges of ideas.

President of Taiwan Chapter of International Engineering Academy Jenn-Chuan Chern (left), President of International Engineering Academy B.V. Gusev (in the middle), member of Taiwan Chapter of International Engineering Academy and professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering of National Taiwan University Tuchung Lee took part in the symposium “Modern engineering problems of key industries” in the framework of International Scientific and Technical Forum“ SECOND INTERNATIONAL KOSYGIN READINGS ”.

On September 12, 2019, the Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (SBRAS) voted to grant the honorary doctorate of Dr. Yen-Liang Yin, the vice president of International Academy of Engineering (IAE) and the founder of Taiwan Chapter of International Academy of Engineering (TCIAE). This is the highest award for outstanding foreigners of Siberian branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (SBRAS). This is also the first time that SBRAS confers honorary doctorate to professors in Asia.

Over the past decades, Dr. Yin has dedicated himself to re-thinking traditional construction methods and developing comprehensive building construction technologies. He has also garnered for Taiwan international recognition in the construction technology field.

Apart from Dr. Yin, four outstanding scholars with different expertise also received an honorary doctoral degree from the SB RAS: professor Jiun-Jih Miau in the field of mechanics, distinguished professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, the member of TCIAE. Prof. Badarchiin Biaambaa (agricultural science), academician of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Vitalievich Azarenko (agricultural science), academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Prof. Henrikh Fyolk (physics) from Germany, and Miao Yijun (mechanics). We hereby express our congratulations and share their glory.

Set up by the government, the RAS is a huge institute headquartered in Moscow, with three branches operating independently in different locations: the Siberian Branch, the Far East Branch and the Ural Branch. Founded in 1957, the administrative center of the Siberian Branch is situated in Novosibirsk and comprises 9 science centers, 75 research organizations and nearly 9,000 researchers. To increase the collaborations on technological research between Taiwan and Siberia, in 2007, the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan signed a contract with the Siberia Branch to support bilateral research projects and further interactions between both sides.

Professor B.V. Gusev, president of the RAE, announced that in addition to the order of “Engineering Fame,” this year, the RAE and the IAE decided to create two more orders in honor of Dr. Samuel Yin, founder of the Tang Prize Foundation and the first vice president of the IAE, and Mr. Boris Evgenievich Paton, the legendary Ukrainian scientist, honorary president of the IAE and president of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Claiming 566 patents for his inventions in the field of building construction technology, Dr. Yin is especially lauded for developing an efficient and precise method for constructing earthquake-resistant structures, and Mr. Paton, who turned 100 in 2018, is a world-renowned figure in the field of welding, metallurgy, and technology of materials and material science. The “International Engineering Academy Star of Fame” order, with Dr. Yin’s portrait inlaid in the center and the Chinese characters of the Tang Prize in the background, was presented by Professor Gusev and accepted by Dr. Jenn-Chuan Chern, president of Taiwan Chapter of International Academy of Engineering (TCIAE) and CEO of the Tang Prize Foundation, on behalf of Dr. Yin. As a token of recognition of the Tang Prize ethos “for the betterment of the world,” it can be awarded to scientists of outstanding achievements in engineering.

The “International Engineering Academy Star of Fame” order is with Dr. Yin’s portrait inlaid in the center and the Chinese characters of the Tang Prize in the background.