Address by Dr Jian Song at the Annual Induction Dinner, Pretoria

Centenial Celebration of Achievements of Engineering

Dr. Jian SONG
11 June, 2002

Science and Technology made great stride in the 2Oth century. It is estimated that eighty percent of global scientific discoveries, technological innovations and engineering constructions were attributed to scientists and engineers of the 2Oth century. A great amount of new knowledge and engineering conveniences rushed into the world and people's lives, leaving their marks on every corner of the society. Engineers have created equipment and machinery that never existed in history, brought benefit to the whole world, improved the efficiency and the ability to create wealth, improved the quality of life, and elongated life expectancy of people.

Engineering achievements in the 2Oth century surpassed the wildest imagination of people in the 19th century.

Ever since Homo sapience appeared on the earth two million years ago in Africa, survival has been the top necessity. Generations after generations, people were fighting hunger, coldness, and epidemic for food, clothes and shelter.

Since the 2Oth century, modern science and technology have penetrated agriculture and husbandry comprehensively. As a result, output of crops have been increased dramatically, people have gained knowledge and means to withstand epidemics. Engineers have made thousands of agricultural machines. Productivity was raised tens of times in agriculture and animal husbandry. Within last century the world population increased from 1.6 billion to 6 billion. Agriculture guaranteed the basic food production for the world. Engineering science made the lion's share of contribution.

The design and construction of electric power distribution networks was a great engineering undertaking in the 20th century. Electricity has lit all cities and villages, providing means for social industrialization and electrification with flexible, convenient, and potentially inexhaustible power. Communication networks, mobile phones, have connected all continents and countries. Modern transportation can send you to any corner of the planet you need.

Important breakthroughs in medical science occurred in the 20th century. The life expectancy has been increased from about 30 or 40 years at the beginning of the 20th century to over 70 years now.

Generations and generations of mankind have looked into space, without knowing what stars are and what they are made of. In the middle of the 20th century, from July 1969 to December 1972, the spacecraft Apollo sent a total of 18 people to the moon with an accumulated time for investigation of more than 600 hours, that ended thoroughly people's dreams about the moon.

Before the 2Oth century, astronomers did not know definitely where sunlight comes from and why the stars shine. The advancement of atomic physics and nuclear reactors and H-bomb explosions have irrevocably proved that light and heat of stars, including the sun, come from the fusion of light atoms.

Radar engineering and advanced telescopes provided the key instruments for discovering homogeneous space microwave background radiation, providing evidences for the plausible theory that the universe originated from the Big Bang.

The great wave of science and technology in the 2Oth century indicates that science has guided engineering, and the engineering technology has been the major engine of the progress of material civilization. Engineering technology has also provided new tools and opened new ways to advance science.

The steam engine initiated the first industrial revolution in the 18th century. At the end of the 19th century and during the first half of the 2Oth century, electric machines and chemical industry started the second industrial evolution. Mankind then entered a period of electrification, nuclear power, and space industry. Social productivity and the quality of people's life was a great deal improved. The space and time gap between countries, regions and people was narrowed. The globe has become a village. In the latter half of the 2Oth century, information technology, like a raging fire, has launched the third industrial revolution. Production and consumption turned from industrialization towards intelligent automation. Yet again, productivity and production efficiency increased greatly. Among the three industrial revolutions in the history of mankind, two occurred in the 20th century.

The records of China's history are completely different in caparison with that of the world. For the Chinese, 19th century was an era of humiliation and suffering. European powers and Japan 4 times invaded the country, killed millions of people. China had awakened in 20th century, and waged and won the protracted war against imperialism and colonialism. When PRC was founded in 1949, the economy was totally exhausted. People started all from scratch, 200 years later than Europe, to begin the industrialization of the country. Recently, the Chinese science and engineering communities made a retrospect of the past, we are gratified to see that Chinese scientists and engineers made historical contributions for their motherland, even with twist and turns. China has succeeded in establishing an independent industrial system within 50 years.

The opening up of the country initiated by Mr. Deng Xiaoping, like a spring breeze that raised the spirits of people, especially engineers and scientists. Engineers made critical contributions to the high-speed economic growth of 8-9% annually, and marked social progress was recorded in the past 20 years.

Looking back to the achievements in the past one hundred years, it is very important for people to understand the historical position and function of engineering technology. Science is to declare truth to people. She answers the question "why". The task of engineers is to modify nature according to scientific principle and construct a new society, and to tell people how to do it. We must tell people of the country that the construction of railways and bridges, dams and irrigation systems, planes and space craft, satellite communication, vehicles and ships, tens of thousands of kinds of machinery, automatic production line, television, telephone, washing machines, microwave stove, and air conditioning, are all master-pieces of engineering technology.

The material civilization that people enjoy in modem society is mainly created by engineering technology. Therefore engineers are irreplaceable creators of new industry. The creative work of engineers should be recognized and respected by the whole society.

Below I would like to list some example items that Chinese scientists and engineers had accomplished within the second half of last century.

Starting from 1950s, scientists and engineers completed the design, construction and put into operation of atomic facilities, including nuclear power plants, ships powered by nuclear reactors, rocketry, space vehicle, satellites and space station. These achievements swept away the cowardice of some Chinese in front of strongly industrialized countries. It also put an end to the dispute about whether China could develop its industry and science and technology by itself.

China now is a big producer of optical cables, digital trunk switchers of communication, mobile telephone and modern communication equipment. The first black and white television was produced in 1957. In 1999, 39 million colour televisions were produced. China has become the largest producer of the world in production and export of television and videodisk player.

Design, production and application of computer is close to world level. China produced 8.6 million PCs in 2000. China could produce teraflop super computers and servers of 400 billion flops in mass production s

cale.

Petroleum is the major energy and raw material for modern industry, transportation, communication, clothing, food, and housing industries. China, started from almost zero, established its own petroleum industry. 160 million tons of crude oil was extracted last year from mainland oil deposits.

The country's petro-chemical industry, started from zero, has got a strong momentum of development. In the year 2000 output of synthetic fibres reached 7 million tons, synthetic plastics 4.7 million tons, synthetic rubber 732,800 tons. Inorganic chemical industry turned from weak to strong. In the year 2000, output of chemical fertilizer is 31.86 million tons, alkali 8.34 million tons, sulfuric acid 23.65 million tons, and cement 600 million tons. All of them ranked the first in the world.

China enjoys rich resources of rare-earth elements in the world, with 80 per cent of the total amount of deposit in the world. Chinese scientists and engineers developed new technologies on metallurgy, separation, purification and processing, and established their own industrial engineering, with output and technology at the leading position in the world.

In agricultural sector, scientists and experts have selected, modified and put to extension of 5,600 new breeds in 41 kinds of farm crops and more than 1,000 new traits of fruits and vegetables. Major crops changed 4 to 6 times. There has been enough supply of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Farming techniques have been improving year by year. Output per hectare has increased 3 to 5 times in most areas. Average per capita supply of cereals increased from 280 kilograms in 1952 to 406 kilograms in 1999, in spite of the population size increased from 400 million to 1.3 billion today. In 1999, average consumption of meat was 50 kilograms, egg 18 kilograms, aquatic products 33 kilograms, fruit 50 kilograms, an increase of 5 to 15 times compared with 1978.

China has become the number one in the world in food and garment production. The abundant storage and production capability of grain and clothes, more than enough to wear our own people but also to be exported to the United States, Russia, Japan and Europe. The situation, which we now feel grateful of, was never found in the past 1,000 years.

The fast progress of medical care and production of pharmaceuticals heightened the life expectancy of people from 34 years before 1950 to 70 years in 1997. China's population in the 20th century increased three times. The population problem once roused concern and worry the world over. In the past 20 years, family planning programs have been carried out and a great deal of achievements had been made. On the average, the number of children bearings per woman (TFR) decreased from 2.86 in 1982 to 1.8 in 1999, much below the critical fertility rate of 2.1. China's population is expected to be stabilized at 1.6 billion in 2040 and stop growing afterwards. This would be a great contribution to the future sustainability of development of the nation and the welfare of the coming generations. It has been an overdue problem though, the dispute and worry about the population explosion, can be put to an end now.

By the year 1949, the nation's electricity of generation was only 8 kwh per capita. In the year 2000, the capacity reached 320 million kilowatts, a per capita consumption of 1,094 kilowatt-hour. More than 98 percent of the families in rural areas can enjoy electricity. Eighty-one power plants with capacity of more than one million kilowatt each are being constructed this year.

In the last century, China trained a strong contingent of geologists and engineers who turned China to be one of the richest countries in identified mineral resources, second only to he United States. The total deposit of coal is estimated of 4500 billion tons, while 600 billion tons are identified. Output of coal in 1999 was 1.2 billion tons. Mineral exploration and mining have guaranteed the economic growth and social progress.

In the latter half of the 20th century, 1.4 million kilometers of roads were constructed, among which, more than 20,000 were super-highway, the second only to the United States. In the year 2000, the railroad mileage was 68,000 kilometers. Train speed was raised, it became the major way of transportation for the country .All kinds of equipment can be made in China such as locomotives, vehicles, rail, and communication equipment. The export of the equipment has also been started.

In the 50 years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, 36 iron and steel plants of one million tons each had been built. China produced 150 million tons steel last year, thus become the number one producer in the world.

Looking back, we have justifiable reason to be gratified of the achievements the Chinese people made in 20th century. Looking forward, we feel that was only a prelude of a big industrialization drive. The climax of industrialization and modernization construction is still to come. China is still a low-income country with per capita GDP only $890 last year. China has a long way to go to become a middle-developed country. As the late Mr. Deng warned, every Chinese must be keenly aware, whatever accomplishments we have made, China is still a developing country. We should behave modest, work hard, avoid confrontation with all nations, keep peace and friendship with neighbours and distant countries as well, and bide our another 50 years of time to realize the dream of modernization.

In the 21st century, we need to build an even stronger engineering and technology force, bring about better engineers and technicians. This is the strategic task of the country and of the basic interests of the future people.

China's industrialization lagged behind Europe by 200 years. After lOO years' suffering and struggle, we have come to the consensus that without strong scientific, technological, and engineering ability, it is impossible to realize the dream of industrialization of the nation. As we stepped into the 21st century, the infrastructure construction and all industries have entered a new period with a new strategic target. To build a strong modern country, science and engineering communities shoulder the most important and historical task. Only if generations of more and more qualified young people join the grand work and devote themselves, a modern China can be built in the 21st century.