Professor Ren Hongqiang, of Nanjing University’s School of Environment, was elected an academician to the Academic Division of Environmental, Light and Textile Industrial Engineering, China Academy of Engineering (CAE), according to CAE’s announcement on its latest 2019 new academician name-list on November 22.

Born in May 1964, Ren came from Baoding, Hebei Province. He became a professor at Nanjing University in 2003 and is now dean of the university’s School of Environment and also president of the university’s Yixing Environmental Research Institute. He has long engaged in applied basic research on industrial sewage and industrial-park water pollution prevention and control, new technology development and engineering practice.

Ren has been in charge of multiple major projects sponsored by the National 863 Program, National Science, Technology Support Program and ministerial and provincial level scientific and technological projects.

He has made innovative and systematic breakthroughs in the theory, technology and equipment of bioaugmentation-based treatment.

His work has blazed a new trail for China’s bioaugmentation-based control and treatment technology and engineering application for complex sewage conditions.

It also provides valuable solutions to the qualified discharging, high-standard and high-efficiency discharging and recycling of chemical industrial, pharmaceutical, printing and industrial park sewage.

Among the 13 national, ministerial and provincial scientific and technological prizes awarded him, two are Class II of the national technological invention prizes (both ranking the first), one is Class II of the national natural science prize (ranking the third) and 6 are Class I of the ministerial and provincial scientific prizes (4 of them ranking the first). He was also awarded the Prize for Scientific and Technology Innovation of Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation.

He owns 87 licensed patents in China, 17 in America and 12 in the EU. Sixty-nine of his patents have been applied to practice. He led and participated in setting 36 international, national, industrial and organizational standards and published 267 papers (including 122 SCI papers) and four monographs.

Ren has received many honors and awards for his outstanding research achievements. His name was listed in the Top 10 Outstanding Patent Inventors of Jiangsu Province (2008), Middle and Young-Aged Principal Scientists of the Triple-Three Talent Program of Jiangsu Province (the 1st tier) (2010), Changjiang Distinguished Professors (2012), Hundred, Thousand and Ten Thousand Talents Project (2013) and National Young and Middle-Aged Experts with Outstanding Contributions (2013). He was a principal expert in the 12th Five Year Plan 863 Program project “R&D and Industrialization of Complete Facilities for Energy-Saving and Consumption-Reduction Sewage and Waste Water Treatment.” In 2016, he was appointed director of the Water Environmental Engineering Technology and Equipment Commission of China Association for Quality Inspection and also president of the Industrial Water Recycling Sub-Committee of the International Standardization Organization (ISO).

Ren was one of the 75 academicians CAE co-opted in 2019, the 14th time it did so. In 2019, CAE also co-opted 29 international academicians in its 13th election.

Among the new academicians, 10 went for the academic division of mechanical and delivery engineering, 9 for the division of information and electronic engineering, 9 for the division of chemical, metallurgical and material engineering, 9 for the division of energy and mining engineering, 8 for the division of civil, hydraulic and architectural engineering, 7 for the division of environmental, light and textile engineering, 7 for the agriculture division, 10 for the medicine and health division, and 6 for the engineering management division.