Awards reflect nation's emphasis on engineers

In a grand ceremony held in Beijing on Friday, the central authorities presented the National Engineer Awards to a group of accomplished engineers and engineering teams. A total of 81 engineers and 50 teams were recognized for their significant contributions spanning multiple sectors.

This is the first time these awards have been presented highlighting the great significance China attaches to the important roles engineers are playing in promoting the nation's high-quality development.

Although China has cultivated millions of engineers in various sectors, there remains a big gap between what the country wants from them and what they can provide.

To fill that gap, the country needs to speed up the building of a large-scale team of outstanding engineers. The authorities should stimulate the enthusiasm of both universities and enterprises to improve the ability of engineers to solve complex problems in different environments.

School-enterprise cooperation should therefore be strengthened to form a collaborative engineer cultivation system, which is solution-oriented and can help enhance students' practical engineering skills.

Also some master engineers should be encouraged to set up workshops to train disciples so that their knowledge and skills can be passed on to the younger generation effectively.

Meanwhile, the country needs to set up relevant platforms to vigorously promote international mutual recognition of engineer qualifications, international cooperation in engineering capacity building and pilot projects in key areas. It should support national societies and others in carrying out engineer competency evaluations, and build a continuous career development service platform for engineers that is in line with international standards.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DAILY