Professor Julian Vincent, Honorary Professor of Biomimetics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been awarded a Friendship Award by the Government of Jilin Province in China.
Professor Vincent has been given a Friendship Award for his work in the Jilin Province.
The award, one of just five given by the province following over 500 nominations, recognises an outstanding contribution made by foreign experts in developing science and technology in the region.
The annual award ceremony is held to celebrate the anniversary of the Province’s National Day and to thank foreign experts for their important contributions to the revitalisation of industrial Jilin and the promotion of sound and rapid economic development.
Professor Vincent was initially asked to go to Jilin University, one of the largest and most successful Chinese universities, in 2005. His work involved helping the Key Laboratory of Agricultural Engineering launch an English-language journal on biomimetics, which was named the Journal of Bionic Engineering.
Through his involvement in Jilin Province, Professor Vincent has made many local friends.
For the first three years of his time in Jilin, Professor Vincent rewrote nearly every paper which appeared in the Journal, working with the authors to ensure the English was of a high enough standard to be clearly understood.
The journal eventually caught the attention of Elsevier, one of the world’s leading providers of science and health information, and it’s now published electronically with a print edition still being produced in China.
Professor Vincent also helped the Key Lab organise the first of several biennial international meetings, and to put together a document proposing an International Society of Bionic Engineering, of which he is now the President. This document took 18 months for Professor Vincent and the Key Lab to clear through Chinese bureaucracy!
Professor Vincent said: “I have a deep rooted connection with Jilin Province and am an honorary Professor at Jilin University. I visit the International Society for Bionic Engineering annually in Changchun, and give research lectures during each visit. I also recently visited Nanjing University where I gave lectures to undergraduate students. I am really very honoured to receive a Friendship Award from the Government of Jilin Province.”
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