From May 18 to 24, at the 2024 Fourth Atlantic Radio Science Conference (URSI AT-RASC 2024) held in Gran Canaria, Spain, Li Quanxin from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Electronics (EEA) was granted the Young Scientist Award by the International Union of Radio Science (URSI) for his outstanding contributions to the measurement and simulation of lightning triggered by large wind turbine blades. This research was jointly conducted with PhD student Yang Guohua. The award recognizes young scholars under 35 who have made significant contributions in fields related to radio science, and it is highly regarded internationally. At this conference, two young scholars received the award in the field of electromagnetic environment and interference (Commission E), with the other recipient from Japan. The award certificates were presented by Professor Stefan Wijnholds (first from the left), conference secretary Professor Peter Van Daele (second from the left), and URSI President Professor Ari Sihvola (first from the right).

Li Quanxin receiving the Young Scientist Award

Certificate of the URSI Young Scientist Award

URSI was established in 1913 as a scientific organization under the International Council for Science, responsible for promoting and coordinating academic research and applications in international radio-related fields, holding a prestigious scientific status and social influence in the global radio science community. The URSI Young Scientist Award is a traditional recognition for young scientific talent in the radio science field, awarded every three years and enjoying a high international reputation. URSI has ten academic commissions: Electromagnetic Metrology (A), Fields and Waves (B), Signals and Systems (C), Physical Electronics (D), Electromagnetic Environment and Interference (E), Wave Phenomena in Non-Ionizing Media (F), Radio Wave Propagation in the Ionosphere (G), Waves in Plasma (H), Radio Astronomy (J), and Bioelectromagnetics (K). The Atlantic Radio Science Conference (AT-RASC) is one of URSI's three flagship conferences, held every three years; this year marks its fourth edition, attracting approximately 1,000 paper submissions.

In recent years, Professor He Jinliang's team from EEA has collaborated with several institutions, including Sichuan Zhongguang Lightning Protection Technology Co., the Meteorological Science Research Institute of the China Meteorological Administration, the Guangzhou Tropical Ocean Meteorological Research Institute, Goldwind Technology Co., and the Electric Power Research Institute of China Southern Power Grid, to conduct a series of fundamental research on lightning protection for large wind turbines. The award-winning work was based on lightning triggering experiments conducted at the Guangzhou Conghua outdoor lightning test site.

Dr. Li Quanxin is an assistant researcher (postdoctoral fellow) in EEA, Tsinghua University and a joint doctoral candidate at the Electromagnetic Compatibility Laboratory of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Under the guidance of professors, including He Jinliang, he has made innovative contributions in the areas of lightning observation and simulation, lightning discharge modeling theory, and lightning protection for new energy power systems. He has published 46 SCI papers (19 as first or corresponding author). His research achievements have garnered several academic awards, including the 2022 China New Talent Excellence Award, the Young Scientist Award at the Global Electromagnetic Conference 2022, the Young Scientist Diploma at the International Lightning Protection Conference (ICLP 2022), the Best Paper Award at the Asia-Pacific Lightning Protection Conference (APL 2023), and the Young Scientist Award at URSI AT-RASC 2024. He has been invited to serve as a member of five working groups for CIGRE C4 and C6, chaired sessions at international conferences such as ICLP and APL, and served as a guest editor for special issues on lightning research in the journal Atmosphere. Additionally, he has been appointed as a young editorial board member for journals like Test Technology Journal and as a technical advisor for Sichuan Zhongguang Lightning Protection Technology Co., overseeing numerous projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation, the Youth Talent Plan of the China Association for Science and Technology, postdoctoral funding, and various horizontal projects with enterprises.