Source: School of Physics & Engineering
Written by: School of Physics & Engineering
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

The 21st International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE21) was held in Chengdu, Sichuan, China from July 29 to August 2. SYSU Student Shichang Liu won the Qian Sanqiang Award for Student Best Paper Competition (Shichang Liu, Jiejin Cai, Study on neutronic characteristics and neutronic-thermohydraulic coupling behavior of SCWR with thorium-based fuel, ICONE21, July 29 - August 2, 2013, Chengdu, China).

ICONE is the most important international academic conference in the field of nuclear engineering, with a wide influence in academe and industry. ICONE is honored as the Olympic in the field of nuclear engineering. ICONE21 is the third conference held in China, after the 2005 conference in Beijing and the 2010 conference in Xi’an. The topic of ICONE21 is “Nuclear Energy, Secure World”. The plenary speeches, 15 parallel technical tracks, 10 panel discussions, and workshops and exhibitions were staged to show the recent technical progress. During the conference, over 1,200 experts, researchers and technicians from more than 30 countries and regions gathered together to have in-depth and multi-aspect exchanges and discussions on the existing problems, challenges and future trends of nuclear energy development.

Through the strict selection of experts, 60 outstanding students (Qualified Student) of 14 different countries were selected from more than 30 countries and regions in America, Europe and Asia. The Qualified Student gained funding including the registration fee and accommodation fee from ICONE21. During the competition, students took part in the oral presentations, discussions and poster presentations. Then experts of the conference reviewed and nominated 20 papers of students as the best papers of the Qian Sanqiang award. Among all, five students from China (including Mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) have been awarded, including Shichang Liu from SYSU and four other students from Tsinghua University, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, etc.

Associate Professor Jiejin Cai and two students in his research group, Shichang Liu and Qinyun Zeng, attended ICONE21 on behalf of SYSU. In addition to the best paper award won by Shichang Liu, the presentation by Qinyun Zeng (Qingyun Zeng, Jiejin Cai, Tadashi Watanabe, Simulation of oscillating free interface behavior by using OpenFOAM, ICONE21, July 29 - August 2, 2013, Chengdu, China) also raised great interest of peers from home and abroad, receiving favorable comments from experts in the conference. During the conference, Prof. Cai also presented a speech invited by ICONE21 entitled "Nuclear Engineering Education in Sun Yat-sen University", introduced the progress of nuclear engineering talent cultivation in SYSU, and especially shared the development of Sino-French Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Technology with audiences. The plenary speech gained wide attention from professionals.