Good News! Professor Cees van Westen, a Foreign Expert of CDUT, was Awarded the Title of Advanced Individual for Chengdu's Building of a Science and Technology Innovation Center with National Influence
On the evening of January 18th, the Commendation Activity for Chengdu's Building of a Park City Demonstration Area by Practicing the New Development Concept and a Science and Technology Innovation Center with National Influence and Spring Festival Party, hosted by the CPC Chengdu Municipal Committee and the Chengdu Municipal People's Government and undertaken by the Publicity Department of the CPC Chengdu Municipal Committee, the Chengdu Municipal Development and Reform Commission and the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology, was held at Chengdu City Concert Hall. A total of 160 advanced collectives and 300 advanced individuals from sectors of economic development, urban construction, educational technology, people's livelihood services and social governance were commended. Professor Cees van Westen, a foreign expert of Chengdu University of Technology (CDUT), was awarded the title of Advanced Individual for Chengdu's Building of a Science and Technology Innovation Center with National Influence. It is learned that a total of four international experts from two universities and two enterprises were awarded this title.
Award Ceremony Site
Advanced Individual Medal
In 2022, a group of advanced models, who embrace innovation and take on responsibility, emerged in the new journey of Chengdu's building of a science and technology innovation center with national influence and made positive contributions to advancing the building of Western China (Chengdu) Science City, promoting the implementation of major innovation platforms and enhancing industrial innovation capabilities. In order to praise excellent performance, commend advanced models and stimulate innovation enthusiasm and vitality in the city, the Chengdu Municipal People's Government launched the selection and commendation of advanced collectives and advanced individuals for Chengdu's building of a science and technology innovation center with national influence, to select a group of advanced collectives and advanced individuals that have positively contributed to promoting the city's high-quality development, creating high-quality life and implementing high-efficiency governance. In the selection, Cees van Westen from CDUT was awarded the title of Advanced Individual for Chengdu's Building of a Science and Technology Innovation Center with National Influence.
During his 30 years of teaching and research work, Cees van Westen has trained a large number of highly-educated talents for China. Among them, he has jointly trained 12 masters, doctors and visiting scholars with CDUT, one of whom was awarded the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars in 2021, bringing new blood to the research work in Chengdu City. During his work in Chengdu, Cees van Westen has assisted the State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection (SKLGP) in establishing the International Research Association on Large Landslides (iRALL) and actively assisted in making preparations for seven iRALL international doctoral classes and five international academic conferences, with more than 9,000 master's students and doctoral candidates from 26 countries participating in the classes. Under the promotion of Cees van Westen, the SKLGP has entered into substantive research cooperation and talent cultivation agreements with the Disaster Prevention Research Institute of Kyoto University, the Faculty of Geo-information Science and Earth Observation of University of Twente, and the School of Earth & Ocean Sciences of Cardiff University, which has greatly enhanced the visibility and international influence of the SKLGP.
The awarding of the title of Advanced Individual for Chengdu's Building of a Science and Technology Innovation Center with National Influence to the foreign professor of CDUT shows the Chengdu Municipal People's Government's affirmation and recognition of the sci-tech innovation work of CDUT and the SKLGP and is of great significance to fully arousing and bringing into play the enthusiasm and creativity of CDUT's foreign experts. CDUT will go hand in hand with its foreign experts in the future, to positively contribute to CDUT's international talent cultivation and Chengdu's building of a science and technology innovation center.
List of Advanced Individuals (Part)
[Profile]
Cees van Westen, male, Dutch national, born in November 1962, obtained his doctoral degree from Delft University of Technology in 1993. He is an internationally renowned expert in geohazards. He served as the Director of the Geoinformation and Disaster Risk Management Faculty of ITC School, United Nations University, and currently serves as a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Faculty of Geo-information Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente.
Cees van Westen has achieved a group of internationally advanced results in quantitative risk assessment and geohazard atlases. He has published more than 150 papers in top journals in the field of geohazards, participated in the compilation of more than 70 textbooks and monographs and made 50 presentations at international academic conferences on invitations. He serves as an editorial board member of high-level journals including Engineering Geology, Geomorphology, Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment, and Catena, with his academic level highly recognized internationally. He is now the chief expert of the foreign expert project "Research on Risk Assessment of Mega Earthquake Induced Geo-disasters" of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China.
The "Real-time Geohazard Monitoring and Early Warning System" developed by Cees van Westen and the SKLGP has been widely used in Sichuan Province. The system successfully warned more than 80 geohazards in 2022, which professionally contributed to the protection of people's life and property safety and achieved substantial economic and social benefits.
Article by Department of International Exchanges & Cooperation
