The list of new-selected academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) was announced on November 22, 2019. Prof. Wang Yaonan made the list.
CAE membership is China's highest title in the field of engineering and a lifelong honor.
Wang Yaonan, male, is an expert in robot technology and intelligent control, and a professor and doctoral supervisor of Hunan University (HNU). He is a member of the Communist Party of China.
Wang was born in Longling County, Yunnan Province, in November 1957. He took his first job and went to countryside as an educated youth in 1974. He was enrolled into East China University of Technology (ECUT) in 1977, majoring in electronic computer, and worked in the university after graduation. In 1992 and 1995, he gained his master’s degree and doctorate in industrial automation in HNU. In 1997, he completed post-doctoral research at the automatic control department of National University of Defense Technology (NUDT). In 1998, he was engaged in scientific research in the University of Bremen with the support of Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Wang is a candidate for the national “Baiqianwan (hundred-thousand-ten thousand) Talents” program; member of the Chinese Association of Automation (CAA); and, a formerexpert of the national 863 plan (abbreviation for “National Hi-tech Research Development Plan) in the field of intelligent robot, and former chief scientist in the EU’s 5thFramework Programme.
At present, he worked in HNU as dean of the College of Electrical and Information Engineering, dean of the School of Robotics, and director of the state laboratory of robotic visual perception and control technology. He is also an executive council member of CAA, supervisor of the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence (CAAI), and member of theEnergy and Transportation Division of the Science & Technology Commission of the Ministry of Education.
In November 2019, he was elected as an academician of the Information and Electronic Engineering Division of CAE.
Wang has long been engaged in research and engineering application of robotic perception and control technologies. To meet domestic demands for high-end manufacturing, he developed a dynamic planning and decision-making system for robotic automatic processing, and put forward methods for high-speed and high-precisionvisual perception and self-adaption robust control. These resolved technical problems inmulti-robotic efficient collaborative manufacturing, and innovated the technology of precise operation and control of robots. He took the lead in developing industrial mobile robots, robots for precision testing and sorting, and flexible automatic processing production line based on intelligent manufacturing robots. These technologies have been used by more than 620 Chinese and foreign companies of aviation, ship, automobile, electronics, and medicine, and generated enormous economic returns. His robotic laboratory promoted transformation and upgrades of manufacturing. Focusing on domestic key construction projects, he made breakthroughs in key technologies in large multicomputer operation control and optimization and coordination; invented special robots for power generation; and, developed a highly-reliable automatic control system which has been used in such national projects asWest-to-East Electricity Transmission, andSouth-to-North Water Diversion, and safeguarded stable operation of the involved power stations and pump stations.
Wang took charge of a number of projects, including key project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), national key technical and equipment developmentproject during the “11thFive-year Plan” period, key project supported by thenational science and technology support program during the “12thFive-year Plan” period, key project in the national 863 plan, and BMBF international cooperation project.
He obtained one second prize of national technical invention award, three second prizes of national science and technology progress award, 11 first prizes of provincial and ministerial awards, and the highest honor in industrial application granted by the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society.
He has devoted himself in education and research for four decades. He has cultivated, as supervisor, more than 140 postgraduates and 60 doctoral students (including IEEE Fellows, Changjiang scholars, and national outstanding youth award winners); published more than 160 SCI papers and eight monographs; and, acquired more than 70 national patents for inventions. He has made remarkable contributions to the college and discipline development, and was commended with the national honors of “Outstanding Teacher in Higher Educational Institutions”, “May 1 Labor Medal”, and “Advanced Worker”.
