China unveils global top 10 engineering achievements 2024

Chang'e 6, CAR-T Cell Therapy, and eight other projects have been selected by the Chinese Academy of Engineering's journal as the "Global Top 10 Engineering Achievements 2024" in Beijing on Wednesday.

"The 'Global Top 10 Engineering Achievements 2024' mainly refer to significant innovative engineering and technological achievements that were completed in the past five years, validated through practice, and have had a global impact. This includes major engineering projects or key technological equipment, as well as original innovations and breakthroughs in engineering science and technology," said Chen Jianfeng, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the executive editor of the academic journal Engineering.

Chen said that some of the selected results represent the most advanced technological levels in one or more engineering and technological fields or significant original breakthroughs, capable of leading the direction of future technological advancements.

For example, CAR-T Cell Therapy, also known as chimeric antigen receptor T-cell immunotherapy, involves genetically modifying a patient's T cells using gene engineering techniques to recognize and attack tumor cells, thereby treating malignant tumors.

Since the first CAR-T cell therapy was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2017, several CAR-T cell therapies have been approved for market globally.

"The CAR-T cell therapy has pioneered a new approach to treating cancer and other serious diseases, marking the arrival of the era of cell therapy," the judging panel stated.

In June, China's lunar exploration mission Chang'e 6 returned to Earth with the first samples from the lunar far side after a 53-day journey, bringing back 1,935.3 grams of lunar samples.

This provided direct material for studying the early evolution of the moon and opened a new perspective for human understanding of the geological differences between the far side and near side of the moon, earning it a spot as one of the top 10 engineering achievements of 2024.

The journal Engineering has been organizing the selection of the "Global Top 10 Engineering Achievements" annually since 2021, collecting nominations globally and finalizing the list through expert recommendations, public surveys, and committee deliberations.

"We hope to showcase the innovative achievements of engineering and technology that drive economic and social development, promote the spirit of engineering and technological innovation, inspire enthusiasm and attention from scientists and the public towards engineering and technological innovation, and advance engineering and technological progress," said Wang Chen, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

The selected engineering projects this year also include unmanned vehicles, flexible displays, and the large-scale video model Sora, which Chen noted have broad application scenarios and are leading a new technological innovation revolution, producing significant economic and social benefits and profoundly changing human lifestyles.

Projects such as the Low Earth Orbit Communication Satellite Constellation and Intelligent Factories have achieved overall goals through technical integration and optimized resource allocation, demonstrating significant characteristics of system integration innovation, Chen added.

Additionally, the selected projects include high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear power plants, surgical robots, and large-scale wind power equipment.