IADC Presents Young Author Award

The International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) has presented its Young Author Award 2019 to Cao Lei, engineer at the CCCC National Engineering Research Centre of Dredging Technology and Equipment in Shanghai, China. IADC’s Young Author Award is given annually to “stimulate the promotion of new ideas and encourage younger men and women in the dredging industry.” The 2019 winning young author was selected from the proceedings of the 22nd World Dredging Congress held in Shanghai, China from April 22 to 26.

Lei was selected for the co-authoring of the research paper Numerical Investigation on the Head and Unsteady Flow Characteristics of a Dredge Pump Loading High-Concentration Sands. This research numerically simulated the unsteady water flow and silt-laden flow in a dredge pump. The paper presented a comparative analysis of the unsteady characteristics of the pump’s performance and the flow field in three typical conditions to expound the influence of sands, as well as the relationship between head and flow field. Results show that high-concentration sands enhance the flow fluctuation and change the head curve slope at part-load conditions, which is adverse to operation stability of the pump-pipe combined system.

Every year at selected conferences, IADC recognizes the best paper written by authors younger than 35 years of age. The Conference Paper Committee recommends a shortlist of qualifying papers that make a significant contribution to the literature on dredging and related fields. Winning authors receive €1,000 and a trophy of recognition as well as publication of the paper as an article in the IADC’s quarterly journal Terra et Aqua.