Ma Weiming (; born 6 April 1960) is a Chinese electrical engineer. He is a professor of the PLA Naval University of Engineering. He is an academician of the

Chinese Academy of Engineering The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE, ) is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for engineering. It was established in 1994 and is an institution of the State Council of China. The CAE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences ...

and holds the military rank of rear admiral. He led the development of the electromagnetic catapult system for the

Type 003 aircraft carrier ''Fujian'' (18; ), named after Fujian province, is the first of the Type 003 class aircraft carrier (NATO/ OSD Fujian-class CV), and is currently fitting out. Built for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), ''Fujian'' was launched on 17 J ...

and the development of electromagnetic railguns. In 2017, he was awarded the Order of August First, the highest honour of the People's Liberation Army.

Biography

Ma was born in April 1960 in

Yangzhong Yangzhong () is a county-level city under the administration of Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, China. It is the easternmost county-level division of Zhenjiang City. History There were only several smaller shoals in the area of present-day Yangzhon ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

, China. He graduated from the Department of Electrical Engineering of PLA Naval University of Engineering in

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...

with a BS degree in 1982 and an MS degree in 1987. He earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...

in 1996. Ma is Professor and Director of the Institute of Power Electronic Technique Application at the Naval University of Engineering. In 2001, he was elected a member of the

(CAE) at the age of 41, making him the youngest academician of the CAE. He also serves as Vice President of the

China Association for Science and Technology The China Association for Science and Technology (CAST; ) is a mass organization of Chinese scientists and engineers, which is composed of multiple national professional societies and hundreds of branches at various local and international level ...

. Considered a top naval engineer in China, he holds the military rank of rear admiral. Ma was elected an alternate member of the

18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China The 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was elected by the 18th National Congress on 15 November 2012, and sat in plenary sessions until the communing of the 19th National Congress in 2017. It was formally proceeded by the 17t ...

in 2012 and the

19th Central Committee 19th Central Committee may refer to: * Central Committee of the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1952–1956 *19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and pre ...

in 2017. In November 2019, he was promoted to full member at the Fourth Plenum of the 19th Central Committee.

Contributions

Ma has led the development of China's electromagnetic catapult system for launching aircraft from carriers (similar to the

Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) is a type of aircraft launching system developed by General Atomics for the United States Navy. The system launches carrier-based aircraft by means of a catapult employing a linear induction ...

of the United States), which is more efficient than the older

steam catapult An aircraft catapult is a device used to allow aircraft to take off from a very limited amount of space, such as the deck of a vessel, but can also be installed on land-based runways in rare cases. It is now most commonly used on aircraft carrier ...

system. It is expected to be deployed on the Type 003, the

PLA Navy The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN; ), also known as the People's Navy, Chinese Navy, or PLA Navy, is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAN traces its lineage to naval units fighting during the Chines ...

's third aircraft carrier, which would make China the second country to develop the technology, after the US. In January 2019, Chinese media reported that Ma's team had developed electromagnetic railguns capable of firing projectiles at very high velocity, with longer range and higher accuracy than traditional artillery. Military observers expect a modified version of the

Type 055 destroyer The Type 055 destroyer (NATO/ OSD Renhai-class cruiser) is a class of stealth guided-missile destroyers ( guided-missile cruisers per NATO/OSD standard) being constructed for the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy. It is a multi-mission desi ...

to be equipped with the railgun, which would make China the first country to deploy the weapon on an actual warship. Ma is also credited for silencing noise of the PLA Navy's submarine's propulsion system thus making them less detectable on sonar. Since the late 1980s, Ma has advised more than 400 masters and doctoral students. Two of them, Xiao Fei and Wang Dong, were awarded rare peacetime First-Class Merit Awards by the PLA for their research.

Honours

*Two State Technological Invention Awards (Third Class) *

State Science and Technology Progress Award The State Science and Technology Prizes () are the highest honors conferred by the national government of the People's Republic of China in science and technology, in order to recognize citizens and organizations who have made remarkable contribut ...

(First Class), 2000 * Ho Leung Ho Lee Prize in Technological Sciences, 2015 * Order of August First, 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma, Weiming 1960 births Living people 20th-century Chinese engineers 21st-century Chinese engineers Alternate members of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Alternate members of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Chinese electrical engineers Engineers from Jiangsu Members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Members of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party People's Liberation Army generals from Jiangsu People's Liberation Army Navy admirals Scientists from Yangzhou Tsinghua University alumni