Ma Weiming (; born 6 April 1960) is a Chinese

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. 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 a ...

and holds the military rank of

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

. He led the development of the electromagnetic

catapult A catapult is a ballistics, ballistic device used to launch a projectile at a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden rel ...

system for the Type 003 aircraft carrier and the development of electromagnetic railguns. In 2017, he was awarded the August 1 Medal, the highest honor of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

Biography

Ma was born in April 1960 in Yangzhong,

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

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

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

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 (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

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 one of the youngest academicians of the CAE. He also serves as Vice President of the China Association for Science and Technology. Considered a top naval engineer in China, he holds the military rank of

. Ma was elected an alternate of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012 and the 19th Central Committee 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 electromagnetic catapult system developed by General Atomics for the United States Navy. The system launches carrier-based aircraft by means of a catapult employing a linear in ...

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

steam catapult An aircraft catapult is a device used to help fixed-wing aircraft gain enough airspeed and lift for takeoff from a limited distance, typically from the deck of a ship. They are usually used on aircraft carrier flight decks as a form of assist ...

system. It is expected to be deployed on the

Type 003 ''Fujian'' (18; ) is a Chinese aircraft carrier serving in the People's Liberation Army Navy. It is the third aircraft carrier of the Chinese aircraft carrier programme and the first of the Type 003 class (NATO/Office of the Secretary of Defense, ...

, the PLA Navy'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 designation Renhai-class cruiser) is a class of stealth guided-missile destroyers (rated as guided-missile cruisers per NATO/OSD standard parlance) constructed for the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (P ...

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.

Honors

*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 Alternates of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Alternates 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