Ning Bin (; 1 May 1959 – 14 June 2019) was a Chinese control systems engineer and professor who served as president of

Beijing Jiaotong University Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU; ; previously Northern Jiaotong University) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Transpo ...

from 2008 to 2019. He was elected an

IEEE Fellow , the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and ot ...

in 2014 "for contributions to train operation control systems" and was elected 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 ...

in 2017. He was a four-time recipient of the

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 ...

and was awarded the

Ho Leung Ho Lee Prize The Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation (HLHL, ) is a Hong Kong–based non-government organisation which annually bestows prizes upon Chinese scientists. It was established on 30 March 1994, with funds donated from the charitable foundations of Ho Sin ...

in 2016. He died in a traffic collision.

Life and career

Ning was born on 1 May 1959 in

Jishan County Jishan ( (pronounced: ''jēʹshänʹ'')) is a county in the southwest of Shanxi province, China. It is on the Fen River under the administration of Yuncheng Yuncheng () is the southernmost prefecture-level city in Shanxi province, People's R ...

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

, China. After graduating from Northern Jiaotong University in 1982 with a bachelor of engineering degree in

railway signalling Railway signalling (), or railroad signaling (), is a system used to control the movement of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacerbated by the enormous weight ...

, he was hired by the university as a faculty member. He later pursued graduate studies at the same university, earning his master's degree in 1987 and his doctor of engineering in 2005. In 1997, Ning was appointed Vice President of Northern Jiaotong University. He was promoted to Executive Vice President of the university (by then renamed Beijing Jiaotong University) in 2004. From March 2008 until May 2019 he served as President of the university. In December 2018, a laboratory explosion at Beijing Jiaotong University killed three students. After an investigation, Ning and eleven other university officials were found responsible for safety lapses and reprimanded in February 2019. On 5 May 2019, Ning was replaced by Wang Jiaqiong (王稼琼) as president. Two days later, the university established the

Sichuan–Tibet Railway The Sichuan–Tibet railway, Sichuan–Xizang railway or Chuanzang railway () is a partially opened high-elevation and the National first-class trunk railway in China that will connect Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, and Lhasa, the cap ...

Research Center and Ning was appointed its director.

Contributions and honours

Ning was a pioneer in developing digitized signalling systems of China's

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...

networks and made significant contributions to the control systems of China's high-speed railway network and rapid transit networks. He also advised more than 50 doctoral and master's students. Ning was elected a

Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers , the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and ot ...

(IEEE) in 2014 "for contributions to train operation control systems". He was elected an academician of the

in 2017. He was also a fellow of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (, IVA), founded on 24 October 1919 by King Gustaf V, is one of the royal academies in Sweden. The academy is an independent organisation, which promotes contact and exchange between business, ...

and the

Institution of Engineering and Technology The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is a multidisciplinary professional engineering institution. The IET was formed in 2006 from two separate institutions: the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), dating back to 1871,Engin ...

(IET). Ning was conferred the

four times, including a Special Prize in 2015 for his contribution to the

Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway The Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway (or Jinghu high-speed railway) is a high-speed railway that connects two major economic zones in the People's Republic of China: the Bohai Economic Rim and the Yangtze River Delta.Zhan Tianyou Zhan Tianyou, or Tien-Yow Jeme (; 26 April 1861 – 24 April 1919), was a pioneering Chinese railroad engineer. Educated in the United States, he was the chief engineer responsible for construction of the Peking-Kalgan Railway (Beijing to Zhan ...

Prize, the highest honour of China's railway industry. In 2016, he was awarded the

for Science and Technology Progress.

Death

On 14 June 2019, according to a preliminary report released by the Beijing Police Department, Ning was the passenger in a

Buick GL8 The Buick GL8 is a minivan that is produced by SAIC-GM, a joint-venture between Chinese automaker SAIC Motor and American automaker General Motors. It is only sold in China. Introduced in 1999, the first generation Buick GL8 is similar to the GM ...

involved in an accident which occurred at 8:57 a.m. in Chaoyang District. When the Buick was changing lanes, it collided with another car coming from behind and rolled over, crossing the median to the opposite lane. Ning was declared dead after being rushed to hospital. The driver, surnamed Liu, survived. Ning was on his way to attend the World Transport Convention in Beijing when the accident occurred. He was 60.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ning, Bin 1959 births 2019 deaths Fellows of the IEEE Academic staff of Beijing Jiaotong University Members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering People from Yuncheng Engineers from Shanxi Transport engineers Beijing Jiaotong University alumni Road incident deaths in the People's Republic of China Educators from Shanxi Fellows of the Institution of Engineering and Technology Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences