Updated: December 19, 2024
Chongqing, December 18 – The “Touching Chongqing: Ten Outstanding Figures” 2024 award ceremony was held at the Chongqing Radio & Television Technology Center, honoring 10 individuals (or groups) as annual awardees, along with two special award groups and 10 nominees. Among the recipients, the “Desert Soilization” research team from Chongqing Jiaotong University was presented with the “Touching Chongqing” Special Award.
Committed to combating desertification and promoting China’s ecological civilization, the team has made significant breakthroughs in transforming sand into fertile soil through mechanical innovation. After years of laboratory research and fieldwork in uninhabited regions, they developed a comprehensive and mature technological system, successfully creating nearly 50,000 mu (approximately 3,333 hectares) of ecological “oasis”.
Desertification, known as “the cancer of the Earth”, poses a significant global environmental challenge, and despite its severity, effective control methods remain elusive. One promising method involves the use of a technology called “desert soilization.”
With the discovery that granular constraints determine the mechanical states of a granular material, sand is turned into “soil” by imposing an omni-directional iintegrative(ODI) constraint. Thus, the single discrete state of sand is converted into two mechanical states of soil, i.e., a rheological state when wet and a solid state when dry. Based on the discovery, after conducting thousands of repeated simulation experiments in the laboratory, the research team successfully extracted constraining materials from plants. This breakthrough enabled the transformation of loose, free-flowing sand into a cohesive substance with mechanical properties similar to soil—both in dry and wet states, so it was named “desert soilization”. The soilizded desert acquired the ability to retain water and nutrients, support microbial growth, and ultimately serve as an effective growth medium for vegetation.
Using desert soilization technology, the research team has resolutely joined the global fight against desertification. Since 2016, they have established over 20 planting demonstration sites in diverse landforms and climates, consistently transforming barren deserts into fertile, arable land. Their success proves that ecological restoration can deliver both environmental and economic benefits.
From laboratory to deserts, the research team has spent 15 years pioneering cross-disciplinary innovation. Their groundbreaking work has decoded the mechanical principles of turning sand into soil, establishing desert soilization theory and methodology. They have developed a comprehensive technological system encompassing specialized engineering techniques and implementation protocols. To date, their solutions have created 50,000 mu (≈3,333 hectares) of new oasis ecosystems, secured 26 patents across China, Australia and Morocco, and delivered measurable socio-economic returns while reversing desertification. This represent a historic transformation from “sand forcing humans to retreat” to “trees forcing sand to retreat.” The achievement offers globally applicable solutions in the fight against desertification.
By applying desert soilization technology, the team has offered a Chinese solution to global desertification control and created a remarkable achievement in ecological restoration. Demonstrating the spirit of dedicated scientists, the team members have persevered in overcoming key research challenges, devoting themselves to the public good while remaining indifferent to fame and fortune. The “Touching Chongqing” Special Award is a well-deserved recognition of their groundbreaking contributions.
