The 18th RoomVent International Conference (RoomVent 2026) was held in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, from 15 to 18 September. Professor Li Angui of the School of Building Services Science and Engineering, Director of the International Joint Laboratory on Low Carbon Built Environment (MOE), received the John Rydberg Gold Medal. At the opening ceremony, Professor Risto Kosonen, President of the Scandinavian Federation of Heating, Ventilating and Sanitary Engineering Associations (SCANVAC), presented him with the award certificate in recognition of his outstanding contributions to building ventilation and air distribution. This is the first time that the association has conferred this honor on a scholar from the Chinese mainland.

Professor Li has been selected for the national roster of the Hundred, Thousand and Ten Thousand Talents Project and designated a National Young and Middle-aged Expert with Outstanding Contributions, among other distinctions. He also directs the laboratory and leads a “Huang Danian-style” teacher team of national higher education institutions. His long-standing research focuses on environmental assurance for underground spaces and on advanced ventilation theory and technology. He has received two Second Prizes of the National Technological Invention Award (ranked first in both) and two Innovation Awards from the World Society of Sustainable Energy Technologies.

The John Rydberg Gold Medal was established by SCANVAC in memory of John Rydberg, a pioneer of building environment science in the Nordic countries. Since its inception in 2000, the medal has been awarded to one person every one or two editions of the conference, and only 11 scholars worldwide have received it to date. It recognizes leading scientists who have made pioneering contributions in the fields of building ventilation, indoor air quality, the creation of the built environment and energy efficiency.