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For Alain B¨¦coulet, current head of °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ engineering (and former head of France's Institute for Magnetic Fusion Research, IRFM, which operates the WEST project), the mission? opened a new chapter in his life, marked by multifaceted collaborations, international agreements and, above all, long-lasting personal friendships.

In the Anhui province, friendships that are particularly meaningful are honoured by a special distinction, the "Huangshan Friendship Award." Last week, it was bestowed on B¨¦coulet in recognition of his 30-year relationship with ASIPP and the part he played in the development of scientific collaborations between the Chinese and European fusion communities.

For B¨¦coulet, who received another Chinese distinction earlier this year (the Scientific and Technological Cooperation Award of the People's Republic of China), the Friendship medal holds a special value. "It's not just about the formal collaborations we have established between Chinese institutions and the WEST tokamak, or the Sino-French agreement SIFFER, or the CEA-ASIPP partnership ... it is also, and maybe above all, the warm and confident relationships that we developed during these three decades."

In the early 1990s, when B¨¦coulet went to Hefei to lend a hand to his ASIPP colleagues, °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ was a four-partner project that China would not join before a full decade. But the seeds of understanding and collaboration were planted, and for the present °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Engineering Domain Head this is a most precious asset.

 ?B¨¦coulet was accompanied by Bertrand Beaumont, a radio frequency heating expert, now head of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Ion Cyclotron section.