Meeting of great minds hopes to boost industrial development

Qingdao to host its third Overseas Academician Tour with Nobel laureates among those invited

Some 100 overseas professors, companies and universities are gathering in Qingdao, Shandong province to share the latest scientific and technological discoveries.

With the theme of "integrating innovation and international cooperation amid opportunities and challenges", the third Overseas Academician Qingdao Tour started on Tuesday and will last until Thursday.

It will focus on the digital economy, life sciences and technology, new energy material and intelligent equipment.

Co-hosted by organizations including the Western Returned Scholars Association and Overseas-Educated Scholars Association of China, Qingdao city government and Qingdao's Licang district government, the tour is part of efforts by the Qingdao International Academician Park to foster the commercialization of scientific and technological research and seek more international cooperation.

This year, the event has invited some 100 academicians from all over the world including Nobel laureates and will launch projects and promotions, organizers said.

Based on the park, Licang district has expanded international cooperation channels and has gathered a large number of international innovation resources, said Wang Xijing, Party chief of the district.

Founded in 2016, the park is situated in Licang district, which is near colleges including the Ocean University of China and Shandong University.

The district has become home to scientific and research industries, with an area of 3 million square meters.

It has established a system which includes academicians workstations, industry incubators and research institutes, Wang said. "For top academicians, how to commercialize their research results is the matter they are most concerned about."

To this end, the district has rolled out a policy to provide academicians financial support based on the process and output of their projects. With a global vision, the park focuses on information technology, biomedicine, design and development engineering, high-end equipment manufacturing, alternative energy and new material.

It recruits academicians for scientific research and commercialization of technology globally.

Over the past three years, the park was developed into a platform to attract investment and international talent based on its functions of basic research, applied research and transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

To date, the park has attracted 108 academicians with 85 percent of them from abroad.

The park was also incorporated into the construction guidelines of replacing old growth drivers with new ones in comprehensive pilots zones.

A total of 32 projects were put into operation, and 13 of them have produced 42 types of products.

Last year, the output value amounted to 10 billion yuan ($1.45 billion), contributing 1 billion yuan in taxes.

In addition, it has provided comprehensive service to promote the commercialization of projects.

It does this through a steering group that helps academicians with projects signing, construction, landing and operation.

He Manchao, an academician of the park, transformed his research of a new material into production earlier this month. It will be used to produce stronger steel by changing its molecular structure.

In the first phase, it will set up three production lines. Each has an annual capacity of 25,000 metric tons and an output value of 500 million yuan, according to the park.

"In the park, scientists are not just sitting in laboratories for research and papers, while entrepreneurs will not get trapped by technical problems because of the park's cooperation network," Wang said.

liangkaiyan@chinadaily.com.cn

Academician Seeram Ramakrishna introduces his projects on nanofibers new materials at the 2019 Qingdao International Academician Park Promotion event.

The Qingdao International Academician Park is home to lots of industrial incubators and aims to foster the commercialization of scientific and technological research and seek more international cooperation.

A worker shows the product made by new material developed by academician He Manchao's research team in the park. Sun Zhiwen / For China Daily

The samples of new self-suspension high strength proppant developed by academician Zhang Dongxiao.

(China Daily 05/29/2019 page24)