University innovation showcased at Industry Fair

Sixty-nine universities from China and abroad will present 708 innovation programs at the 22nd China International Industry Fair in Shanghai between September 15 and 19 via online and offline platforms.

The programs include breakthroughs in areas such as fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, industrial automation, advanced equipment, artificial intelligence, robotics, electronic information, bio-medicine, medical equipment, software, environmental protection, new energy and new materials.

The participating universities include 49 based in Shanghai, 17 from other areas in China, such as Tsinghua, Peking, Wuhan and Nanjing universities. Japan's Osaka City University and Thailand's Payap University and North-Chiang Mai University will also be represented.

Lu Zhen, director of the Science and Technology Development Center under Shanghai Education Commission, said the foreign universities will have their staff stationed on the Chinese mainland take charge of their booths.

Besides zones for showcasing universities’ innovation and entrepreneurship programs as well as innovations by youth as in previous years, this year’s fair will include a special zone for universities to show their innovations in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of 29 universities, including Nanjing, Nankai, Fudan and Tongji universities, will present 49 anti-pandemic programs.

Nankai University from Tianjin will display an AI-driven lung CT imaging screening system, which takes only 20 seconds to provide a diagnosis. By March 26, it had been used in 52 hospitals on the Chinese mainland. It has also been used in foreign countries such as Japan, Italy, the US and Germany.

Fudan University in Shanghai will show a test kit that can accurately detect the COVID-19 virus in the air, and reduce the risk of exposure. The program has provided more than 3 million kits to countries including Portugal, South Korea, Germany, Hungary and Indonesia, contributing to the worldwide fight against the pandemic.

Other high-tech innovation programs will also be on display, including an environmental air conditioner from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which does no damage to the ozone sphere, a multi-modal photo-acoustic molecular imaging and tumor diagnosis system from Tongji University, which can provide more accurate information on tumors for doctors, and a robotic system from Nanjing University, which can automatically check books in libraries and prevent them from being put on wrong shelves.

Representatives of industry will be invited to the fair and some will sign agreements with universities to bring their programs to industrial application. Seminars will also be organized to discuss how to better transfer research achievements into application.

There will be live-steaming activities to show innovation programs online, and 3D technology will be used to showcase exhibits in the National Convention and Exhibition Center (Shanghai), where the fair will be held.