Sci Tech Innovation Wave Rushing towards Enterprises in the Greater Bay Area | Center | Wave
High quality development research tour
Orange, purple, blue, green... Walking into the China Spallation Neutron Source Experimental Hall, I saw various spectrometers, like seven colored petals, extending outward from the target station.
What is the use of these different colored spectrometers?
"It's very useful!" Chen Hesheng, an academician of the CAS Member and the chief commander of the China Spallation Neutron Source Project, told reporters that the spallation neutron source is like a "super microscope", and the neutrons generated by it are like "probes". Through different spectrometers, the internal structure of materials can be clearly detected: from mobile phone chips and DNA to deep-sea submersibles and high-speed rail wheels.
"For example, how much mileage should the wheels of high-speed trains be replaced? This requires the use of an engineering material stress diffractometer." Chen Hesheng introduced that by measuring and studying the residual stress of the wheels with this spectrometer, it is possible to evaluate the mileage and time required to ensure safety while also considering economy.
"In the past month, we have been conducting measurements on domestically produced high-speed rail wheels. These key data related to the safety and performance evaluation of high-speed rail operation will lay the foundation for our domestically produced high-speed rail wheels to pass identification and be used in large quantities," said Chen Hesheng.
The China Spallation Neutron Source, located in Songshan Lake Science City, Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, is the first major scientific and technological infrastructure in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area. Its advantageous location at an important node of the Guangzhou Shenzhen Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Corridor has enabled it to maintain close cooperation with scientific research institutions and universities in Hong Kong and Macao since its construction.
"Doing experiments at home is so convenient!" Professor Huang Mingxin from the University of Hong Kong couldn't contain her excitement. Since the operation of the Chinese spallation neutron source, he no longer needs to apply for a machine from foreign spallation neutron sources for every experiment, greatly improving experimental efficiency.
The "Super Steel" developed by Huang Mingxin's team has amazed the world with its super strength and super toughness. "A 1 square centimeter sized and 1.5 millimeter thick 'super steel' sample can withstand a weight of 3 tons. This is equivalent to the weight of an adult Asian elephant," said Huang Mingxin. The microscopic principles discovered by the universal powder diffractometer of the Chinese Spallation Neutron Source provide key data support for the continuous improvement of the fracture, toughness, and corrosiveness of this steel.
The reporter learned that since its operation in August 2018, China's scattered neutron source has had over 4500 registered users worldwide, completed more than 1000 research projects, and achieved scientific results covering multiple cutting-edge cross fields such as energy, physics, materials, and life sciences. It has continuously attracted advanced scientific research institutions, high-tech talents, and foreign scientists to settle in the Greater Bay Area.
On the east bank of the the Pearl River, many small and medium-sized enterprises that introduce advanced technology into daily applications also burst out with strong innovation and creativity.
Entering the exhibition hall of Guangdong Boliwei Technology Co., Ltd., a national high-tech enterprise, a dazzling array of new energy products allows people to glimpse the green innovation of their way of life: from the popular electric bicycles in Europe to the essential mobile power sources for outdoor camping; From the "little assistant" intelligent robots in daily life to the household energy storage system for dealing with power shortages - behind these products, there is a core that cannot be separated, which is lithium batteries.
From its startup in 2010 to becoming one of the top 20 Chinese lithium-ion battery export companies, research and development capabilities have been the secret to Boliwei's growth. "In the past three years, we have invested nearly 260 million yuan in research and development, forming a research and development team of over 600 people." Liu Cong, Vice Chairman of Guangdong Boliwei Technology Co., Ltd., said that keeping up with the latest global technology and overcoming the key "pain points" in the field of new energy applications is the core competitiveness of the enterprise in both domestic and international markets.
"For example, if accidents such as fires or explosions occur in the 'National Mount' electric two wheeled vehicle, how can safety issues be fundamentally solved?" Liu Cong said, "Battery safety is the essence of safety." Therefore, the company formed a "Battery Research Institute" with 56 researchers, and together with a research team from Central South University, spent 5 years developing lithium batteries with higher safety factors from a material system perspective, ultimately achieving that single battery cells do not burn, catch fire, or explode after undergoing puncture testing. ".
Currently, the new energy industry is nurturing new economic growth points and is also a strategic high ground for a new round of international competition. A group of dynamic new energy small and medium-sized enterprises, such as Boliwei and Langtai Tong, have formed a gathering trend in the manufacturing city of Dongguan. They cultivate innovative technologies, connect the entire industry chain from research and development design to intelligent manufacturing, and lay a solid foundation for the high-quality development of Guangdong's trillion level new energy storage industry.
"Assembling Life Like Assembling Cars" - Continuing southward along the Guangzhou Shenzhen Hong Kong Science and Technology Corridor, new concepts and achievements in the field of synthetic biology are eye opening: using carbon dioxide to synthesize glucose and fatty acids, and using bacteria to treat solid tumors... At the Shenzhen Engineering Biology Industry Innovation Center, scientists and entrepreneurs gather in a building to explore the possibility of synthetic biology changing the world.
"How to break the" two skins "of science and technology and industry has always been a problem faced by cutting-edge science." An Yishuo, Deputy Director of Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology Innovation, said, "The synthetic biology industry involves many industries such as food, medical treatment, agriculture, chemicals, consumer goods, etc. It is a future industry with increasingly fierce international competition and has subversive potential. But at present, the main body of innovation in this field is still concentrated in scientific research institutions and universities." An Yishuo said that in order to open up the industrialization path from original innovation to entrepreneurial development and stimulate the innovation vitality of enterprises, the Innovation Center pioneered the incubator model of "upstairs scientific research and downstairs entrepreneurship" nationwide, and this model was also listed by the National Development and Reform Commission to promote Shenzhen One of the 47 experiences.
"For startups in the field of biology, a key hurdle is the high value of experimental equipment." An Yishuo said that the Innovation Center not only provides high-throughput and automated shared experimental equipment for enterprises, but more importantly, here "upstairs" gathers top synthetic biology research talents from all over the world, who become the think tank resources for enterprises.
"The development of enterprises requires scientific research support, and scientists also need to have a better understanding of market demand. The effort of crossing doors and having a cup of coffee upstairs and downstairs may collide with the industrialization prospects of the latest technology," said An Yishuo.
The reporter learned that as of April 2023, the Innovation Center has organized 12 batches of over 300 enterprises to apply for the incubation of the synthetic biology industry. 99 enterprises have been selected, and the incubator and the nearby synthetic biology industrial park of nearly 50000 square meters have attracted 36 enterprises to land. The total financing amount of the settled enterprises is 1.36 billion yuan, with a valuation of 10.94 billion yuan
The footsteps of the new era inspire people to strive forward. Walking along the forefront of science and technology innovation in Guangzhou, Dongguan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong, we can see a chain of large scientific installations and research platforms, strategic emerging industries and future industries accelerating their layout, incubators and innovation and entrepreneurship platforms catching up with each other. The surging wave of technological innovation in the Greater Bay Area urban agglomeration is inspiring China's confidence in achieving high-level technological self-reliance and self-improvement.
