THE first Jiading Science and Technology Expo was held at the end of August at Shanghai Automobile Exhibition Center. It was another innovative attempt to explore advanced technology and encourage integration of research and business after two forums were held in the past two years.

An annual technology award ceremony was also held during the expo. Awards were given to two distinguished scientists, eight technology leaders, 30 advanced technology projects and 14 patents.

People may consider technicians and scientists as mysterious as their achievements are often considered irrelevant to people's lives, but this is simply not true. Here are a few examples of how scientists make our lives better.

How do you deal with burst of water pipes buried underground? A common solution is to open a "road zipper" from the surface. However, sometimes the opening has to be very long because it is difficult to determine the precise location of the leak. Restoration projects cost money and often result in traffic jams.

A type of water supply equipment exhibited by Shanghai Liancheng (Group) Co can automatically monitor a pipeline's safety and water quality with sensors. It will reduce the amount of construction work required to fix burst water pipes and monitor water quality in the pipes to ensure residents get clean tap water.

How can you check if a shop's price is reasonable? By installing price-comparative software in your mobile phone, you can quickly browse prices in different local shops.

"People used to shop around on foot, but now we can do it by hand," said Xi Wenyi, head of business cooperation at Wochacha Information Technology Co. "The company has more than 5.6 million users after launching this business last year. The number is growing at 38,000 daily and the company has become a leader among domestic counterparts."

The company is also planning to develop a food safety information tracking system, Xi added.

Novel devices

How is the air quality in nearby areas? The public is greatly concerned about the amount of oxygen, suspended particles and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Shanghai Hongwei Information Technology Company has set up an environmental monitoring station at Jiading New Town, and it plans to set up 12 more stations in the district. The company also plans to monitor gas leakage and chemical residues at homes.

A simple mouse click can take people to the multi-media exhibition hall of Tongji University, where you can go up and down the stairs as if you were really in the hall. In the exhibition area of Shanghai University, the intelligent lawn mower was working automatically. An underwater cleaning robot in a prominent place also attracted many viewers.

An elderly lady visiting the expo was drawn by a piece of floor that generates electricity. She jumped twice on the floor and generated enough power to light up 32 colorful bulbs. "I have lit up 32 lights," she said, so excited and happy.

The piece of floor, designed by Shanghai Institute of Ceramics affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is made up of piezoelectric materials. When people step or walk on the floor, electricity is generated and sent directly to the lights. The number of lit bulbs is determined by the amount of energy generated through stepping or jumping. The piezoelectric floor was developed by professor Luo Haosu and his team has already started production on a small scale. The products are mainly used to calculate the flow of passengers in subway stations.

A visitor surnamed Chen was surprised when he walked past a booth and his face appeared on a TV screen.

"How come I am on that screen?" he asked.

A manager from Isvision Technology Co Ltd explained that the recognition alarm system is now widely used in customs, banks and police stations. The system identifies and records human faces. Once a criminal whose face was recorded in the system appears, the system will trigger an alarm automatically.

The national debate contest among college students has drawn much attention during the expo. Students from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Xi'an Jiao Tong University debated with each other on whether China should implement a carbon emissions tax. The two teams stood out from eight other domestic university teams in the contest.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University argued that China should implement the tax so as to internalize the costs of carbon emission. However, the Xi'an Jiao Tong University insisted no new burden be applied to companies and the new tax should not be introduced. The two sides supported their views with data and theories. Shanghai Jiao Tong University won the debate for its perfect defense of their views. Sun Yechen, a member of Xi'an Jiao Tong University team, won the best debater title.

Yuan Yue, a TV talk show host and president of Beijing-based Horizon Research, chaired the competition, while professor Jiang Changjian from Fudan University acted as the judge.

"It was a scholarly debate," said Jiang.

He praised the debaters for maintaining good manners while competing fiercely and analyzed the defects of both teams. The competition became a platform college students to exchange opinions on hot social issues.

The two-day tech expo attracted more than 2,500 visitors. A total of 121 research institutions and companies released 110 high-tech products and 95 technical demands, involving new-energy vehicles and key components, new energy and advanced industrial materials, electronics and information, software and information services, biochemical and other emerging and traditional industries. At the expo, 95 projects and 15 cooperation agreements were signed, and 11 technical problems were solved.

Strategic cooperation

During the tech expo, Jiading District signed a series of strategic cooperation agreements with the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Shanghai, and the Shanghai branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

According to the agreements, Jiading will cooperate with the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission to enhance technological innovation, hold technology exhibitions, promote planning and construction of electronic information industry parks, establish a conglomerate of new energy cars and accelerate building Jiading into an "Intelligent City."

Jiading will also work with the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Shanghai to attract more overseas professionals and explore new mechanisms to attract high-level professionals. A total of 20 projects put forward by overseas high-level professionals were recommended during the expo. The projects covered six sectors including new energy, advanced materials, information technology and new energy cars.

A proposal to award advanced technology achievements was released by the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, the Shanghai branch of Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Jiading Science and Technology Commission. It suggests that scientists should receive guidance and support during experiments and industrialization of innovative ideas.

To promote the industrialization of scientific results, Jiading plans to introduce more than 10 awarded projects at the state or city level, to more than 10 innovative enterprises in the district. Annual output value is aimed to exceed 1 billion yuan (US$156 million).