A FOUNDATION laying ceremony was held at Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen (HITSZ) on Tuesday for construction of a cluster of key laboratories.

The laboratories are to be handed over for use at the end of 2023, and consist of five State-level laboratory platforms and three key laboratories headed by academicians.

The five laboratories will be built under a new model — simultaneously and separately constructed and developed at both the headquarters of Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) in Heilongjiang Province and its Shenzhen campus. The labs in Shenzhen are regarded as an extension of the State-level laboratory platforms operated by HIT.

The five labs will engage in research on urban water resources and environment, robotics technologies and systems, advanced welding, tunable laser technologies and composite material technologies in special conditions.

By relying on the talented personnel and research resources of HIT and its expertise in construction, management and operation of laboratories, the labs in Shenzhen will satisfy the demands of the city in newly emerged industries and industries of the future.

The three key labs headed by academicians will engage in spatial information network and application, cyberspace safety and urban engineering safety.

The laboratories cover an area of 33,700 square meters and were budgeted at 1.53 billion yuan (US$215.15 million).

The construction of the laboratories is also regarded as a special gift for the 100th anniversary of HIT and an important activity for celebrating the 40th anniversary of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone.

Wu Delin, Party chief of HITSZ, said the labs are key projects improving the school’s operation capability, serving State strategies and facilitating Shenzhen’s social and economic development.

HITSZ now has more than 50 innovation carriers at provincial and ministerial-levels. Establishment of the new labs will give strong support to Shenzhen in building a comprehensive national science center, Zhen Liang, executive vice president of HITSZ, said.  (Han Ximin)