The Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SIAT) invited its affiliated high school students and their parents to experience cutting-edge technologies at a tour of its key laboratories through several seminars presented by scientific thought leaders between February 3 and 4.

On February 3, the attendees visited the Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, the Bionic Sensing and Intelligence Center and the Institute of Brain Cognition and Brain Disease at SIAT after an introductory tour explained the institute’s history and development since its establishment in 2006.

Li Pengfei, a researcher with the Bionic Sensing and Intelligence Center, displayed the functions of a wearable exoskeleton which can reduce the load and stress on the lower back while carrying heavy objects. The ergonomic wearable is made from plastic and aviation aluminum materials and weights only 5kg. It can facilitate labor works at factories, construction sites and logistic centers and makes manual workers and elders less exposed to lumbar injuries, said Li.

A student put on a set of exoskeleton gear on the waist and ended up moving with ease objects weighting 30kg.

During the attendees’ visits to the Institute of Brain Cognition and Brain Disease, the researcher introduced parents and students to the function and mechanism of the institute by comparing it to a microscope that is capable of clearly displaying the overview of the human brain and detecting the potential pathological changes in the brain caused by mental diseases such as depression.

After the tour, the attendees participated in a lecture given by Zhao Wei, director of the academic board of the CAS Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology. Zhao shared his story of becoming the principal of Macao University from an ordinary electroplating worker who even didn’t go to high school.

He encouraged the student to have perseverance while facing failure and not to be afraid of making another try and urged those who want to become researcher to insist on following their dreams.

Another lecture held on February 4 was given by senior engineer Zhao Qishi. He introduced the audience to the concept, technology, commercialization, and prospects of artificial intelligence and simulated its application in daily life.

SIAT was founded in February 2006 under an agreement signed by the Chinese Academy of Science, Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The institute shows strength in brain science, computing science, biomedicine, and the application of scientific technologies in epidemic prevention and control.

Growing from a small founding team of five, SIAT currently has a total of 4,216 faculty members, including 798 who are high-level talents. The institute has introduced five full-time academicians, one winner of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and six winners of the National Science Fund for Merit Young Scholars in 2020.

(Wang Haolan)