On April 18th, HNUST held an expert review meeting for the construction plan regarding the Deep-Sea Mineral Resource Exploration Equipment Technology Innovation Centre of the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Yao Huajun, Director of the Department of Science and Technology Development of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Deng Jianhua, Vice director of Hunan Provincial Department of Natural Resources, Tang Yayang, Secretary of the Party Committee of HNUST, and WangJin, Vice president, attended the meeting. Additionally, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Hunan Provincial Department of Education, relevant departments, leaders and experts and the relevant individuals of HNUST attended the meeting.
Yao Huajun emphasized that technology innovation platforms in universities should fully implement the core responsibility of "Two Unification" in natural resourcesand strengthen the sense of mission and responsibility. To address the needs, universities should focus on solving key "bottleneck" problems and the "last mile" challenges in major business areas. Moreover, emphasis should be placed on original and pioneering scientific and technological research. The innovation center should establish an operational mechanism that facilitates technological innovation and transformation of results through seamless integration of industry, academic and research collaborations. These efforts will help systematize, integrate and promote the industrialization of technological achievements with significant application prospects and long-term market value.This will enhance the security of marine resources and energy in a sustainable manner.
Tang Yayang noted that HNUST will rely on the construction of the center to effectively support, promote and lead technological innovation and industrial development in deep-sea mineral resources exploration,so as to provide strong technical support for national marine resource security and the strategic goal of building a maritime power. It will further demonstrate the responsibilities of HNUST in actively serving the strategy of building a maritime power and its role in accelerating the construction of "double first-class" universities.
A total of 220 million yuan is planned to invest in the construction of the center. With 13 technical experts in the field led by academician, the Technical Committee of the Engineering Technology Innovation Center has been jointly established by the Second Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources and China University of Geosciences (Beijing). On the basis of key technologies of the "Hai Niu" series of exploration equipment, the innovation center pools the HNUST's resources in disciplines and majors, and conducts research on key technologies and equipment, including deep-sea mineral resources drilling and sampling. For these efforts, an international-leading technology innovation center and high-level talent hub with Chinese characteristics for deep-sea mineral resources exploration equipment would be successfully established.
Before the meeting, the delegation visited the National and Local Joint Laboratory for Exploration and Mining Equipment and Safety Technology, and listened to a report delivered by the laboratory director, Wan Buyan.
After on-site deliberations, the expert panel unanimously agreed to the construction plan, believing that the independently developed key technologies and equipment will provide important technical support for China's deep-sea mineral resources exploration. And the center can achieve strong support in terms of personnel, funding, and facilities, making it capable of undertaking research on engineering technologies for deep-sea mineral resources exploration equipment.
(Translated by HE Yingyan and HU Zhuojun)