CVS president helps to build bridges
Jianguo Hou outlines the prospects for vacuum science in China.
The Chinese Vacuum Society (CVS) is a non-profit organization comprising scientists, engineers and technicians from academia and industry who are involved in vacuum science and technology in China. Founded in 1979, it now has more than 5000 individual members and 250 corporate members in a dozen local vacuum societies. It is the only representative from China in the International Union for Vacuum Science, Techniques and Applications (IUVSTA).
Since joining the IUVSTA in 1983, the CVS has played an active role in various union activities that have helped to foster internationalization and develop links with other national vacuum societies. This will culminate in the society hosting the 18th International Vacuum Conference (IVC-18) in Beijing in 2010. Jianguo Hou has been president of the CVS since 2004. He is professor of physics and chemistry at the University of Science and Technology of China, where he is also executive vice-president. His current research interests include nanomaterials, nanodevices and single-molecule science.
What is the Chinese Vacuum Society s role in the scientific community?
For the past 28 years the society has played a committed and active role in promoting the development of vacuum science and technology. It serves as an important platform for knowledge exchange, science popularization and technical consulting through the coordination of academic meetings, workshops and technical training courses, and through the publication of associated material in the society s magazine and on its website. The CVS also acts as a bridge between research institutions and vacuum companies, promoting the transfer of scientific information and thus ultimately contributing to China s economic development.
How would you assess the current state of vacuum science and technology in China?
Though China is developing rapidly, a technology gap still remains between it and the rest of world. In recent years, however, we have made great progress in vacuum science and technology, in both fundamental research and applied technology. In academia, high-quality and high-impact papers relating to surface science and nanoscience are beginning to appear with more regularity in prestigious international journals, for example Nature and Science, with work in fields such as molecular self-assembly and scanning tunnelling microscopy based on nanotechnology attracting the attention of the international community.
In industry, with an ever-increasing number of Chinese vacuum companies, output and production values continue to grow rapidly, particularly for low- and medium-end vacuum products. Ever-improving technical expertise means that the specification and quality of vacuum-pump products are now becoming comparable to those from abroad.Nevertheless, Hou is overseeing a period of sustained growth.
there still exists room for improvement in the quality of vacuum products built in China, particularly those for use in applications requiring reliability and high performance.
What do you see as the main challenges facing the members of the CVS?
For those members working in academia, the main focus is to continue carrying out innovative vacuum-related research (including the development of instrumentation) and to publish high-quality papers that are recognized by the rest of the world. It is also important to be aware of the application perspective of this research in order to promote the knowledge transfer of scientific achievements for technological industrialization. The latter is particularly relevant for those members working in industrial R&D. The main challenge for them is to improve the quality of vacuum products so that these meet international standards, such as in product reliability. It is also important that CVS members in both academia and industry design and manufacture high-end vacuum systems based on their own intellectual property.
What are the biggest growth areas in China for commercial vacuum organizations?
In recent years the vacuum industry in China, along with the nation s economy, has grown rapidly. Currently, the biggest growth areas for commercial organizations are in the fields of vacuum-generating equipment and supplementary
Vacuum challenges and solutions July 2007 19 systems, such as those for leak detec-l encouraging co-operation between tion and coating technologies. The main China will soon be a major vacuum firms to promote technology application areas for these products are transfer and the industrialization of player in vacuum science. aviation, astronautics, and the chemical vacuum technologies. and mechanical industries.
The CVS, together with the Chinese Vacuum Equipment Association, has worked hard to support these endeavours, for example by organizing various vacuum-related symposiums and workshops to serve as a platform for academic exchange, and by offering technical training for universities, research institutes and commercial organizations. It has also helped to establish joint R&D programmes between universities and companies. All of these efforts help to promote the development of vacuum technology in China, to speed up the development cycle of vacuum products, and ultimately to boost the volume of sales of such products.
How does the CVS plan to develop?
The CVS is a vibrant and energetic organization. For its continued success I would like to see it focus on five key areas: l improving member services, via annual meetings, the society magazine and website, consultancy and exhibitions that offer potential business opportunities; l developing vacuum science and technology education initiatives, like workshops and technical training courses; l promoting internationalization and regional co-operation by hosting international conferences, such as IVC-18; l establishing vacuum-related engineering standards and qualification schemes for workers in the vacuum industry;
What are your predictions for the future of vacuum science and technology in China?
As the Chinese economy continues to grow, one expects similar growth in vacuum science and technology. To achieve sustainable economic development imposes a growing demand for advanced technology and high-performance products. There is a great opportunity for China to play a vital role in hi-tech areas such as the electronics industry, for example in the development of optoelectronic devices.
With regard to the manufacture of vacuum products, the gap between the rest of the world and China is shrinking. China will soon become a major player in these fields and vacuum companies will be more involved in international competition. With such globalization, it will become increasingly important to make sure that intellectual property rights are respected and protected.
The coalition of Chinese vacuum companies will be an inevitable trend, to allow firms to compete with overseas operations, both abroad and at home. The Chinese Vacuum Society, to harmonize such competition and thus help to promote the as a tie of friendship and a bridge of trade, will do its best worldwide development of vacuum science and technology. Jianguo Hou is president of the Chinese Vacuum Society (www.chinesevacuum.com).
