In December 2022, the National Center of Technology Innovation for Smart Process Manufacturing (referred to as the NCTI-SPM), led by East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), was approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology. This marks the first domain-specific national technological innovation center led by Shanghai. It is also the first national technological innovation center in the field of process manufacturing in China and represents another significant breakthrough for ECUST in this field, following the approval of the National Natural Science Foundation of China's Basic Science Center Project on Intelligent Optimization and Regulation Mechanisms for Material Transformation Manufacturing Processes in 2020.
Process manufacturing industries, such as petrochemicals, steel, and building materials, are pillars and foundational sectors of the national economy, serving as the main battlefield for advancing the strategy of building a strong manufacturing nation. Intelligent regulation technologies for process manufacturing and their industrial software are key to overcoming the bottlenecks in digital transformation and optimization upgrades in the petrochemical, steel, and building materials industries, which are crucial for the high-quality development of the manufacturing sector and national security.
The NCTI-SPM is organized by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government and the Ministry of Education. It is led by East China University of Science and Technology and the Shanghai Innovation Institute for Smart Process Manufacturing, in collaboration with leading universities in the steel and building materials industries, such as the University of Science and Technology Beijing and Wuhan University of Technology. The center also partners with 19 industry leaders in petrochemicals, steel, and building materials, including China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, China National Petroleum Corporation, Sinochem Group, China Baowu Steel Group Corporation Limited, Ansteel, China National Building Material Group Co., Ltd., and Anhui Conch Group Co., Ltd.
The NCTI-SPM focuses on breaking through common core technologies for intelligent regulation in process manufacturing, fundamental and frontier leading-edge technologies, and independently controllable industrial software. With the goal of industrializing significant basic research results, NICPM will fully leverage the role of market mechanisms and the organizing role of the government in tackling key core technologies. It will bring together the country's superior scientific and technological forces to form a new national science and technology research system featuring deep integration of government, industry, academia, research, and application, guided by enterprise needs. This system will promote the deep integration of the innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain, and talent chain, making NCTI-SPM a national strategic scientific and technological force in the field of intelligent regulation technologies and industrial software for process manufacturing in China.
As the lead construction unit of the NCTI-SPM, East China University of Science and Technology has been deeply engaged in the field of process industry automation for 65 years. Over the years, ECUST has taken the lead in undertaking a large number of national key research tasks in the field of intelligent regulation for process manufacturing, possessing a solid foundation and significant influence both domestically and internationally. In recent years, ECUST has achieved a series of internationally leading scientific research results in the fields of basic research, technological innovation, and engineering application of intelligent regulation for process manufacturing, including petrochemicals, biochemical engineering, coal chemicals, and building materials. ECUST has developed a suite of scientific research achievements and technological products with independent intellectual property rights, which have been promoted and applied in leading enterprises in the industry, achieving significant economic and social benefits.
In the future, under the guidance and support of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Shanghai Municipal Government, and the Ministry of Education, the NCTI-SPM will proceed from national strategies and industrial needs. It will strengthen the research and judgment of intelligent manufacturing technology development strategies, develop a series of internationally leading industrial software products, produce a number of high-level landmark scientific and technological achievements, attract and gather a group of world-class scientific and technological leaders, and build a world-class innovation hub for process manufacturing intelligent regulation that leads global industry development.
