Nobel laureate bullish on Xi'an's technological innovation

Dan Shechtman, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and professor at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, recently revisited Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province.

Born in 1941 in Tel Aviv, Israel, Dan Shechtman is an internationally-renowned materials scientist and electron microscopy expert. He was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his discovery of quasicrystals, a type of crystal.

During the visit, he received the 2021 Chinese Government Friendship Award and visited the Shechtman Nobel Prize New Material Institute, its related laboratories and innovative tech enterprises. He also visited the National Innovation Institute of Additive Manufacturing and Xi'an Jiaotong University, among other places.

He said that he saw many new projects in universities, high-tech enterprises and laboratories in XFi'an, and felt the benefits brought by technological innovation to Xi'an. He believed that through the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, Xi'an will surely create a bright future for itself.

Dan Shechtman's connection with Xi'an began with his student, Professor Xu Chunjie from the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Xi'an University of Technology. During one of Dan's visits to Xi'an, they agreed to collaborate on scientific research related to magnesium alloy 3D printing technology.

On March 27, 2019, an unveiling ceremony for the Shechtman Nobel Prize New Material Institute (the Nobel Prize Institute) was held in the Xi'an High-tech Industries Development Zone. The institute focuses on the design, development, and fundamental research of high-strength and tough magnesium alloys, additive manufacturing key technologies and equipment, and semi-solid forming technologies.

Additionally, Xi'an Shechtman Nobel Prize New Material Institute Co was established to facilitate the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements.

In terms of technological innovation, the institute has achieved the technological development and mass production of specialized filaments for high-rare-earth magnesium alloy additive manufacturing, filling the gap in the domestic and international markets for 3D printing-specific high-rare-earth magnesium alloy filaments and overcoming bottlenecks in the field.

The institute has incubated and nurtured 38 small and medium-sized enterprises in the field of new materials, cultivated 12 national-level high-tech enterprises, and established four innovation platforms under the collaborative development model of industry, academia, and research.

After the visit, Dan Shechtman was delighted to see so many young researchers in the institute and showed great interest in the Qinchuangyuan platform.

He said that he has been paying attention to Xi'an's development, and in the future, he will continue to support Xi'an's development and bring in more advanced technologies and high-end talents for the city.