Chinese Experts to Study High-Tech Solutions for Coal Mine Safety in 12-Month Pilot at NYU-Poly

NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- With China's accelerating economy heavily dependent on coal, mine safety has emerged as a national priority. Moving to embrace high-tech solutions to improve its record, 15 Chinese scientists and engineers this month will enter a pilot program at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly).

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The unprecedented year-long effort will immerse Chinese coal experts first in a three-month intensive English program at the New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies (NYU-SCPS), followed by nine months of science and technology studies at NYU-Poly. The researchers are drawn from Xi'an Research Institute of China Coal Technology & Engineering Group, one of 14 premier coal research centers dotting the country.

One approach they will study is the use of fiber optics as sensing safety devices in deep coal mines. "This pilot will provide a unique way for Chinese specialists to gain experience in the United States," said NYU-Poly Professor of Applied Physics Hong-Liang Cui, who works closely on fiber optics with his counterparts in China. "When they return home, they will be able to transform what they uncover to improve Chinese mine safety," he said.

China is the largest producer of coal in the world, mining about 40 percent of all coal produced in the world today. An estimated 5 million people work in China's coal-mining industry, in which thousands of miners die each year.

With 850 employees, the Xi'an Institute works in safety, engineering geology, geophysical instrumentation, drilling and other research. It offers technical consulting services, product development and production, as well as engineering contracting and geological safety services.

NYU-Poly is engaged in a number of alliances in China including joint academic programs with Nanjing University and with the South China University of Technology. The agreement with Xi'an was concluded by NYU-Poly's Enterprise Learning, a unit that has recently signed agreements with a number of Fortune 500 companies including SAIC and Goldman Sachs.

About Polytechnic Institute of New York University

Polytechnic Institute of New York University (formerly Polytechnic University), an affiliate of New York University, is a comprehensive school of engineering, applied sciences, technology and research, and is rooted in a 157-year tradition of invention, innovation and entrepreneurship: i-squared-e. The institution, founded in 1854, is the nation's second-oldest private engineering school. In addition to its main campus in New York City at MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn, it also offers programs at sites throughout the region and around the globe. Globally, NYU-Poly has programs in Israel, China and is an integral part of NYU's campus in Abu Dhabi. For more information, visit www.poly.edu.

SOURCE Polytechnic Institute of New York University