Honeywell Brings Nobel Laureate To China's Northwestern Polytechnical University
The visit marks the first time Honeywell sponsored a Nobel Prize winner in central and western China to inspire students to pursue careers in science and engineering
XI'AN, China, Nov. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Honeywell (NYSE: HON) today brought Nobel Laureate Professor Wolfgang Ketterle to Northwestern Polytechnical University to lecture and conduct inspirational exchanges with students and faculty members with an aim to nurture the next generation of scientists and engineers in China.
The visit, organized by Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the company's corporate social responsibility initiative, marks the first time Honeywell has brought a Nobel laureate to the university through its Honeywell Initiative for Science & Engineering (HISE), an award-winning program that has benefited university students in Eastern Europe, Latin America, India, China and other emerging countries. The visit also marks the 11th time that Honeywell has brought a Nobel laureate to China's universities.
Professor Ketterle, a German physicist, received the Nobel Prize in physics in 2001 for the achievement of Bose–Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates.
During his visit, Professor Ketterle delivered a lecture on "New Forms of Matter Near Absolute Zero Temperature" in which he discussed why physicists freeze matter to extremely low temperatures.
"When atoms are cooled to nanokelvin temperatures (the lowest recorded temperatures), they can easily be confined, analyzed and manipulated with laser beams," explained Ketterle. "In this way we can study their properties and continue to discover new forms of matter and make scientific advances in molecular physics."
He also toured the university's laboratory and engaged in informal meetings with students and faculty members.
The Northwestern Polytechnical University is the most recent of China's leading universities selected to take part in HISE. Other universities include Beihang University in Beijing and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
"As one of China's leading research-oriented universities, Northwestern Polytechnical University has always put fostering talents as our topmost priority," said Wang Jinsong, president of NPU. "We are delighted to cooperate with Honeywell to bring the world's greatest scientists to our campus. I believe Professor Ketterle's lecture today and his time with us has inspired our students to pursue their research in science and engineering. This visit has given our students a once-in-a-lifetime chance to talk with a Nobel Prize winner, encouraging them to be innovative. It's a meaningful, inspiring event to bridge the world of scientists and young students."
"As a world-leading high-tech manufacturing company, Honeywell is committed to cultivating science and engineering talents," said Stephen Shang, president of Honeywell China. "Bringing a Nobel Prize winner to a university is an important way to achieve this goal. NPU is famous in Xi'an for its outstanding engineering and scientific research. I believe our cooperation will drive innovation and talent development while underscoring our commitment to developing the central and western areas of China."
Honeywell is committed to the nurturing of science and engineering talents to meet China's growing demands to build a powerful nation strong in science and technology. In addition to HISE, Honeywell also invites teachers to attend the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy in the United States, and the company's Online Remote Education Program supported the rebuilding of two primary schools after the Sichuan Earthquake in 2008.
In recent years, Honeywell has been actively expanding central and western China, and Honeywell has a long development history in Xi'an. In 1994, Honeywell established System Sensor Inc, a joint-venture in the Xi'an High-tech Industries Development Zone, which became a model for establishing cooperation between foreign companies and Xi'an organizations. In 2005, Honeywell signed an R&D cooperation agreement with the Northwestern Polytechnical University and Xi'an Jiaotong University to conduct 10 research projects on basic material science. In 2012, Honeywell Aerospace, AVIC Xi'an Flight Automatic Control Research Institute, and Xi'an High-tech Industries Development Zone signed an investment memorandum. It resulted in a joint-venture between Honeywell and the AVIC Xi'an Flight Automatic Control Research Institute to develop and manufacture the flight control system for C919 project.
Professor Ketterle is currently an associate director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and director of its affiliated Center for Ultracold Atoms.
About Honeywell Hometown Solutions
The Honeywell Initiative for Science & Engineering program is part of Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the company's corporate citizenship initiative, which focuses on five areas of vital importance: Science & Math Education, Family Safety & Security, Housing & Shelter, Habitat & Conservation, and Humanitarian Relief. Together with leading public and non-profit institutions, Honeywell has developed powerful programs to address these needs in the communities it serves. For more information, please visit: http://citizenship.honeywell.com/.
About Honeywell
Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes, and industry; turbochargers; and performance materials. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywellnow.com.
About Honeywell in China
Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; turbochargers; and specialty materials. Honeywell has a long history in China that goes back to 1935 when it established the first franchise in Shanghai. Today, all of Honeywell's four Strategic Business Groups are represented in China, and all of them have relocated their Asia Pacific headquarters to China. Over the years, Honeywell has set up subsidiaries and joint ventures in more than 20 cities across the country. Honeywell employs approximately 12,000 people in China. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com.cn.
About Northwestern Polytechnical University
Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) is located in the ancient capital city of Xi'an. As a science and technology university, NPU is research-oriented and offers multi-discipline studies to excel in aeronautics, astronautics and marine technology at home and abroad. While NPU excels in science and technology, it also offers well-developed academic programs in management, humanities, economics and law. The university is affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and is a member of the Outstanding University Alliance in China. For more news and information on NPU, please visit http://en.nwpu.edu.cn/index.htm.
Media contact:
Lisa Li
+86 21 2219 6546
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Deborah Fonteix
+1 973 455 5422
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Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141031/155910
SOURCE Honeywell
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