The project “Key Technology Development and Commercial Application Demonstration of Precision Proportional Micro-Valves” jointly applied by NingboTech research team led by Associate Professor LIU Wen and Xingyu Electronics (Ningbo) Co., Ltd. was approved as a national key research and development project.

The project was conceived against the backdrop of domestic companies’ inability to manufacture the much-needed ventilators after the supply of accessories and parts was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic as most of the suppliers are located overseas. The localized manufacturing of precision proportional micro-valves will break foreign monopoly of key components and improve the manufacturing quality and precision of pneumatic products in China, which is of important economic and social benefits.The team, together with Xingyu Electronics, has been engaged in structural designs of products, numerical optimization, development and testing of laboratory platforms and development of intelligent production lines since the epidemic broke out in February. The project is progressing smoothly and is expected to be completed by the end of August and start preliminary production.

The digital manufacturing innovation team led by Dr. LIU, focusing on innovative product designs, key technology development, lean production and joint innovation with enterprises, has established joint innovation laboratories with many companies through joint training of talents and sharing of R&D resources so as to deepen the industry-university integration and create a new mode of talent training.