Bao's team wins two gold prizes and a special award at the 43rd Exhibition of Inventions.
At the recent 43rd International Exhibition of Inventions, held in Geneva, ECNU presented two projects: the Satellite-terrestrial Interactive Logistics Tracking and Monitoring System, and the NFC Seal Strip System Based on Mobile Internet. Bao Qifan led the team, assembled from the Academy of International Transport & Logistics, in the development of these projects. By the end of the Exhibition, ECNU had received two gold prizes and a special award sponsored by Russia.
One of the three major annual exhibitions showcasing inventions from around the world, the International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva drew 752 exhibitors from 48 countries and regions this year, who brought with them over 1,000 inventions for competition. Both inventions from ECNU were highly praised by the judging panel, which consisted of 85 professionals.
Bao accepts interview from a Dutch TV.
The Satellite-terrestrial Interactive Logistics Tracking and Monitoring System developed by Bao Qifan and his teammates incorporated the Beidou Navigation Satellite System independently developed by China into its logistics information platform. As long as a book-size monitoring terminal is installed in the cargo, the intended recipient, using a downloadable app on his mobile phone, can track and monitor the cargo throughout the transportation process. This invention not only tackles the difficult technical problem of logistics tracking and monitoring, but also integrates satellite positioning and communications. In addition, the application of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System to trans-border logistics will help to civilianize and internationalize the system. Currently, this logistics monitoring system is being used for several international container lines, such as the line from Shanghai (China) to Savannah (US), from China to Canada, and from China to Japan. At the exhibition, this project won both the gold prize for invention and a special prize offered by Russia.
The NFC Seal Strip System Based on Mobile Internet is another prize-winning invention developed by Bao's team. Through use of the Mobile Internet and the Internet of Things, the team has embedded an NFC chip into the machinery seal strip, which enables the user to access container logistics information stored on the Internet rapidly via smart phone, thus improving security and logistical communications. The NFC seal strip is user-friendly, forgery-proof, and almost as affordable as the machinery seal strip. Currently, this system is starting to be used for such purposes as China's container and tank truck tracking, inspection and quarantine, and bank monitoring, among others.
Bao's team consists of members from ECNU's Academy of International Transport & Logistics, ECNU’s School of Information, and various social enterprises which focus on technical innovation in the fields of industry, scholarship, research, and application, or some combination of those elements. After its founding in October 2011, the Academy of International Transport & Logistics gradually assembled a research team headed by Director Bao Qifan, and decided upon two research orientations. One is the technology of international shipping logistics tracking and monitoring and its application. The other is strategic research on new spaces created by the urban development of Shanghai, and the new deep-water terminals in Hengsha. The two prize-winning inventions prepared for this year’s exhibition are the results of the former.
A foreign expert highly praises ECNU's projects showed at the exhibition.
This is the 36th time Bao Qifan has received a gold prize at an international invention exhibition. In 1987, at the 15th International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva, Bao, who was attending the exhibition for the first time, received his first gold prize. 28 years later, he received a gold prize again at the same exhibition, which was rather incredible in the eyes of Jean-Luc Vincent, Chairman of the organizing committee. Mr. Vincent expressed his heartfelt respect and admiration for Bao’s unceasing efforts as an inventor. At the exhibition, the international judges all held up their thumbs as a gesture of approval. Bao Qifan remarked, It is really good to return to Geneva 28 years later.
Bao has always focused on innovation and has completed more than 130 projects with his colleagues in the last three decades. Three of them won State Awards for Invention, three won National Prizes for Progress in Science and Technology, 41 won prizes in science and technology at the provincial and ministerial levels, and 36 won golden prizes at international invention exhibitions in Geneva, Paris, Pittsburgh, Brussels, Nuremberg, and other prominent cities worldwide.
In 2011, after retiring from the post of Vice President of Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., Ltd, Bao, together with Zheng Wei'an joined ECNU and was appointed Director of ECNU's newly founded Academy of International Transport & Logistics. Before that, Bao, who was born in 1951, had taken on various jobs: dock worker, engineer, enterprise manager, and finally Vice President of Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., Ltd. He had been awarded the title of National Model Worker and received the National May Day Labor Medal multiple times. When asked about the changes of his social roles, he says, I can take up different jobs, but I can't stop being innovative.
