TECHNOLOGY
China's Analytical Centers Network Reshapes Plans for Next Five Years Network endsfirstfiveyears of operation with justifiable sense of accomplishment, but its perspective is much different than at startup Joseph Haggin, C&EN Chigago
A network of analytical centers established by China has completed its first five years of operation with a perspective much different from that at the beginning in 1983. The network has provided a justifiable sense of accomplishment u n d e r some trying circumstances. And it has provided a better grasp, of the realities of modern instrumental analysis that is considerably reshaping plans for the next five years. The Chinese have experienced the usual ancillary needs to continually upgrade the instruments and problems of developing the supporting manpower for maintenance and operation of the sophisticated equipment. The solutions don't always easily integrate with Chinese traditions. In the early 1980s, the Chinese government began a major improvement in the national instrumental analysis capability of Chinese universities and, by inference, in the associated industries. Following a U.S. visit by a delegation to the 1982 Pittsburgh Conference & Exposition on Analytical Chemistry & Applied Spectroscopy, and a tour of several U.S. laboratories and instrument makers, the Chinese began to develop the instrumentation network in selected key universities throughout China. Much of the e q u i p m e n t was purchased with a loan from the World Bank. Although unsubstantiated, the loan
amount was reportedly as much as $100 million. Originally, the network was restricted to 12 universities. This has now grown to about 40 centers. Among the consultants to the Chinese scientific community responsible for the network were Claude A. Lucchesi, director of analytical services in Northwestern University's chemistry d e p a r t m e n t , and Thomas Lyttle, director of research instrumentation at Iowa State University of Science & Technology. By the end of 1984, the Chinese had discerned the need for a professional association of laboratory managers, somewhat along the lines of the U.S. Analytical Laboratory Managers Association (ALMA). They began discussions with U.S. colleagues with the aim of establishing a Chinese ALMA. According to Zhao Shankai, director of the Zhongshan (Sun Yat-Sen) University Instrumentation & Analysis Research Center in Guangzhou, a meeting took place in December 1984 between the managers of the 12 original centers and officers of China's Education Ministry. This eventually led to a Chinese version of ALMA and prompted a second fact-finding mission to the U.S. in 1988. A summary report on the Chinese experience during the first five years of the network's operation was given in October 1988 by Jiang Jing Hua, deputy director of the Bureau of Technical Equipment, State Education Commission, China. He spoke to the annual ALMA meeting in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and emphasized that the Chinese have / Tiberalized ,/ the use of instrumental analysis and measurement equipment with a corresponding promotion of academic communication. The reference is to a change in the traditional operating mode of Chinese research labs.
Northwestern^ Lucchesi (left) and host in front of building that houses analytical cen ter a t Sich uan University Formerly, the instruments and other facilities of a laboratory were reserved for and used exclusively by the professor in charge of the lab's research program. Neighboring labs had to fend for themselves. Although traditionalists favored the status quo, economics and national needs dictated a more economically justifiable policy of instrument utilization. This, in turn, led to the establishment of the analytical centers, the eventual establishment of the Chinese ALMA, and abruptly improved communication between centers. During a reciprocal visit of U.S. analytical laboratory managers to China in December 1988, Lucchesi and Lyttle both observed improvements in laboratory operation over that seen three years earlier. February 27, 1989 C&EN
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Technology According to Jiang, the instruments involved in the analytical centers are primarily devoted to determining chemical composition and the structure of materials and to determining their microscopic morphology. These i n s t r u m e n t s are managed and distributed by the State Commission of Sciences & Technology. At the end of 1988, the instruments in the network were valued at 2.5 billion yuan, or some $670 million. More than half of the instruments are located in the institutes of the Chinese Academy of • Sciences and in key colleges and universities. More than 70% of the instruments were imported between 1980 and 1986. The sudden influx of large numbers of sophisticated instruments into a country unfamiliar with them caused some problems, but not always the ones anticipated. Jiang says that the increase in instrument sophistication was generally welcomed by the scientists, but they were considerably underutilized, especially in the beginning. In 1986, according to Jiang, one third of the instruments had been used less than 500 hours. The biggest problem was the insufficiency of instruments despite the large expenditures by China. Jiang notes that there are 1063 colleges and universities in China but only 40 centers for analysis and measurement. About 85% of the colleges have no equipment at all. This presents an intolerable barrier to meaningful research in China. The underutilization of the instruments inevitably led to a controversy over alleged excess importation of instruments and equipment. To resolve the matter, the government impaneled a fact-finding committee, which concluded that the instruments that had been purchased and installed were of great value to industry, agriculture, and education. They have also helped popularize modernization of technology with a corresponding demand for even more equipment. A second conclusion of the committee was that those universities that had access to the instrument facilities had experienced a great stimulation for research and broad interest in science in general. The 26
February 27, 1989 C&EN
Twelve original centers form network's core \ Quinghua University, Beijing : Jilin University, Zhangchun (Jilin Province) : Nankai University, Tianjing (Hebei Province) j Lanzhou University, Lanzhou (Gansu Province) | Nanjing University, Nanjing (Jiangsu Province) ; Wuhan University, Wuhan (Whubai Province) ; Zhejiang, Hangzhou (Zhejiang i Province) Fudan University, Shanghai \ Sichuan University, Chengdu (Sichuan Province) Chinese Science & Technique Institute, Hefei (Anfei Province) Xiamen University, Xiamen (Guangdong Province) Zhongshan University, Guangzhou (Guangdong Province)
problem now is that most of the universities in China still do not have adequate laboratory instrumentation for a modern program of education and research. The committee recommended that the government provide more support via appropriations. Jiang says that the current Chinese investment in analytical instruments of about $100 million is about 20% of the corresponding Japanese investment and the need to compete has emphasized this disparity. The committee also called for the establishment of key laboratory centers, which would manage—operate and maintain—the instrumentation capabilities. In addition to re-emphasizing the "liberalization" of the utilization policies, this recommendation also recognizes the imperative need for specialist technicians in operation and maintenance of the more sophisticated instruments. A test of these recommendations came with the "opening" of the universities to the public—that is, the designation that labs equipped with the new i n s t r u m e n t s w o u l d be shared by those scientists w h o needed them. A trial was made in the university section of Beijing, where Beijing and Qinghau Univer-
sities and about 10 institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences are located. About 5000 senior and 15,000 midcareer scientists were involved. Specifically, under terms of the trial program, the modern analytical instruments would be made available for general use of the scientific community. Also established was the Fund for Public Laboratory Analysis & Measurement, intended to support projects for active younger academic scientists. Industrial researchers were not included in the program although the instruments were made available to industry on a pay-as-you-go basis when the instruments were free. Additionally, a committee of referees was established to evaluate research proposals and recommend funding for them, a management committee was formed, and a user's guide for the analytical center was prepared. The trial program began operating at the beginning of 1988. By October 1988, the trial program was claimed to have received the general approval of the scientific community. At that time, about 1000 applications had been received for specific research projects. In the first round, 600 scientists had had their applications approved and funded. A second round of evaluations was begun at the end of 1988. With improved utilization of the equipment, more new problems have appeared, specifically those of insufficient spare parts and consumables. Since most of the instruments have been imported, spare parts must also be imported. Likewise, such consumables as rare carrier gases must now be placed on a permanent purchase list. These things require additional appropriations from the government. In a primarily socialist country, the problems of incentives can be a touchy subject. Nevertheless, the management of the trial program in Beijing apparently has opted to pay higher salaries as a way to secure more qualified instrument operation and maintenance personnel. Another aspect of the situation is the establishment of instrument repair facilities inside China by some instrument makers. At least one major instrument maker has contract-
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ed to have repairs done by the Beijing group rather than have the instruments repaired abroad. This is of immediate value to the instrument maker, but it does intensify the problem of incentives: After five years, the Chinese have also discovered that equipment becomes obsolete very rapidly. Replacement and upgrading of instruments is now a subject of concern to the scientific community in China and to the government of China, which must appropriate the necessary funds for modernization. Lyttle also notes that the particular list of instruments that the Chinese purchased in the early 1980s doesn't evidence much concern for optimal usage. Some of the instruments, he suggests, were more sophisticated than needed at the time they were purchased. Likewise, there are some obvious shortcomings, such as very little nuclear magnetic resonance equipment. During the next five years, the Chinese expect to continue rapid modernization of their analytical capabilities in every respect. Such modernization is symptomatic of a broader problem, that of industrialization generally. With a population that is now projected by the Chinese to be 1.2 billion people by the end of the millennium, modernization has become a matter of grave importance. Most people in China still use coal briquettes for cooking and for what little space heating is done. Less than 5% of the population has access to gaseous fuels of any kind. Liquid fuels are reserved for the scarce vehicles. Yet, in July 1988, Union Carbide started up its 50th Unipol p o l y e t h y l e n e reactor in Daqing. Obviously there will be a lot of industrial leapfrogging, which will require the support of the educational and research institutions. In the West, industrial chemistry focuses heavily on hydrocarbon production and conversion. In China, that will probably be much less the case, with a more basic thrust into "natural" products derived either from a renewable base or from other native resources. These resources are considerable, and their utilization will continue to tax the ingenuity of the Chinese. D
• Freditor (TechAlliance, $80, Circle 301), a text editor that runs on Apple Macintosh PCs, assists scientists and engineers in the creation of Fortran programs. The program, which was developed at Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories, has editing andformatting functions that facilitate working with Fortran source and data files.
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February 27, 1989 C&EN
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• Tri Form R Data Entry (Software Innovations, $150, Circle 302) helps chemical producers with EPA Title 313 toxic chemical release inventory form R submission filings. The menu-driven program, which runs on IBM PCs and compatibles, features data windows for entry of form R information. Once entered, data can be saved and then validated according to EPA requirements. • Mallin (Mallinckrodt, Circle 303), a database that contains more than 1400 OSHA-formatted material safety data sheets for laboratory and electronic chemicals, is now available on the Chemical Information System database service. Data sheets may be retrieved from the system by "searching for chemical names, CAS Registry Numbers, or a variety of other inputs. • Materials Master (Vincent Rae Associates, $1995 single user, $2995 multiuser, Circle 304) is a program for IBM PCs and compatibles that handles transactions related to materials management (such as in chemical stockroom operations), including allocation, checkout, return, ordering, account management, bookkeeping, and facility access for up to 8 stocking locations. It permits physical tracking of items and maintenance of audit trails. • FitAll (MTR Software, $50 standard edition, $75 research edition, Circle 305) is a nonlinear least-squares regression analysis program for IBM PCs and compatibles. The standard edition fits data to 20 different built-in functions. The research
edition also allows the user to modify the program so that it will fit data to virtually any function. Both editions provide a choice of w e i g h t i n g schemes, report standard deviations of resolved parameters, and display graphs of data. • Rodiecalc MSDS Chemical Component Calculation System (Rodie Co., Circle 306) helps facilities comply with Title III of the Superfund Amendments & Reauthorization Act and hazardous waste regulations. The program, available in both IBM PC ($750) and Apple Macintosh ($1050) versions, totals chemical components in a company's material safety data sheets and references those totals to reportable quantity limits of hazardous chemicals specified in federal regulations.
Literature • Lab View brochure (National Instruments, Circle 307) covers graphical programing system for development of instrumentation and analysis applications on Apple Macintosh computers. LabWindows brochure (Circle 308) describes package used to develop instrument control, data acquisition, and data analysis applications programs on IBM PCs, PS / 2s, and compatibles. • Brochure (Shimadzu Scientific Instruments/Circle 309) provides information about two software packages that allow data transfer between the company's Chromatopac data processors and IBM PCs and compatibles. • White paper (Gilson Medical Electronics, Circle 310) discusses the effects of new developments in computers and operating systems on laboratory instrument control, focusing on the advantages and disadvantages of different types of HPLC controllers. For information on these items or numbered ads, see Reader Service Card
