China News Service, Beijing, September 30. Title: "Technology changes life", opens laboratory to help young people "see the future"
Reporter Zhang Su
In September this year, the 2026 National Science Popularization Month with the theme of "Technology Changes Life and Innovation Wins the Future" was launched nationwide. All parties promoted science and technology enterprises, parks, universities, and scientific research institutes to open venues, laboratories, and production lines to the public, making cutting-edge technology tangible and tangible.
Statistics from the China Association for Science and Technology show that during the National Science Popularization Month in 2026, more than 360,000 activities were organized by various regions and departments, and more than 2 million scientific and technological workers devoted themselves to science popularization services, benefiting more than 10 billion people online and offline, setting off a science popularization craze in the whole society.
National Science Popularization Month focuses on promoting innovative entities to open scientific research facilities and create scenario-based science popularization positions, which also responds to the development requirements of industrial upgrading, new quality productivity and the deep integration of educational talent systems in the "15th Five-Year Plan".
The reporter learned from an interview on the 30th that so far, the "Quality Future Career Experience Camp" has been held four times in Suzhou, Shanghai, Changchun and other places. “By opening quality centers of excellence in various places, young people can complete their first career experience in real industrial scenarios.” said the person in charge of the industrial quality solutions segment of Zeiss Group. The follow-up will continue to rely on industrial positions, and a total of 20 public welfare activities are planned to be launched by 2027.
The popular science scene shifts to the front line of industry
The "Light the Light of Dreams" public welfare project began in 2023. It initially took the form of science and education charity tours and "science popularization express trains" into campuses, aiming to bring optical science knowledge to young people. As of 2025, the project has spread across 16 cities across the country and has provided science popularization services to more than 22,000 teenagers.
In 2026, the project will be upgraded from "delivering classes to your doorstep" to "opening the door to welcome guests." The "Quality-Inspired Future Career Experience Camp" will be officially launched, moving the classroom directly into the company's quality center of excellence. Under the guidance of professional engineers, teenagers operate precision measuring equipment and understand the definition and measurement methods of industrial "quality" next to real production lines.
"The goal of popularizing science has also been extended." The person in charge of the industrial quality solutions segment of Zeiss Group said that it has shifted from popularizing scientific knowledge to career enlightenment and career education to help young people "see what they can do in the future."
Targeting the development needs of engineering students
The experience camp has two content lines: special sessions for colleges and universities and special sessions for parents and children. Differentiated content is designed according to the needs of audiences of different age groups to achieve accurate science popularization.
Among them, special sessions for colleges and universities are aimed at the career development needs of engineering majors. In May this year, the first university-specific session was held at the Suzhou Quality Excellence Center. It was open to engineering students from Tongji University and Shanghai University and included career development interpretation, visits to the Quality Excellence Center, face-to-face exchanges with engineers, resume coaching, and mock interviews.
Chen, a student from Tongji University who participated in the event, said: "The first time I saw how industrial CT detects internal defects in parts, it was much more shocking than what I read in the textbook and what I imagined in my mind."
The team leader from the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and Automation of Shanghai University said that companies opening up R&D and production facilities and converting industrial resources into popular science resources will have long-term value in supplementing the supply of general science in schools and easing the pressure on talent reserves in the manufacturing industry.
Some commentators believe that when companies open laboratories and production lines and allow young people to touch technology in real scenes, science popularization will no longer be a one-way knowledge infusion, but will become a future-oriented career enlightenment. This "enterprise + public welfare + career enlightenment" model may sow more talent seeds for the high-end and intelligent transformation of the manufacturing industry.
