Importance to China
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THE MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO NICKEL AND ITS APPLICATIONS |
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| DURABLE INFRASTRUCTURE is key to the longevity of any modern economy, including China. |
In the 1980's, about 10 per cent of my university classmates were Chinese. For them, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, was a long way from home, yet they had bravely come to Canada for five years to earn a bachelor of engineering degree. Besides adjusting to our bland Canadian food and obsession with hockey, they dutifully faced the challenge of attending classes and reading textbooks that were available only in English. Inevitably, there were some communication barriers in the classroom, but most of these students managed to earn their degrees.
Today, I find myself engaged in the task of communicating technical information to engineers and
architects who practice their professions in China. As manager of communications for the Nickel Institute, I
oversee a new Chinese-language web site, which presents
all the Chinese-language resources the Nickel Institute has to offer, free of charge.
The Nickel Institute is committed to providing as much information to engineers and architects in
non-English-speaking countries in their native language as is possible within the constraints of our
resources. That is not to say I am fluent in Manderin. However, I do have access to metallurgical
professionals in our Beijing office and at universities here in Canada who can translate our technical
information.
Why is this important? Quite simply, China is the most populus country in the world and the Chinese people
deserve the same quality and supply of fresh water, food, air and environmentally clean energy as we enjoy in
the developed world. In many cases, nickel-containing materials play a necessary role in providing the
essentials of life. By communicating the technical information that is needed for the appropriate use and
reuse of nickel-containing materials, we hope to contribute to China's ongoing development and its living
standards.
Users of our web site have so far demonstrated a keen interest in stainless steels used in the treatment and
distribution of potable water and in the treatment of waste water. Other areas of interest include
architectural applications, flue gas desulphurization and chemical processes. And as two stories in this
issue of Nickel Magazine show, duplex stainless steel is in demand at several large highway bridge projects
in Hong Kong.
Whereas only the wealthiest of Chinese students could attend engineering school in Canada in the 1980s, today
significantly more students can obtain a wealth of knowledge on the Internet. We hope that, with the launch
of www.ni-china.org more students of engineering and architecture will
become aware of the benefits of nickel-containing materials.
Editor
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