Nanjing University won awards and medals for the seven scientific and technological achievements it put on display at the 46th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, held between April 11 and 15 in Geneva, Switzerland.

It won one distinguished innovation gold award, 3 gold medals and two silver medals.

The exhibition’s organizing committee had set up four awards, and the industry organizations and delegations had set up a special award.

The distinguished innovation gold award went to the “Smart Book Checking Robot,” built by Professor Chen Lijun and Lecturer Liu Jiashi from School of Computer Science and Technology.

The three gold medals went to:

“Fuel Cell Membrane Electrode Assemblies and Catalyst Supports Material,” invented by Academician Zou Zhigang;

“Nanocomposite for Deep Water Treatment and the Applied Technology,” invented by Professor Pan Bingcai; and

“Hand-Held Broad Tuning Medium Infrared Laser,” built by Academician Zhu Shining and Dr. Zhao Gang.

The two silver medals went to:

“Quick Forming 3D Printing Auto-Restoration Fixation Material,” invented by Associate Professor Li Chenghui, Dr. Lai Jiancheng and Professor Zuo Jinglin; and

“Simulated Gum and Simulated Tartar for Dentistry Teaching and Learning and OSCE Check,” invented by Professor Sun Weibin.

In addition, the “Fuel Cell Membrane Electrode Assemblies and Catalyst Supports Material,” by Zou Zhigang, also won the distinguished innovation award conferred by the delegation of King Abdullah University of Science & Technology.

These seven award-winning inventions were selected by international raters in respective specialties and received high praise and broad attention.

The “Smart Book Checking Robot,” for instance, applies the radio frequency identification and moving robot technologies and can precisely locate every book, including books misplaced and mis-shelved. Taking the advantage of RFID and the smart robot, it can check and locate books with full automation without any renovation of current libraries. The system checks 15,000 books an hour, at an accuracy rate of up to 98 percent and a missing rate below 0.5 percent, far superior in efficiency and accuracy to any other products in the market.

This robot is already put to use at Duxia Library of Nanjing University and Wuhan University Library.

Founded in 1973, the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva is one of the oldest and largest of its kind in the world.

It is held by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Swiss Federal Government, with the aim of displaying various innovations across the world.

The 46th exhibition this year showed about 1,000 inventions from more than 40 countries and regions.