Initially established in 1996, Henan Key Lab of Information Based Electrical Appliances (hereinafter referred to as the "Lab"), formerly known as the Fuzzy Control Technology Center of Zhengzhou Institute of Light Industry and the Key Laboratory of Electrical Appliances under the former China Light Industry Association, was approved for start-up preparations by the Department of Science and Technology of Henan Province in January 2005. After passing the final acceptance in December 2009, the Lab was officially put into operation.
Through years of dedicated development, the Lab has established a high-caliber scientific research academic team in information-based electrical appliance science, with academicians as academic advisors and young and middle-aged professors and PhD holders as core academic members. The Lab boasts 63 regular scientific research personnel, including 55 PhD holders, 18 overseas returnees, 18 professors, and 27 associate professors. Among them, there is one dual-appointed academician, one leading talent (teaching celebrity) under the National Ten Thousand Talents Program, one outstanding expert of Henan Province, one distinguished professor of Henan Province, three academic and technical leaders of Henan Province, seven candidates for the Henan Provincial Science and Technology Innovation Outstanding Talents Program, three candidates for the Science and Technology Innovation Talents in Higher Education Institutions of Henan Province, three candidates for the Central Plains Talent Program, one recipient of the Henan Provincial Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholar, and four recipients of the Henan Provincial Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars..
Furthermore, the Lab has one academician workstation in Henan Province and one in Zhengzhou City, one position of distinguished professor of higher education institutions in Henan Province, two Henan provincial innovation-oriented science and technology teams, and two science and technology innovation teams of Henan higher education institutions. In addition to majors such as Electronic Information Engineering, Computer Science and Technology, and Systems Engineering, members of the Lab primarily feature an academic background in Electrical Engineering and Automation.
Relying on the Lab, the first-level key disciplines of Henan Province, including Electrical Engineering and Control Science and Engineering, and Henan's featured backbone discipline group of Intelligent Manufacturing of Electrical Equipment, have been established. Currently, the College of Electrical and Information Engineering, ZZULI possesses two first-level academic master's degree granting programs, including Electrical Engineering (080800) and Control Science and Engineering (081100); and four professional master's degree granting programs, including Electrical Engineering (085801), Control Engineering (085406), Artificial Intelligence (085410), and Robot Engineering (085510).
The Lab consists of 15 disciplinary laboratories, along with training centers in terms of IEC61131-3, PROFIBUS/PROFINET, As-i and Siemens Industrial Control. It covers a building area of 2,900 square meters, with the equipment valued at more than RMB 48 million in total.
In recent years, the Lab has undertaken more than 170 national and provincial government-sponsored projects and more than 120 non-government-sponsored projects; completed the appraisal of more than 150 sci-tech achievements at the provincial level and above, and authorized more than 240 invention patents; and won more than 40 science and technology awards at the provincial and ministerial levels.
Driven by the mission of "Independent Innovation, Priority, and Contributing to the Economic Development of Henan", the Lab effectively leverages its academic foundations and strengths during development. It has progressively shaped five research fields with distinctive features and prominent advantages, namely New Energy Power System Operation and Control, Special Motor and Intelligent Power-driven System, Industrial Network and Information Processing, Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence System, Advanced Sensor and Measurement and Control Technology.
Looking to the future, the Lab will continue to uphold the development philosophy of "People-oriented, Academic Excellence, Market Orientation, and Social Services" and the "Open, Dynamic, Cooperative, and Competitive" operation mechanism, Through dedication, exploration, and innovation, the Lab strives to build itself into a vital scientific research and test base, a talent training base, and an academic activity center in the field of informatization-based electrical appliances in Henan.