At the close of 2005 representatives of over 300 leading industrial enterprises and scientific research institutes of nine countries (Germany, Kazakhstan, Korea, Poland, France, Ukraine, Taiwan, Turkey and Switzerland) and of 43 Russia's cities attended the Siberian Fair held in Novosibirsk. At the same time the Sibpolytech-2005 international industrial forum was held here, with several exhibitions participating in it: Siberia's Science-13, Sibmash, Sibenergiya, Power- and Resource-Saving, Electrosib, Siberia's Gasification and Ecosib.Simultaneously, the Technomart VAT international exhibition was held in Novosibirsk under the auspices of the World Association of Technopolices jointly with Novosibirsk City Hall. The FLAS Siberian Branch (SB) mounted a collective stand at the exhibition, with as many as 115 new R&D products offered by its 20 institutes.

A new product of the RAS SB Institute of Solid Body Chemistry and Mechanochemistry evoked special interest. That was a paste for obtaining a frosted drawing on glass surfaces of various configuration. As distinct from conventional materials, it does not contain hydrofluoric (HF) acid or any other of this kind and, consequently, is safe. The paste has obvious advantages - the high quality of its color (milky-white shade) and the smooth surface obtained by subsurface glass restructuring, i.e., without the usual etching.

Print shop workers and manufacturers of printed circuit boards took note of the process and a plant for iron salt-based electrochemical regeneration of pickling solutions offered by the same institute, both tested in the manufacture of copper blocks at Novosibirsk ZAO Fortpress. This makes it possible to save a considerable amount of reagents and reduce a discharge of harmful effluents. And for the purposes of hydraulic metallurgy, electrodeposition and photography, an AK-1 autonomous unit was designed at the Institute for eliminating oxygen from other media, and extraction of metals, precious metals above all. This is a compact-size and effective unit (up to 15 kg of silver may be produced by one cathode alone)-quite attractive factors for small production shops, such as photo studios.

The RAS SB Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, in its turn, demonstrated a process for the production of ultramarine from white clay (on the example of the Obsky quarry). Specialists ofvarnish-and-paint, ceramics and glass industry displayed an interest in it. Besides, other researchers of the same Institute developed a sor-bent for extraction of mercury from industrial materials that won a Siberian Fair's Gold Medal in the nomination "Ecology: New Production Processes and Equipment".

The RAS SB Institute of Nuclear Physics displayed its innovations on a stand close by. For one, the world's most powerful source of tera-hertz radiation, i.e., a free-electron laser in a range of about 10¹⁴ Hz. Instruments operating in this range have serious diagnostic advantages over the state-of-the-art technology.

Meanwhile physicists designed an original device for cancer therapy. The usual method is to remove a malignant tumor by surgery with subsequent radiation of adjacent tissues. In a departure from traditional electronic setups, ionization units were designed, sending ions across the tissue. Thereupon, tumor borders are determined by an up-to-date tomograph; the entire procedure is more safe and effective.

The RAS SB Institute of Automation and Electro-metry displayed fiber lasers not inferior, and even superior, to their widely known counterparts and easy to operate at that. An infrared microscope designed by the RAS SB Institute of the Physics of Semiconductors can register uniformity and nonuniformity of heating of electronic hardware. Displayed side by side were transistors of a broad spectral range for heat-vision technology in various fields, for instance, for control and optimization of boiler-house performance.

Apart from the exhibitions, conferences and seminars were held under the program of the Sibpolytech-2005 forum. Their participants signed agreements on cooperation in the sphere of climate studies, construction and operation of water purification plants, ultraviolet moisture decontamination, among others. On the whole, the innovative technology exhibited in Novosibirsk highlighted good investment opportunities in Siberia to many guests, including those from abroad.

Yu. Chernaya , "Scientific-and-Industrial Exhibitions as a Barometer of Economic Development", Nauka v Sibiri (Science in Siberia), 2005

Prepared by Yaroslav SIBIRTSEV

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