Liu Zeyuan's philosophy of engineering and technology: An introduction to his Marxist socioeconomic theory

Liu Zeyuan (1940–2020) was a contributing founder to the Northeastern School in Chinese philosophy of technology. As such, he undertook to develop a theory that built on Marxism as the official ideology of the People's Republic of China. Following an overview of Liu's life and work, this article introduces the Marxist socioeconomic theory that served as a framework for his research. It then describes how he used this theory to reflect on the essential features and historical evolution of engineering and technology along with his analyses of issues related to innovation, ethics, and governance. It includes some reflections on how Liu's thought can be related to other philosophies of engineering and technology both inside and outside China.     

The politics of the city: Critical theory of technology and urban design(s)

This article aims at approaching urban design from a philosophical point of view, specifically through Andrew Feenberg's critical theory of technology. It attempts to present the politics of urban design, rejecting an urban-technological determinism that refers to a specific technical environment as the only one possible. If technology is an open process with social implications and consequences, the same holds for urban technologies and designs. This approach argues that contemporary cities are formed within a specific socio-technical context which is seemingly the most functional for the current social, political and economic world, but since environmental and urban crises rise, there seems to be a need for rethinking over the form of current cities. Thus, this article attempts to offer a theoretical contribution to the debate over alternative urban designs through Andrew Feenberg's insights. Drawing upon some of his most crucial notions, like the “technical code”, the “interpretative flexibility” and the “operational autonomy” and presenting their role in a philosophy of the city, I attempt to highlight that current urban forms could be replaced by other functional alternatives. The choice over one or another urban design is political hence the need for the relation between the philosophy of the city and technical politics.     

Philosophical perspectives on technology in Chinese Society

In developing countries today, social attitudes toward technology exhibit a more positive appreciation than is often the case in the developed world. Technology is seen as fundamentally good because of its ability simultaneously to reduce the burden of human labor and to increase productivity. In developing countries, many of the unintended negative side effects of technological development are not yet apparent or sufficiently threatening. At the same time, this positive appreciation is in dialectical relationship with a cultural past and traditional suspicion about technics. A brief case study of the emergence of philosophical perspectives on technology in China can serve to illustrate these points. The argument will begin with some general observations about education and philosophical attitudes toward technology in Chinese culture. It will continue with discussions of philosophy and technics in ancient China and of philosophy and technology in modern China. A conclusion offers some general reflections.     

Introduction for SI: EPEED on TIS: The emergence of Chinese discussions of engineering,philosophy, and ethics

As a general introduction to this special issue, what follows is a brief account of themes in the philosophical and ethical discussion of technology in China. It begins with some special perspectives on technology from ancient philosophers such as Kongzi, Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Mozi. Then it turns to the relationship between Chinese and western science and technology that grew out of the eastward spread of western culture since the end of the sixteenth century. Finally, it indicates some developments and new trends in the discussion on technology and engineering under the influence of Marxism and other western analyses since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. It concludes with a summary of the contributions being made by the articles collected in this special issue.     

我国仪器仪表产业与技术发展战略思考

在我国仪器仪表产业迫切需要发展的大背景下,从分析我国仪器仪表产业生存和发展现状入手,深入剖析国内仪器仪表产业所面对的挑战和机遇,阐述了产业优势和劣势,对我国仪器仪表产业与技术发展的战略性布局提出了自己的看法,同时提出了政策性建议.     

Discussion about the standard system on urban domestic water saving technology in China

Standard is the technical foundation of national economic and social development, and it is the basic rule of establishing social regulation. Researching and constituting the standard system of urban domestic water saving technology is to offer important science basis for revising standard plan and standardize research plan. This paper introduces the present situation of our urban domestic water saving technical standard system, problem and the development direction in the future, as well as project planning of constructing urban domestic water saving technical standard system.     

Progress of photovoltaic technology in China

Chinese government has been devoting itself to the development of renewable energy sources. This paper discribes the history, achievement and future trends of photovoltaic technology, and suggestions are proposed for strengthening the R&D ability of China.     

Current status and technology development tendency of research reactors in China

The current status and development history of domestic and abroad Research Reactors (RRs) are mentioned. The representative RRs and their respective technology characteristics are introduced. The utilizations of China’s RRs, mainly included as nuclear engineering technology, basic research applications of nuclear technology, teaching and personnel training, are explained.     

膜分离技术在我国食品工业中的应用

介绍了膜分离技术在我国果汁饮料、发酵、酿造、大豆、乳制品、禽蛋、多糖、食用胶及保健品等食品加工领域的应用情况，并展望了膜分离技术在我国未来食品工业中的应用前景．     

膜法富氧在国内应用新进展

膜法富氧及其助燃技术的应用非常广泛。主要介绍了膜法富氧技术在国内玻璃窑、锅炉、注汽炉、热风炉、医疗保健和FCC富氧再生等方面应用的最新进展。     

Engineering education and technology in a fast-developing China

As the world embarks on the 21st century, China—with a population of 1.3 billion—has arrived at a new stage of development: building a prosperous society and speeding up the national drive toward industrialization and modernization. Nearly 30 years after the adoption in 1979 of its reform and opening-up policy, China is experiencing historic leaps from poverty to subsidence, and thence to modest prosperity. The next goal for development is modernization by the middle of this century. This will be accomplished based on the following framework: within the first 20 years, China will build a moderately prosperous society with higher standards featuring a more developed economy, greater democracy, advanced science and education, more social harmony, and a more affluent life for the Chinese people. These major changes in this new stage of China's economic and social development set the stage for this discussion of engineering technology and engineering education in China.     

The progress of radioisotope technology and application in China

The inception of radioisotope and its application in China are introduced. The research,development, production, application progress and the future development prospect of radioisotope and its products are described.     

Understanding the Blockchain technology adoption in supply chains-Indian context

Blockchain technology (BT) is expected to bring a revolutionary paradigm shift in the manner the transactions are carried in the supply chains. BT provides better visibility and transparency by removing the disadvantages of trust related issues in a supply chain. In this paper, we advance the literature on BT and its adoption in the supply chain by developing, and statistically validating a model for understanding the user perceptions on BT adoption. The model is based on the integration of three adoption theories- technology acceptance model (TAM), technology readiness index (TRI) and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Based on a survey of 181 supply chain practitioners in India the proposed model was tested using structural equation modelling. The study found that the TRI constructs- Insecurity and discomfort have an insignificant effect on the perceived ease of use and usefulness. Perceived usefulness, attitude, and perceived behavioural control affect the behavioural intention. Subjective norm has a negligible impact on behavioural intention. This is one of the preliminary studies on BT adoption in supply chain and the findings imply that the supply chain practitioners perceive BT adoption free of efforts and would help them to derive maximum benefits for improving the supply chain effectiveness.     

On the influence of the technology of manufacturing on the load-bearing capacity of steel tanks

We study vertical cylindrical steel tanks used for the storage of petroleum and petroleum pro ducts. The effects of deviations of the geometric shape, variations in the thickness of the walls, and cracklike defects formed in the welds on the strength serviceability of the analyzed tanks are investigated. __________ Translated from Problemy Prochnosti, No. 4, pp. 125–131, July–August, 2006.     

产品技术进化潜力预测研究

  产品技术预测是企业长久保持竞争优势的有效方法,发明问题解决理论（TRIZ）的技术进化理论能够对技术预测提供理论指导．在介绍TRIZ的技术进化模式、技术进化路线的基础上,提出如何搜索产品技术进化潜力及构建进化潜力雷达图的方法,并对产品技术进化潜力预测技术作了系统的总结．基于产品技术进化潜力预测技术开发了专用软件——产品技术进化潜力预测系统（EPMS）,可帮助企业快速、准确地把握产品的技术走向,并应用软件EPMS对蝶阀密封技术的进化潜力进行了预测．     

中国食品安全科技发展方向讨论

从发展国家食品安全战略,强化国家食品安全科技的角度,提出中国食品安全科技优先发展的四大方向,即风险分析是食品安全科技战略的首选领域;“从农田到餐桌”整体控制体系是食品安全全程控制技术和操作规范的理论基础,是实施食品安全管理的重要技术手段;检测监测技术是预警、预防、应急的技术依据,应集中力量开发一批内控和标准检验必须的快速检测技术和标准检测技术;以政府、生产者、消费者为责任人主体的管理理念是食品安全管理的基本原则,食品链上的所有责任人应在保障食品质量和安全的问题上主动承担责任。     

膜分离在中药制药中的应用进展

对膜分离技术在中药生产过程中的应用领域以及常用的微滤、超滤、纳滤、反渗透、分子印迹膜、膜蒸馏和膜集成联用技术等的应用现状进行了综述,并对膜分离技术的应用前景进行了展望.     

A survey on the 3D printing technology readiness to use

3D printing technology redesigns the production chain and contributes to the production of customised products, or products with specific characteristics. The evolution of this production technology and its various applications improve our daily life and lead to important changes in economic and social level. The aim of this dissertation is to examine the attitude of people towards 3D printing technological innovation and their intention to use it at their workplace. A new conceptual model has been designed and empirically tested using primary data collected using a structured questionnaire. The sample consists of 258 respondents from a number of European countries. The findings highlight the importance of perceived usefulness, output usability, compatibility and attitude towards understanding respondents’ intention to use 3D printing technology.     

计量测试技术的新动态

介绍了国际单位制(SI)基本单位的量纲方程、新定义,以及中国计量研究院在质量单位研究的最新进展.阐明了"能量天平"方案核心中M/T的量纲是欧姆.建立了互感测量装置,自行研制的低频数字补偿器法.模型试验结果表明:测量不确定度主要来自被测标准互感的不稳定性.其不确定度为1.5×10-3,说明了不确定度主要来源于测量位置准确性,采用激光系统后有可能得到改善.该项研究的重要意义在于研究和验证一些国际上已有计量方案,而不是简单地模仿之.