Annual event offers the public an insight into new breakthroughs in the sector

For 18 years, the citizens of Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, and other regions of the country have been able to experience some of the most cutting-edge science and technology thanks to the Science and Technology Festival, an annual campus festival.

The annual science event held by the University of Science and Technology of China has long been cherished as an unprecedented opportunity for people to experience new breakthroughs and the benefits they produce.

This year, the two-day festival kicked off on May 19 in celebration of the National Science and Technology Week, which falls in the third week of May.

Founded in 2001, the National Science and Technology Week has become the largest, longest and most-attended science event in China and features many scientific activities across the country.

USTC was one of the first universities to participate in the science popularization activity.

A nonprofit science event for the public, this year's USTC festival attracted more than 20,000 spectators, who enjoyed both hands-on activities and lively lectures.

Joining the school in presenting activities were some of the nation's most cutting-edge scientific facilities, including those from the National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, the Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, and the CAS Innovation Institute of Quantum Information and Quantum Technology, which is set to become a State-level laboratory. USTC is the only university in the country to have more than one national laboratories.

Well known for strong fundamental sciences, USTC is a world leader in fields such as quantum manipulation, nanotechnology, high-temperature superconductivity, speech processing, fire science and the life sciences.

USTC takes it as its responsibility not only to advance frontier research projects, but also to bring science awareness and appreciation to the non-scientific community.

As one of the country's most prominent universities, USTC has been a dream school for many students. Schools from Hefei and other parts of the country take the festival as a good opportunity to nurture their students' curiosity in science and technology.

At the festival, the longest queue of participants was seen in front of  the National Engineering Laboratory for Speech and Language Information Processing, which offers technology that is highly interactive and popular among primary and middle school students.

This year, assisted with techniques like augmented reality, virtual reality and 3D printing, brand new experiences were brought to all participants.

The university invited students from the poverty-stricken Haiyuan county of Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region and  Southwest China's Guizhou province.

Since 1999, the university has been sending new graduates to Haiyuan to promote development of education in the area.

Since 2016, USTC has been participating in the poverty alleviation campaign in Liuzhi district of Liupanshui city, Guizhou.