Dow Corning Partners With China Welfare Institute Children’s Palace to Launch “Fascinating Silicone in Life” Science Day Program

Strong commitment to promoting China’s science education development

Dow Corning Corporation, a global leader in silicon-based technology and innovation, today launched a three-day education program in Shanghai with China Welfare Institute Children’s Palace (CWICP): “Dow Corning Science Day---Fascinating Silicone in Life”.

The Science Day allows approximately 500 local students aging between 10-16 from schools of 6 districts in Shanghai, such as Songjiang, Huangpu, Hongkou, Changning etc. as well as the children of Dow Corning employees, to learn about how silicones improve people’s life, and the importance of environmental protection and innovation.

The program includes five hands-on silicone-related experiments: “Mini Solar Car”, “Tissue Coating,” “Waterproofing Stone,” “Silicone Rubber” and “DIY Cream Mix,” In particular, the “Mini Solar Car” experiment has attracted special attention from the students and teachers. The solar car consists of an empty used bottle, wheels and a piece of solar panel attached on top. After having been assembled on site by students in teams, it will be able to move and race on the ground. It is a vivid way to show students how to generate renewable energy from sun through the solar panel. Applying used bottles in this experiment also improves students’ awareness on recycling wastes and focusing more on environment protection.

“Dow Corning recognizes that all our futures depend on having well educated, skilled and motivated young people in our society. That’s why we focus much of our attention on building strong links with schools and educational establishments in the communities close to our facilities globally.” said Tom Cook, Dow Corning’s Corporate Vice President, Asia Area Vice President and Greater China President. “ ‘Science Day’ program in China is a part of Dow Corning’s global approach of supporting young people for science education development. We will continue to work with teachers and educators here to help young people in China deepen their interests on science, inspire their imagination, discover the secrets of science world, improve their knowledge and skills as well as promote their team work spirits.”

“We are very excited to launch the ‘Science Day’ program with Dow Corning,” said Mr. Xia Yongqiang, Party Secretary of CWICP. “All these experiments used elementary chemistry to demonstrate fundamental scientific principles in fun, and provide interactive sessions to the young minds in China.”

With more than 30 years of success in China, Dow Corning is fully committed to the market and already an integral part of the local economy. In China, Dow Corning has attached great importance to promote the science education development. By providing various learning opportunities to the students, the company is helping the local community invest in its future. In April this year, student delegation has been invited to the Dow Corning Zhangjiagang site in Jiangsu Province to attend an environmental class, during which the children learned a lot on environmental protection, such as nature of water cycle and global water resource management. At Dow Corning’s Songjiang site in Shanghai, “Open Days” have been arranged to students from local schools and universities with vivid lessons and interesting experiments for many years.

Cook continued. “Over 80 Dow Corning employees have participated as volunteers in the Science Day Program this year. Such kinds of programs encourage a volunteering spirit among Dow Corning’s employees and make them feel proud and committed of being a member of Dow Corning who cares for the community and society.”

”Leadership, community service and educational outreach are important to Dow Corning,” he further commented. “As a global technology-based company, we understand that students everywhere have a natural curiosity and a desire to learn and explore. That’s why we are strong advocates of science education by localizing global themes to meet local needs.” Dow Corning Science Education Program is widely implemented in many countries all over the world, such as Korea, Japan, UK, Germany and USA.

About Dow Corning

Dow Corning provides performance-enhancing solutions to serve the diverse needs of more than 20,000 customers worldwide. A global leader in silicones, silicon-based technology and innovation, Dow Corning offers more than 7,000 products and services via the company’s Dow Corning® and Xiameter® brands. Dow Corning is a joint venture equally owned by The Dow Chemical Company and Corning, Incorporated. More than half of Dow Corning’s annual sales are outside the United States.

About China Welfare Institute Children’s Palace

China Welfare Institute Children’s Palace was set up personally by Mme. Soong Ching Ling as the first after-school educational center in China on June 1, 1953. With Soong Ching Ling’s Children’s Education Thoughts as its educational philosophy, with qualified teachers and good educational environment, CWICP has designed and developed over one hundred interest groups in accordance with the characteristics of contemporary children’s interests and psychology, such as dance, choir, orchestra, traditional musical instruments, piano, violin, calligraphy, painting, sculpture, drama, computer, environmental protection, model-making, photography and etc. Children aged from 4 to 16 in the city taking part in different kinds of groups and activities once or twice a week have enlarged their knowledge and enhanced their science, artistic and moral accomplishment leading them to the road of success.