Ceremony of Innovation Center for China-US Youth Exchange

As one of the "first batch of innovation center for China-US youth exchange" listed by the ministry of education, “innovation center for China-US youth exchange of Tongji University” was unveiled on April 2. It will work to promote the development of education in China and the United States and make positive contributions to the promotion of cultural exchanges between them. This also made a new platform for innovation and entrepreneurship education in Tongji University.

They attended the ceremony, including Mr. Wang Zhijun, director of the Science and Technology Commission of Yangpu District, Ms. Lu Lili, deputy director of the International Exchange Department of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Mr. Xu Jianping, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Tongji University, Mr. Qi Yongqi, dean of the School of Design and Innovation, and Mr. Zhao Lingzhi, dean of the American Enterprise Representative Autodesk (China) Research Institute, Mr. Cao Zhiping, senior vice president of DELL EMC. They unveiled the exchange center together. Mr. Zhou Bin, full-time vice president of Tongji University's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute, presided over the ceremony.

Tongji university will cooperate with Shanghai cooperation university, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other American universities, as well as domestic and foreign leading enterprises to jointly build the " innovation center for China-US youth exchange of Tongji University ". The center focuses on three aspects, namely the wider innovation (or maker) education, the closer communication and demonstration between Chinese and American makers, and the more effective transformation of the double innovation achievements. The center Shanghai base will be set up in Yangpu and other districts, and the center American base will be established in Boston. The two bases will provide laboratory equipment, accept global visiting scientists and young makers, and support the transformation of research results.

This year, innovation center for China-US youth exchange of Tongji University will host the China-US Youth Maker Competition in Shanghai. It plans to host the Global Maker Summit in partnership with Maker Fairs and Slush during the Innovation and Entrepreneurship International Expo. It will set up the China-US Youth Maker Pavilion at the main venue of the Expo, and host the China-US Youth Maker Competition Shanghai Competition and the China-US Youth Maker Forum.

     The establishment of innovation center for China-US youth exchange is aimed at implementing the outcomes of the consensus between the two presidents and the “Joint Statement on China-US Humanities and Social Dialogue”. On September 28, 2017, China and the United States held the first round of social and humanistic dialogues and issued the "Joint Statement on China-US Social and Humanistic Dialogue". The statement pointed out that the two sides will encourage youth exchanges and cooperation in innovation and entrepreneurship and set up a number of new innovation centers for China-US youth exchange in the two countries. In the future, innovation center for China-US youth exchange will provide a broader platform for youth innovation and entrepreneurship training and scientific and cultural experience exchange between the two countries. At the end of 2017, the Department of International Cooperation and Exchange of the Ministry of Education announced the list of “the first batch of innovation centers for China-US youth exchange”, among which Tongji University was listed. 

     The construction of innovation center for China-US youth exchange is also a project that has been further promoted on the basis of the results of the “innovation center for China-US youth exchange competition”. Tongji University has played a pivotal role in promoting the innovation center for China-US youth exchange competition and humanities exchange activities, which has accumulated valuable experience for the construction of the innovation center for China-US youth exchange. Since 2014, it has been the organizer of the “innovation center for China-US youth exchange competition” hosted by the Ministry of Education for four consecutive years, which provided strong support for the success of the competition. As the organizer of Tongji University Design and Innovation College, since 2014, it has organized the launching ceremony, campus presentation, team recruitment, technical training and finals of the competitions, and successfully guided and supported the students from Tongji University to participate actively. It has won several important awards in the Shanghai Division and the National Finals.

Tongji University has carried out solid cooperation and exchanges with the top universities in the United States in the field of maker education. Tongji University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology built the first “FabLab” Maker Center in Shanghai in 2013, and they established four Maker Centers in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Changshu and another city, which becoming one of the bases of the Chinese maker movement. In 2017, Tongji University and the Media Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology established the joint laboratory of “Tongji-MIT Shanghai Urban Science Laboratory”. It became the first contracting partner of the Media Lab in Chinese universities.

Tongji University has also cooperated with leading Chinese and American enterprises to carry out in-depth school-enterprise cooperation in the field of makers. In 2014, Tongji University and the "China-US Young Maker Competition" cooperative enterprise American Intel (Intel) company established "Joint Maker Space"; In 2015, Tongji University and Alibaba established a joint laboratory and released the “Design and Artificial Intelligence Report” in 2016; At the same time, Tongji University established the joint laboratory of "User Experience Design" with Microsoft, a cooperative enterprise of "China-US Young Maker Competition". In 2016, the American Autodesk CEO - Mr. Carl Bass was appointed as an honorary professor of Tongji University and taught at the School of Design and Innovation. For a long time, these laboratories have provided maker-related courses and practical guidance for the maker community from across the country. They teach students to create new products and applications with social and industrial value. It involves areas of sustainable development such as community, education, environmental protection, health, transportation, energy, and artificial intelligence.

At the opening ceremony, representatives of the US cooperative enterprises expressed their willingness to carry out comprehensive cooperation with the maker exchange centers built by Tongji University in the future.