Ambassador visit to Shenzhen – event report

Ambassador visit to High-tech Commercialization Forum in Shenzhen on Monday 24 September 2009

Over 50 alumni and guests attended the High-tech Commercialization Forum at the Shenzhen High-tech Industrial Park or SHIP (www.ship.gov.cn) on Monday 28 September 2009. Among the guests were Officers from SHIP, representatives from the British Consulate-General in Guangzhou and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) as well as members from investment representatives from other countries around the World. Co-organised by Imperial College London and the Imperial College Alumni Association of South China (ICAASC), the event provided the perfect opportunity to help promote a better cultural understanding of technology transfer in the West and in China.

Professor Dot Griffiths, Deputy Principal of Imperial College Business School, opened the Forum with a presentation on current approaches to innovation at Imperial College London and across the UK. Ebrahim Mohamed, Director of the Executive MBA Programme at the Business School and Ross Manning from Imperial Innovations, part of the new venture capital company, Imperial Innovations Group,  went on to talk about their own experiences of innovation commercialization in the UK, inviting questions from audience.

The afternoon part of the programme comprised of a guided tour around SHIP’s facilities, including Shenzhen Virtual University, which has seen over 10,000 graduates from around the globe pass through its doors since it was founded in 1999. In addition, the group paid a visit to the Bio-incubator and Software Park, part of a local government initiative to fuel the development of high-tech industry in South China.

Overall, the forum was deemed a success allowing representatives from the UK and China to exchange ideas, paving the way for future collaborations between SHIP and Imperial College London.

A special thanks to Elaine Ying (Business School MBA 2005), Chairman for the Imperial College Alumni Association of South China, for organising a truly insightful Forum.