University alliance to build innovation center

The International Universities Innovation Alliance will build an international innovation center in the Qingdao West Coast New Area, according to a strategic cooperation agreement signed between the IUIA and the local government on July 23.

The IUIA is a platform comprised of industrial park accelerators in China and overseas university incubators, which are initiated by the Chinese ministries of commerce, science, technology and education, the US National Academy of Engineering and the China Britain Business Council.

Dedicated to promoting innovative project investment and cooperation, the alliance covers Latin America, Asia, Europe and North America.

"Our cooperation with the new area will mainly be focused on the development of the Qingdao International Innovation Center, an investment fund co-founded by the IUIA and the new area, as well as integrating resources of local industry parks and overseas university incubators," said Jia Junqiu, executive secretary-general of the IUIA.

Jia said the IUIA plans to join Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Cambridge University, Oxford University and NEOMA Business School to build the innovation center in Qingdao.

At the signing ceremony, the IUIA presented eight projects to potential investors, including a smart grid project developed by MIT, a multi-story parking garage from Harvard, a micro-video sharing social media app developed by Peking University and a smart early education robot project by the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology.

With the help of the IUIA, a campus courier service startup developed by students at the China University of Petroleum Qingdao Campus received an angel investment worth 4 million yuan ($645,000) from Wells Fargo Bank.

huqing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/30/2015 page10)