On November 28, the Carnival Event of ShanghaiTech’s 7th Innovation & Entrepreneurship Summit (techIES) was successfully held at the university’s Conference Center. This year’s event featured three dedicated competition tracks, attracting 341 participants from 38 universities, research institutes, and hospitals, with 97 innovative projects presented.
At the beginning of the Carnival Event, Vice President Jiang Ge reviewed the highlights of this year’s techIES and the remarkable progress made in recent years. After seven successful summits, techIES continues to unleash significant innovative energy and value-creation potential, playing a pivotal role in accelerating technology transfer and building an innovation ecosystem. The university actively encourages faculty and students to launch spinoffs through patent licensing. To date, 67 spinoffs have emerged, with student-led ventures accounting for 28%—a clear testament to ShanghaiTech’s strong support for student entrepreneurship. Many of these spinoffs first showcased their potential at the summit and subsequently attracted attention and investment from venture capital firms.
Jiang Ge giving an overview of the summit
The carnival featured a special keynote address by Professor David Secher from the University of Cambridge, titled “Innovation … and then?” Professor Secher, founding director of Cambridge Enterprise (Cambridge’s technology transfer office) with over 40 years of experience in the field, is a recipient of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion (Lifetime Achievement). In his speech, he described the journey from technological innovation to successful licensing and commercialization, sharing distinctive features and differences between the Cambridge innovation cluster and other global ecosystems, and exploring varying leadership styles in science- and technology-based companies. His insights provided the audience with cutting-edge perspectives and a profound understanding of research commercialization and innovation ecosystems.
David Secher delivering the keynote speech
In the roadshow session, six high-potential teams took the stage to pitch their projects. University leaders presented first, second, and third prizes to winning teams from both ShanghaiTech and external institutions.
The first prize winners
The second prize winners
The third prize winners
All 97 competing projects were exhibited via posters throughout the venue, sparking lively on-site discussions and voting for the “Most Popular Project Award.” Vice President Jiang Ge presented the awards to the three top-voted teams.
While entrepreneurship transforms cutting-edge technology into real-world value, science popularization plants the spirit of science deep in people’s minds. Since its fourth edition, techIES has included a dedicated science popularization track, encouraging faculty and students to turn frontier research into engaging, accessible knowledge for the public.
From lab documentaries by researchers to creative sparks from interdisciplinary students, from entertaining interpretations of hard tech to vivid performances by high school contestants—more than 120 creators presented 79 original works at this year’s Popularization Competition Track. After evaluation by 21 judges, 12 winning works were selected.
The creation of a strong science popularization atmosphere is inseparable from passionate educators who devote themselves to sharing knowledge with the public. During September, designated as the inaugural National Science Popularization Month, the university launched the selection process for the 2025 ShanghaiTech Star of Public Science Education. Eight outstanding professors were recognized for their exceptional contributions in promoting science popularization.
Eight professors winning the awards of ShanghaiTech Star of Public Science Education
The Yang Xiong Entrepreneurship Award, established in 2022, is the highest honor in innovation and entrepreneurship at ShanghaiTech University. It recognizes faculty, students, and alumni who have made outstanding contributions to student cultivation and the commercialization of original achievements. This year’s recipients were: Wang Jie, founding director of ShanghaiTech’s Office of Technology Transfer, Wu Di, alumnus of the School of Information Science and Technology, founder of Deemos Technology, and Professor Chen Jia, School of Life Science and Technology, founder of CorrectSequence Therapeutics. Jiang Mianheng, Chair of the University Governing Board, presented the certificates.
Three recipients of the Yang Xiong Entrepreneurship Award
Party Secretary Li Ruxin spoke highly of the awarded projects. He noted that the techIES has evolved into a vital platform connecting innovative projects with capital. The establishment of the Yang Xiong Entrepreneurship Award fully demonstrates the university’s strong commitment to nurturing talent in innovation and entrepreneurship. He encouraged faculty and students to draw inspiration from the outstanding teams, engage in dialogue with international experts, and leverage partnerships with financial institutions to build a more open innovation ecosystem and actively integrate into the global innovation network. He also stressed that the university community should broaden its international vision, focus on breakthroughs in core technologies, and ensure that innovative outcomes better serve society.
Li Ruxin concluding the conference
The carnival also featured a signing ceremony celebrating a financial strategic partnership between ShanghaiTech and Bank of Shanghai, along with the official designation of ten ShanghaiTech entrepreneurship bases, and the appointment of 56 industry mentors for the residential colleges.