University seeks to foster creativity
High-tech park at USTC helps students run own company
By ZHU LIXIN in Hefei, Anhui province
zhulixin@chinadaily.com.cn
Graduation marks a new beginning for all college students, but Tan Chang will not be starting from scratch.
During the busy job-hunting season for college graduates, Tan, a PhD in computer science who graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China on Friday, is staying on a path he stepped upon two years ago.
Tan always dreamed of starting his own company to improve modern businesses using his mastery of big data technology, a popular field these days worldwide.
Tan founded Anhui Rong Data Information Technology Co Ltd in April 2013, with the company's core team consisting of him and several of his college friends.
"Traditionally, scholars at Chinese universities focus too much on academic research but care little about transferring their studies into commercial use," said Li Weiping, vice-president of the Institute of Advanced Technology, a research institute and high-tech park founded by the USTC.
Li said that even at the USTC, only a small number of research projects are used by companies and few researchers establish their own businesses.
It is therefore unusual for college students, especially doctorate students who often handle much detailed research for academic projects, to run a company with the full support of their academic supervisors.
Tan has enjoyed the support of not only his supervisors, but more importantly, his university, represented by the IAT, which gave him not only financial support but also professional guidance.
"University researchers need highly efficient institutions to help them transfer viable technologies into commercial use," Li said.
Jointly founded by the Anhui provincial government, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Hefei municipal government and the USTC, the IAT represents a major step taken by the four parties to achieve common benefits.
"Cooperation between academic institutes and governments is not unusual. The firm support from the government is a manifestation of its resolution for economic upgrading and industrial restructuring," Li said.
"Universities should not be merely places to grant degrees and certifications, but they should know how to lead social development, of which a very important part is economic development. So we need a new mechanism like the IAT to help incubate more prominent high-tech firms."
Li, a Stanford PhD graduate and a former professor at Lehigh University in the United States, said the establishment of the IAT was inspired by the Stanford Research Park.
"The Stanford Research Park has served as a role model for a lot of other high-tech parks worldwide and the IAT is one of them－we want to build a Silicon Valley-like high-tech park in Hefei," he said.
"To fulfill that ambitious plan, we still have a long way to go, as researchers of high-tech firms should be academically brilliant and also know how to transfer their academic findings into products the market needs," said Liu Wen, vice-president of the IAT.
"The IAT aims to provide the local industry with more skilled students to help increase the number of high-tech companies in Hefei."
In addition to their regular courses, students at the IAT are taught to found and run high-tech companies.
Li said the IAT is not only a research institute but also offers a base for tech firms.
Zhang Jie, chairman of GeoTomo LLC in Texas, an international earth imaging solutions provider, agreed.
As a professor at the USTC, Zhang and his colleagues cofounded Hefei GeoTomo Technology Co and Anhui GeoTomo Electronic Technology Co.
He enabled prominent students to take full charge of daily operations at the two firms in the hope they would become both researchers and entrepreneurs.
The USTC is one of the country's top universities renowned for fundamental sciences.
The university produces thousands of highly qualified graduates every year but most leave the city for positions around the world.
Executives at the IAT expect the institute to play a crucial role in helping Hefei train skilled professionals and win back USTC alumni.
Still in the construction stage, the IAT is already home to 34 high-tech firms－most of which were founded by USTC professors and students.
It also has 23 laboratories established by the university and globally renowned companies such as Microsoft, Intel, Shell, Alibaba and CNPC.
