University grows international collaboration by hosting Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition

Hosted by colleagues from the School of Health and Society and the School of Science, Engineering and Environment, the delegation (including Ms Wang Ting, Director of Overseas Training and Engagement, Shandong Science and Technology Department and Mr He Xiaogang, the Deputy Head of Jinan City Huaiyin District Government), were visiting to further strengthen their relationship and collaborative ties with the University of Salford.

During the visit, the Jinan City, Huaiyin District Government signed a memorandum of understanding with the University to explore collaborative research opportunities and developments; facilitate staff and students' research opportunities, teaching developments, and bi-lateral developmental opportunities; and explore opportunities for Collaborative International Online Learning (COIL) for our students.

In addition to deepening bilateral relations, the Shandong and Jinan delegation also used their visit to the UK and Greater Manchester to host the 7th China Jinan Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, a high-level start-up competition aimed at identifying exceptional talent to develop industry partnerships between the city of Jinan and the UK. With a focus on big data, bio-medicine, renewal energy, advanced materials and smart manufacturing; talented students from across a range of UK universities attended the competition, held at our Media City campus, to pitch their ideas to a panel of academic and industry experts.

The delivery of the competition was led by Project Manager Edward Chan from our International and Regional Development Directorate and Dr Sun Mingxu, a master’s and PhD graduate from the School of Health and Society. Originally from the city of Jinan itself and an Alumni Award winner, Sun was a previous winner of the China Jinan Innovation and Entrepreneurship competition in 2018, with his research on new technology to help people regain movement after they have suffered a stroke.

Sun said “As a previous competition winner and a Salford Alumni, I am proud to have had the opportunity to bring the 7th edition of this annual competition back to the University of Salford and to help further strengthen relationships between the University and the city of Jinan.”

Dr Naomi Sharples, Associate Dean for Academic Development and International, School of Health and Society, provided a welcome speech to the delegation, competitors and judges at the competition opening ceremony. She said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to further develop collaborative opportunities with our partners in Jinan. It is always humbling to find that, particularly in the area of health, our own challenges are also global challenges, and that through collaboration positive changes are possible.”

Salford Business School’s MSc International Business programme leader Adrian Monaghan attended the competition as an expert judge and said, “It was an honour to be invited to join the judging panel for the 7th China Jinan Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition; the concepts and ideas pitched by the students were at an exceptional level. It is exciting to see the University partner with a city, which like the University of Salford, places such importance on innovation and entrepreneurship.”

Professor Mo Saraee, Head of Computer Science and Software Engineering in the School of Science, Engineering and Environment, provided a keynote speech at the competition opening ceremony, saying: “We are so proud to host the Jinan competition here at the University. Innovation and entrepreneurship are at the heart of everything we do here at Salford and this is demonstrated by our exciting new Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DSAI) Hub.”