On the morning of April 29, the event themed “Gathering Minds for Optoelectronics, Co-creating the Future” — the inauguration ceremony of the Intelligent Optoelectronics Innovation Center and University-Enterprise Collaborative Innovation Development Event — was held at Yunmi City, Yuhuatai District, Nanjing.

The attendees included Hong Wei, Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Distinguished Professor of Southeast University; Lü Chen, Member of the Standing Committee and Director of the Organization Department of the Yuhuatai District Party Committee; Zhang Tiebo, Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Deputy Director of the Administrative Committee of China (Nanjing) Software Valley; Zhang Haiyi, Li Yun and Pan Yongtao, Deputy Directors of the Administrative Committee; Zhong Wenqi, Member of the Standing Committee of the SEU Party Committee and Vice President; Wang Baoping, Former Executive Vice President of SEU and Deputy Director of the Zhishan Development Committee; Gu Yonghong, Member of the Standing Committee of the SEU Party Committee and Director of the Publicity Department; as well as 21 alumni representatives.

The event was also joined by principals from the Science, Technology and Education Division of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Yuhuatai District Bureau of Artificial Intelligence Development, Science and Technology Innovation Department of the Software Valley, relevant functional departments and schools of the university, representatives of the Nanjing Alumni Association and its Science and Technology Innovation Promotion Branch, representatives from peer universities, and invited enterprises and institutions. The whole event was hosted by Jiang Xuehua, Party Secretary of the School of Electronic Science and Engineering.

Zhang Tiebo, Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Deputy Director of the Administrative Committee of China (Nanjing) Software Valley, delivered a speech. He noted that Southeast University boasts 12 “Double First-Class” disciplines and serves as a core national force for breaking through key core technologies. China (Nanjing) Software Valley is home to over 4,000 software-related enterprises, with its software business revenue approaching 300 billion RMB, acting as the core engine of Nanjing’s trillion-yuan software industrial cluster. The cooperation between the two sides represents a precise linkage between top-tier intellectual resources and robust industrial capacity.

Speech by Zhang Tiebo

He emphasized that taking this inauguration as a new starting point, they will build a core source of hard-core innovation, construct a demonstration zone for industry-education integration, and foster an innovation ecosystem that attracts talents from all over the world. They will fully implement high-quality population and talent policies, leverage the advantages of talent funds, and provide premium services for all talents starting businesses and conducting innovation in Yuhuatai District.

Zhong Wenqi, Member of the Standing Committee of the SEU Party Committee and Vice President, delivered a speech. He stated that China (Nanjing) Software Valley serves as the core engine fueling the rapid growth of Nanjing’s high-tech industries, forming an innovation ecosystem with extremely high concentration of technology, talents, capital and entrepreneurial spirit. As a “Double First-Class” university, Southeast University takes the lead as the vanguard in the pilot program of dual high-quality coordination, and has maintained close, inseparable ties with the Software Valley all along.

He pointed out that the Innovation Center should proactively align with national strategies, focus on cutting-edge directions such as optical chips, optoelectronic integration and intelligent perception, and achieve breakthroughs in a batch of stranglehold technologies.It should respond to genuine industrial demands and solve practical frontline problems, building an expressway connecting laboratories to production lines, enabling more original breakthroughs from 0 to 1 to accelerate industrial transformation from 1 to N.

Speech by Zhong Wenqi

During the event, Ni Zhenhua, Dean of the School of Electronic Science and Engineering and Director of the Intelligent Optoelectronics Innovation Center, reported on the center’s construction progress. Relying on 8 national and provincial-level platforms including the National-Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Integrated Optical Sensing and Communication Networks and the Key Laboratory of Quantum Materials and Information Devices under the Ministry of Education, the center focuses on three core missions: tackling key technologies driven by industrial demands, incubating and commercializing cutting-edge university research achievements, and cultivating innovative talents through in-depth industry-education integration. It is committed to achieving key technological breakthroughs in optoelectronic chips, intelligent sensing, instruments and equipment, and new semiconductor technologies.

Briefing on Center Construction by Ni Zhenhua

Inauguration of the Innovation Center

Zhong Wenqi, Vice President of Southeast University, and Pan Yongtao, Deputy Director of the Administrative Committee of China (Nanjing) Software Valley, jointly unveiled the plaque for the Intelligent Optoelectronics Innovation Center.

Appointment Ceremony for Members of the Strategic Advisory Committee

The event held a special session for appointing members to the Strategic Advisory Committee of the center. Lü Chen, Member of the Standing Committee and Director of the Organization Department of the Yuhuatai District Party Committee, and Gu Yonghong, Member of the Standing Committee of the SEU Party Committee and Director of the Publicity Department, jointly presented letters of appointment to the attending committee representatives.

A total of 14 experts were appointed to the committee, led by Academician Hong Wei, Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The committee brings together many senior scholars from relevant fields at Southeast University, as well as outstanding alumni entrepreneurs from the optoelectronics and investment industries.

Academician Hong Wei, Chairman of the Strategic Advisory Committee, stated that he will earnestly fulfill the committee’s responsibilities. From a global perspective, the committee will provide independent and objective advisory suggestions for the center’s medium and long-term development and technical roadmap selection, fully functioning as a think tank to offer solid support for the center’s strategic decision-making.

Signing of Strategic Cooperation Agreements

On-site, the center signed strategic cooperation agreements with 12 enterprises and institutions. All signatory parties will carry out in-depth cooperation in joint research on key technologies in intelligent optoelectronics, transfer and commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, and talent cultivation through industry-education integration. They will establish a market-oriented demand-driven verification mechanism, and jointly open up an innovation channel spanning technological R&D to industrial application.

The event witnessed the launch of the Southeast University Alumni Electronic Industry Development Alliance. Wang Baoping, Former Executive Vice President of SEU and Deputy Director of the Zhishan Development Committee, serves as the Chairman of the Alliance, with representatives from 10 alumni electronic enterprises as its members.

Wang Baoping stated that the Alliance will build a regular platform for supply-demand matching and technical cooperation among alumni enterprises, facilitate effective linkage between alumni resources and the university’s scientific research strengths, and forge an alumni development community featuring co-construction, resource sharing and win-win results. On-site, Wang Baoping, Rui Zhenhua and alumni representatives jointly launched the Alumni Electronic Industry Development Alliance.

Inauguration of the Science and Technology Innovation Promotion Branch of SEU Nanjing Alumni Association

At the inauguration session of the Science and Technology Innovation Promotion Branch under the SEU Nanjing Alumni Association, Yang Ruijia, President of the SEU Nanjing Alumni Association, and Li Qing, President of the new branch, jointly unveiled the plaque for the branch. The branch is dedicated to pooling the scientific and innovative strengths of alumni based in Nanjing and building a service platform for alumni innovation and entrepreneurship.

To further strengthen financial support for alumni enterprises, the branch signed a cooperation agreement with the Yuhuatai Technology Sub-branch of China Merchants Bank to jointly build a Talent Financial Service Center, injecting financial vitality into alumni’s scientific and innovative undertakings.

Briefing on the "Micro Light · Creation" Micro-Innovation Talent Training Program

Lü Junpeng, Deputy Director of the Intelligent Optoelectronics Innovation Center and Vice Dean of the School of Electronic Science and Engineering, introduced the “Micro Light · Creation” Micro-Innovation Talent Training Program. Open to all faculty and students of the school, the program has established a standardized long-term mechanism featuring monthly idea collection, monthly project review and approval, quarterly progress reviews, and annual awards. It sets up two awards: the Micro Light Award and the Creation Award, encouraging faculty and students to translate small creative ideas emerging from daily scientific research into practical innovation projects.

Dai Xinshe, Chairman of Shenzhen Dintai Jiachuang Technology Co., Ltd., presented the Creation Award to the first batch of winning students. A series of new micro-innovation talent training projects were officially released on site.

Background of the Intelligent Optoelectronics Innovation Center

It is reported that the Intelligent Optoelectronics Innovation Center is jointly built by China (Nanjing) Software Valley and the School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Southeast University. Guided by the mission of “Leading Future Industries with Intelligent Optoelectronics”, and upholding the core values of Pragmatism and Accountability, Excellence and Innovation, Coordination and Symbiosis, Integrity and Common Progress, the center promotes deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation. It strives to build a full-chain innovation platform covering key technology research, achievement incubation and commercialization, and innovative talent cultivation. The center aims to drive the transformation of core intelligent optoelectronic technologies from laboratory research to practical industrial applications, boost the development of Nanjing’s software industrial cluster, and elevate Jiangsu’s capacity for industrial scientific and technological innovation.