25 Jun 2025
XJTLU Entrepreneur College (Taicang) hosted the 2025 Eco-Partners Conference earlier this month, showcasing the outcomes of university-industry collaborations over the past year and forging new strategic links in cutting-edge fields such as integrated circuits, medical diagnostics, brain-computer interface technology, and smart manufacturing.
The event, which attracted nearly 200 government officials, industry leaders, academic staff, and students, also featured discussions on exploring innovative pathways for co-development under the concept of syntegrative education.
The 2025 Eco-Partners Conference hosted by XJTLU Entrepreneur College (Taicang)
During the conference, the College signed strategic cooperation agreements with nine enterprises including Taicang High-Tech Holdings, Roche Diagnostics, Jiangsu JD Information Technology, iFlytek, Zhejiang Qiangnao Technology, Hangzhou Luntek, and Moog Industrial Control (Suzhou). These collaborations will span talent cultivation, curriculum co-development, and joint research.
Strategic Partnership Signing Ceremony
Professor Xiaojun Zhang, Chief Officer for Education at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, explained that the College is reshaping education through an ecosystem-based model, embedding industry needs into teaching, designing courses rooted in real-world scenarios, and integrating interdisciplinary staff resources through platforms like the Innovation Factory and X3 Co-Venture, all to support students in project-based practice.
Professor Xiaojun Zhang, Chief Officer for Education at XJTLU and Head of the XJTLU Entrepreneur College (Taicang) leadership team
“Partner enterprises participate in talent development and scientific research by engaging in business projects throughout the process, while the government jointly builds platforms and promotes the commercialisation of research outcomes through supportive policies,” he said. “These collaborations are key to building a thriving innovation ecosystem.”
Jiayin Tang, a member of Roche Diagnostics’ digitalisation and AI task force, said the company has provided various internship opportunities for XJTLU students, while researchers at the College have worked with its technicians on projects related to diagnostic product manufacturing. Over the past eight years, 17 Roche employees have also pursued master’s degrees at XJTLU.
Jiayin Tang from the digitalisation and AI task force at Roche Diagnostics
“Through graduation projects, workshops, and other formats, we have jointly driven the incubation and translation of multiple innovative outcomes, many of which have already been applied to our production lines,” Tang said. “We hope to scale them into industry-wide, general-purpose solutions that can benefit a broader range of companies.”
He said that working with XJTLU “enables continuous knowledge renewal and skill upgrading in our teams, ensuring we remain at the industry forefront,” adding that the University’s students demonstrate clear career goals and strong self-motivation, “essential qualities in today’s talent market”.
Garret Nolan, General Manager of Roche Diagnostics (Suzhou)
The conference also saw the launch of syntegrative education projects including CP Group’s Synterra Studio, the X3 Co-Venture & Taicang Entrepreneurship Park Platform, and the Chi Forest vending machine operation project, as well as the inauguration of the IoT Industry Alliance and Tech-for-Good Entrepreneur Alliance.
CP Group Space Naming and Syntegrative Projects Launch Ceremony
“In the era of digital intelligence, education is increasingly evolving toward greater social integration and ecosystem orientation,” Professor Youmin Xi, Executive President of XJTLU, said in his speech. “As a nonprofit institution, XJTLU seeks to leverage its platform-based model to coordinate diverse resources and build new socially embedded, ecosystem-based scenarios for education, production, and everyday life, fostering a syntegrative ecosystem that brings together universities, industry players, research institutions, governments, and society.”
Professor Youmin Xi, Executive President of XJTLU
Project showcase
To reflect XJTLU’s syntegrative education approach, student representatives from several programmes shared their experiences participating in industry-education collaborations and entrepreneurial initiatives.
BEng Internet of Things Engineering student Yiping Xiao introduced a smart bin project for campus management that applies image recognition and path optimisation to enable automatic waste sorting and intelligent decision-making, helping reduce inefficiency. He said that working on algorithm refinement, data collection, and analysis provided him with a deeper understanding on how IoT can be a powerful tool for solving everyday challenges.
Yilin Liu from the School of Intelligent Finance and Business took part in a planning project on PVC futures warehousing and logistics for COSCO Shipping, conducting interviews with senior executives and field research. She said the project not only honed her patience and ability to view issues from different perspectives but also allowed her to apply theoretical knowledge to real cases.
A team from the College’s Intelligent Manufacturing Engineering programme also shared details of Printing3, a initiative that showcases and sells 3D-printed products using vending machines.
Souvenir bookmarks produced by Printing3
In a speech, Gang Li, Director of the , praised XJLTU’s innovative educational model for cultivating interdisciplinary leaders with strong technical expertise and the ability to apply technologies that contribute real-world value.
He noted that this model provides students with a platform for hands-on experience and injects fresh momentum into the innovation-driven upgrading of local industries.
Gang Li, Director of the Administrative Committee of Taicang High-Tech Industrial Development Zone
By Han Zhang
Edited by Patricia Pieterse
Translated by Xiangyin Han
25 Jun 2025