Knowledge Network > Previous Events

Previous Events

In this section you can find information about the various events that we have held in China and the UK.

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UK-China Smart Material Technology Partnering Events in Shanghai, Nanjing and Harbin, 16th - 20th Nov 2015

Event Overview

Smart materials, incorporated into a growing range of products with increasing levels of functionality, have made a great impact in many areas such as health, environment, energy and information technology. The UK is one of the leading innovators in smart materials technologies and is interested in establishing partnerships in China. The UK-China smart material technology partnering mission set out to integrate the complementary expertise of the innovation bases of the two countries to collectively produce smart materials solutions in transport, aerospace, healthcare, building and energy.

Funded by UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office/Strategic Prosperity Fund, UK Science and Innovation Network (SIN), KTN Materials and Innovation China UK (ICUK) at Queen Mary University of London jointly organised UK-China Smart Material Technology Partnering events across three cities of Shanghai, Nanjing and Harbin, together with local co-organisers on 16-20 November 2015 in China.

Event Activities

In July 2015, ICUK conducted a landscape study on the current progress of smart materials research and utilisation in China to find clusters of activity relevant for the partnering mission. The study outlines the current focus of research and development (R&D) activities, main industries that develop and utilise smart materials and the governmental incentives to support and accelerate smart materials research and innovation. Consequently, three main centres of excellence were identified, named as Shanghai, Nanjing and Harbin.

The five-day events organised in three cities brought together nearly 300 Chinese company and university participants to partner with the UK delegation from the University of Bolton, Brunel University of London, Queen Mary University of London, H2GO Ltd, Biomin Technology Ltd and Chromition Ltd. A broad range of UK smart material technologies were presented at the events including biodegradable materials, energy storage materials, photo-luminescent materials, piezoelectric materials and fuel cells.

Mr Brian J. McCarthy, KTN Manager in Materials commented that the event successfully created bilateral collaborations in joint research, technology licensing and commercial partnering and well demonstrated knowledge exchanges in the area of smart materials between the two nations.

Mr Colin Crooks, Minister Counsellor, and Mr Richard Homer, Head of Regional City Engagement at British Embassy Beijing joined the event held in Harbin. A welcome reception was held by the Vice-Mayor of Harbin together with Harbin Science and Technology Commission team on the evening of 19th November. Future engagement activities in the science and technology innovation were discussed during the reception. The delegates were also present at the unveiling ceremony of Harbin Sino-UK Advanced Material Joint Research Centre. Mr Colin Crooks emphasised that the network could serve as an efficient and innovative platform to promote the UK-China science and technology cooperation in the area of smart materials.

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UK-China THz Technology Network

The UK-China THz Technology Network is a forum for key researchers in the THz radiation sector, pooling together the strong expertise in UK and China to drive innovation in THz technology for earth atmosphere monitoring, radio astronomy and other applications. Supported by the UK Science and Innovation Network and led by Queen Mary University, the network currently comprises of 20 UK and China universities & companies working together to:

• Establish  a Joint Research Centre in Space THz Technology
• Initiate joint projects and facilitate research exchange within  the Network
• Enhance UK’s collaborative and contract research capability leveraging China’s increasing  innovation outputs
• Transfer knowledge and commercialise R&D outcomes to industry

Coming events:

We are holding a workshop in Chengdu between the 2nd-4th September 2014:

Click here for event website;

We are holding a partnership meeting in Beijing on the 5th September 2014:

Click here for event website.

Please get in touch if you are interested in participating or forming research links with our UK and China Partners.

 

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UK-China Workshop on Internet of Things (IoT) for Water Pollution Monitoring and Control

Venue:T-Park, Wuxi &Hotel Gloria, Nanchang University, China
Date:1st and 2nd August 2012& 3rd August 2012

The aim of this split workshop, which has been funded by the Foreign Commonwealth Office by the Global Partnership Fund, was to discuss a focused research within the domain of the Internet of Things (IoT) for water pollution monitoring and control between the UK and China and to encourage the development of real and meaningful collaboration that will be internationally leading and economically relevant to the UK and China

IoT can provide the technical solutions for a comprehensive control and monitoring of the water quality in Poyang and Taihu lakes. The outputs can have a massive positive impact by improving the water quality and the flora of the region, in consequence all the animal chain that depends of the lakes can grow significantly, and this includes several endangered species. The life of the people of the lakes’ region can significantly improve and the scientific knowledge and the industrial solutions can be explored in other parts of the globe.

The workshop covered the environmental and social characteristics of both lakes, emphasizing the needs for improvement and the current technologies being used. Experts on environment sciences presented the major facts accompanied by industry developments in IoT especially for the lakes. An overview of the current research projects funded by the Chinese government was presented by the Chinese researchers. The UK team focused in their current research on IoT that can add value to the development being made by the Chinese researchers and industry. After the presentations an open discussion between all participants took place were the research synergies were acknowledged, the next steps drawn with priority actions. This report is the first of the actions agreed.

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ICUK holds successful Forum on Advanced Water Technology

Venue:Beijing & Qingdao, China
Date: May 2012

ICUK and Science Innovation Network (SIN) China, together with Bureau of Comprehensive Development (BCD) Ministry of Water Resources, have jointly organised two technology partnering workshops on Advanced Water Technology on 20 - 24 May 2012 in Beijing and Qingdao.

There were around 100 Chinese participants from 60 organizations attended the Beijing partnering workshop. The Director General of BCD (Wang Wenke), and The First Secretary on Science & Innovation of British Embassy in Beijing (Will Hellon) delivered VIP addresses at the Beijing partnering workshop on 21st May, after which General Manager of China Water Investment Co. Ltd (Liu Zhenghong) and Technical Manager of British Water (Ian Bernard) delivered keynote speeches to give overview of water industry in each country. 

After the keynote speeches, BCD and British Water signed a Memorandum of Understanding on future strategic collaborations between these two organisations and their members. The MoU covers collaborations on trade and investment, education and training, joint projects and science and technology.

Next section of the event was UK technology presentation. Each UK participant had 10 minutes to present their technology. To make it easy for the Chinese participants to understand the presentations, all the slides.....more detail

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ICUK holds successful Forum on Internet of Things

Venue:Shanghai and Wuxi, China
Date: December 2011

ICUK and Science Innovation Network (SIN) China, together with Shanghai Science & Technology Commissions and Wuxi Science & Technology Bureau, have jointly organised two technology partnering workshops on Internet of Things (IoT) on 5 - 9 December 2011 in Shanghai and Wuxi.

ICUK started event planning from September 2011 � partnering workshop flyers have been sent to many UK institutes and companies through a wide network including AURIL, TSB ESP KTN and UKTI. ICUK also widely disseminated event info within HEIs that has strong R&D profiles in this sector. ICUK received in total 31 application forms and selected 16 applications, with which we had detailed discussions with Shanghai and Wuxi governments for identifying local R&D, licensing and distribution partners.

Shanghai Technology Exchange Centre and Wuxi Science & Technology Bureau have undertaken local partnering separately in the two cities. ICUK staffs have also spent considerable effort in facilitating communication between technology owners and potential Chinese partners. Finally, we invited 12 projects to participate the partnering workshop.

All UK participants have expressed that the IoT mission has provided them important opportunities in understanding the Chinese market and interaction with the potential local partners - targeted partnering exercise is essential for technology-based companies when entering into a new market.....more detail

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UK-China Agri-Tech Innovation Forum, Beijing

Venue: Beijing, China
Date: December 2010

ICUK held a successful agri-tech event in Beijing on the 1st and 2nd of December 2010, which included an innovation forum and a partnering event. 11 UK companies and research institutes attended the event, which was organised by ICUK, with the help of Science and Innovation Network funding, and the Beijing Commission and Beijing Technology Exchange and Promotion Centre.

After speeches from David Bacon, the Science and Innovation Consul of the British Consulate General in Beijing and Jiang Danping of the China Rural Technology Development Centre, a signing ceremony took place, where 7 of the UK participants signed MOU’s with influential Chinese companies and research institutes.

The participants presented their technologies to a Chinese audience of over 100 people from various local agri-tech organisations in the morning, then in the afternoon a partnering event was held, where the UK participants each had one-to-one discussions with Chinese companies. Many Chinese companies expressed an interest in future collaborations with the UK participants, both commercially and on research activities.

On the 2^nd of December the participants were taken on a visit to several science parks and research institutes around Beijing, including the large-scale Beijing Agriculture city, where they saw the impressive facilities and were able to discuss problems and requirements with Chinese producers.

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Partnership and knowledge transfer with China Conference

Venue: London
Date: December 2010

Partnership and knowledge transfer with China was discussed at an event, run by Innovation China UK (ICUK) in collaboration with Queen Mary Innovation Ltd (QMI) on Friday 5 November at Queen Mary University, to assess the experience gained and the lessons learned through ICUK Programme.

The event, which was attended by over 60 delegates from universities across the country, was chaired by Principal Professor Simon Gaskell and Caroline Quest, managing director of QMI. A panel of high profile speakers including Paul Thorning, Director of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation at the University of Bradford and Dr. Zhao Gang, from the China Academy of Science and Technology for Development led discussions on issues surrounding the commercialisation of technology research in China.

Caroline Quest, Managing Director for QMI, summarised the benefits of the programme and the conclusions made from the day’s discussion:  “ICUK, an off shoot from QMI, is an enabling organisation designed to help business and academia overcome the cultural and regulatory barriers to working with China. This expert support has resulted in over 60 companies and 250 academics collaborating in early stage technology transfer between both countries. The resultant impact of these collaborations has enhanced the international reputation of both Queen Mary and the UK as a leading force in innovation.”

 

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ICUK holds successful Technology Partnering Event in Shanghai

Venue: Shanghai, China
Date: June 2010

ICUK held a successful technology partnering event in Shanghai on the 24th and 25th of June 2010. The ICUK Partnering Event began at 1.30pm with speeches made by Richard Mills, the Science and Innovation Consul of the British Consulate General in Shanghai, Manyi Cristofoli, Executive Director of ICUK and Ms Ruan Xiufan from the Biomedicine Registration Section of the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration. 

Following the speeches, 8 British companies and PIs presented their technologies to a Chinese audience of around 60 people from various local companies. Once the presentations were over, the presenters were able to have one-to-one discussions with Chinese companies interested in their technologies. The discussions centred around the possibility of future collaboration, both commercially and on research activities.

On the 25th the British companies were taken on a visit to the cutting edge Zhang Jiang Science Park in Shanghai, and also visited a contract research company and the Chinese medical device start-up Micro port, where they saw the impressive facilities and got an idea of the scale of the research and development industry in China.

The ICUK Technology Partnering Event allowed UK companies that had never been to China and didn’t know what to expect to get a glimpse of the Chinese market. After being asked lots of questions about their products by the Chinese participants they became aware of the business opportunities that China has to offer, and are now thinking about what they are going to do next to help them break into China.

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RVC visit to Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU)

Venue: Wuhan, China
Date: October 2009

In October, ICUK partner, the Royal Veterinary College visited the Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU), Wuhan, China for a 2 day Sino-British International Conference on dairy production and disease prevention and control. The aim of the conference was to discuss the ongoing experimental work between HZAU and RVC on cattle fertility and longevity as well as exploring possible future collaborative opportunities between the two parties. The meeting was attended by 160 delegates from Government Agencies, Dairy Associations, Universities and Research Centres from throughout China in addition to the UK party from the RVC. During the visit, it was confirmed that the Ministry of Science and Technology in China have awarded a grant of 1,000,000 yuan RMB (appox £100K) to Professor Shujun Zhang of HZAU to continue the ICUK collaborative project with Prof Wathes from RVC on dairy cow fertility and longevity.

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ICT manufacturing, broadband system, Copper Clad Laminate, and equipment manufacturing workshop

Venue: Dongguan, China
Date: October 2009

ICUK held a technology promotion event in Dongguan with the intention of matching UK technology to Dongguan industry. Dongguan has now become the Chinese hub of ICT manufacturing, broadband system, Copper Clad Laminate, and equipment manufacturing.
Donggaun industry demand is strong in the following fields:

• Computer and telecommunication equipment manufacturing
• Environmental protection
• Paper manufacturing and paper products
• Food and beverage processing and manufacturing
• Animation, gaming, creative
• Logistics and financial software

At the event three commercialisation contracts were signed between three Dongguan companies and three ICUK projects. Read more here.

 

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Biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries

Venue: Shanghai
Date: October 2009

Shanghai has predominantly strong technology demand in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.
The technologies which local industries are seeking include:

• Medical imaging product/method
• Medical devices (diagnostic equipment/ methods for liver cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, syphilis, AIDS etc)
• Diagnostic assay
• Medical stent/ hearing aids/ pacemaker/ biomesh for curing hernia.
• OTC medicines
• Co-operating with TCM companies to identify new compounds
  

A bio-pharma event organised by Shanghai Science &Technology Commission was held in October. ICUK will be attending this event to promote technologies and companies from the UK.

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Building A UK-China Partnership In Sustainable Energy and Environmental Technologies for Buildings

Venue: Beijing China
Date: September 2009

The forum was jointly organised by ICUK, University of Nottingham (UK), Tsinghua University (China) and China Academy of Building research (China). It aimed to establish a platform for distinguished academia, industrial and governmental personnel from both the UK and China exchanging ideas and networking. International collaborations and technology transfer between the academics and industry in both China and UK was also sought.

The forum began with introducing the current status and practice in sustainable energy and environment technologies for buildings. The latest research and development in this area was discussed and the challenges and opportunities in the processes of development and applications were highlighted.

 

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UK-China Workshop on Freshwater Ecology Research and Environment Monitoring Technology

Venue: Wuhan City, China
Date: May 2009

Initiated by key academics from Queen Mary, University of London, ICUK held a workshop on "Freshwater Ecology Research and Environment Monitoring Technology" in Wuhan, China. This event was led by Queen Mary, University of London, the lead institution of the ICUK programme.

This event was held to promote knowledge transfer between the two countries, with the emphasis on transferring existing knowledge and best practices in the area of freshwater ecology from the UK to China to assist its efforts to improve freshwater environment in China.

Presentations from the event

• Food webs, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in freshwaters - by Dr Guy Woodward, Queen Mary, University of London
• Top-down and bottom-up effects of climate change on lakes - by Stephen Maberly, Lake Ecosystem Group, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Lancaster Environment Centre
• Rivers in Europe: science, policy and management - by Alan Hildrew, Queen Mary, University of London
• Spatia-temporal succession and competition between bloom-forming cyanobacterial Microcystis and Aphanizomenon in Lake
  Dianchi - by Lirong Song, Institute of Hydrobiology Chinese Academy of Sciences
• Using the phytoplankton model,PROTECH, to understand water quality issues in lakes - by Ian Jones & Alex Elliott, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK
• Freshwater monitoring, management and the need for information - the role of the Freshwater Biological Association (FBA), past and present - by Michael Dobson
• Riverine Floodplains of China:threats and restoration - by Hong-Zhu Wang, Xue-Qin Liu & Hai-Jun Wang, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• A Peridinium Bloom in a large narrow reservoir — View in ecosystem, Boping Han, Institute of Hydrobiology, Jinan University
• The UK approach to the bioassessment of fresh waters - by J. Iwan Jones, John Murphy, John Davy-Bowker & Ralph Clarke, CEH, Queen Mary, University of London, Freshwater Biological Association, University of Bournemouth
• Streams, agriculture and greenhouse gases - by Mark Trimmer, Queen Mary, University of London, Natural Environement Research Council
  

 

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Sino-EU GP Traditional Chinese Medicine Workshop 

Venue: Beijing, China
Date: 11-13 January 2009

This workshop was organised by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS), Innovation China UK (ICUK) and EU FP7 project – GP TCP Consortium (GP-TCM).

The event was held to bring together experts on TCM from China and the UK and to discuss the huge market potential of TCM and the value of its research. Over 100 TCM experts attended talks addressing the key difficulties, challenges and opportunities for TCM to enter the international market. Among the issues that were recognised was the need for further strengthening China-EU cooperation in TCM by establishing long-term collaborations focusing on key areas where TCM has demonstrated unique curing advantages. The establishment of a Sino-EU TCB cooperation agreement was also proposed to accelerate the progress of joint Sino-EU research partnerships in TCM.

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ICUK IP Workshop

Venue: Nanjing, China
Date: 5 November 2008

In order to facilitate further, the UK-China knowledge transfer collaboration, the ICUK organized a small-scale Intellectual Property (IP) workshop for the ICUK project managers and academics that were in Nanjing to attend the 1st Jiangsu International Technology Transfer Conference. The ICUK invited IP specialists from both the UK and China to talk about some key issues in Intellectual Property & technology collaboration in China, IP protection in international science and technology collaboration.

Issues such as major differences between UK and Chinese patent law were highlighted at the workshop as well as the differences between the two countries when pursing infringement actions. However, it was noted that both patent application processes were quite similar. Furthermore, it was emphasised that China had improved its IPR protection in the past decade and western criticisms of the IPR situation were exaggerated.

 

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Commercialisation of Photonics Technologies from Universities

Venue: Shanghai, China
Date: 4 November 2008

The ICUK workshop on “Commercialisation of Photonics Technologies from Universities” took place at the Asia Optical Fibre and Optoelectronic Exposition and Conference (AOE 2008) in Shanghai on Saturday November 4th. The workshop was organised by ICUK in conjunction with the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton and Prof. Wei-Ping Huang of MacMaster University Canada , Director of HISENSE Broadband Multimedia Technologies. An audience of over 60 people including invited guests from 20 of China’s top academic and research institutions in the field of photonics attended the event.

Highlights of this workshop included a talk by Prof. David Payne, Director of the ORC about his experience of setting up a cluster of 10 spin-out companies around the ORC in Southampton and establishing a set of “Dos’ and Don’ts” for commercialising outputs from University research. Academics from various Chinese Universities also discussed their experiences in using optoelectronic sensors in mine safety and also technology transfer in Wuhan which is know as the “Optics Valley of China”.
In addition to hosting the workshop ICUK and the ORC organised a highly successful stand for the three days of the trade show. Representatives from SPI Lasers and Stratophase joined those from ICUK and the ORC in showcasing work from the ORC spin-out companies and ICUK, attracting a steady stream of interested parties to what was undoubtedly one of the most vibrant and popular stands in the entire show.

 

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Building a UK-China Partnership in GNSS and Geospatial Sciences

Venue: Wuhan, China
Date: 22 -23 October 2008

This workshop brought together a broad range of top experts from China and UK including senior government officials, industry representatives from leading Chinese surveying and mapping companies and key academics of leading universities/research institutions.

This high profile workshop provided an important platform for UK-China professionals in GNSS and Geospatial Sciences to present and discuss recent developments, strategy, education and applications in the public safety critical areas such as monitoring geo-hazards. Through open debate and discussions, mutual understanding about the opportunities and challenges on the launch of new satellite navigation systems and new signals was achieved.

The workshop has been confirmed as a great success with many potential collaborations being initiated not only between academics themselves but also with industries and between governments

 

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China-UK Forum in Biomedical Innovation

Venue: Guangzhou, China
Date: March 2008

• ICUK - Knowledge Transfer between China and the UK -by Manyi Cristofoli, ICUK Executive Director
• Research Councils UK and its Role in UK-China Research Collaboration- by Dr. Carole Rennie, Deputy Director, RCUK in China
• Research and Innovation- by Prof. Yi Pan, Vice President of Nanjing University
• Stem Cell Therapy for Vascular Disease-by Prof. Qingbo Xu, King's College London
• Key Roles of Hospital in Research Innovation-by Prof. Qian Wang, Vice Dean of Southern Hosptical of Southern Medical University
• Biomedical Optics and its Instrumentation - Case Studies on University-Enterprise Collaboration-by Prof. Hui Ma, Vice Dean of Graduate School of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen
• Morphology and Morphometry of Stented Arteries - by Prof. Stephen Greenwald, Queen Mary, University of London
• Environmental Microbiology and its Application -by Prof. Ningyi Zhou, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• Cell & Tissue Engineering -by Prof. Jun Ouyang, Southern Medical University
• Technology Commercialisation -from a UK Entrepreneur's perspective -by Mr. Adrian Dwyer, Former Chief Executive of Meridian Technique Ltd

 

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Launch of ICUK

Venue: London
Date: November 2007

Read the press release here.

• ICUK launch Presentation.pdf
• Case Studies - King's College London.pdf
• Case Studies - Royal Veterinary College, University of London.pdf
• Case Studies - Queen Mary, University of London.pdf
  
• Partners Presentation - The University of Nottingham.pdf
• Partners Presentation - King's College London.pdf
• Partners Presentation 1- Royal Veterinary College, University of London.pdf
• Partners Presentation 2 -Royal Veterinary College, University of London.pdf
• Partners Presentation - Queen Mary, University of London.pdf
• Partners Presentation - University of Southampton.pdf