Grand Opening of the 13th Suzhou International Elite Entrepreneurship Week Dr. Thomas George Logan, Chief Scientist of magAssist, shared on stage as the representative of leading talents in science

Today (July 11), the opening ceremony of 2021 (13th) Suzhou International Elite Entrepreneurship Week and Science and Technology Innovation Week was held.

The event invited nearly 1,000 guests including 14 academicians, 28 leaders from universities and institutes such as NTU and XJU, 20 famous investment institutions and key industrial fields such as medical devices and biomedicine, new-generation information technology, high-end manufacturing, and high-level innovative and entrepreneurial talents (teams) with projects, technologies, and funds in the Suzhou New District.

The opening ceremony

Mao Wei on behalf of the Party Working Committee and Management Committee of Suzhou New District to all the guests attending the event a warm welcome.

Mao Wei pointed out, Suzhou New District (SND), located in the core area of Yangtze River Delta, has been developed and constructed since 1990, and was approved as one of the first national high-tech zones in China in 1992. In the past 30 years of development and construction, with 2.5% of Suzhou's land and 4% of its population, the New District has generated nearly 8% of Suzhou's total economic output, achieved an average annual growth rate of 40% of GDP and 26% of fiscal revenue, and the zone has gathered 36,000 high-level talents, gradually becoming a "paradise for entrepreneurs and innovators" that received global attention.

The innovative ecology is optimal here. It has accumulated 65 crowdsourcing spaces, including 10 national ones. It has the Suzhou Pioneering Park, Tencent Digital Industry Base, Suzhou Integrated Circuit Innovation Center, and Medpark, and is the only (Shanghai Stock Exchange) SSE Strategic Emerging Industry Incubation Base in China.

Innovative resources are highly concentrated here. A total of 100 state-owned institutions such as Suzhou Institute of Medical Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Suzhou Institute of Environmental Innovation of Tsinghua University have been introduced, the construction of Nanjing University Suzhou Campus, a "double-class" university, has been accelerated, and the strategic planning and design of the core area of Taihu Science City has been completed.

Modern industries are flourishing here. The "2+6+X" modern industrial system has been improved, the output value of medical device industry has increased by more than 30% annually, the output value of new generation information technology industry has exceeded 100 billion yuan, the output value of strategic emerging industries accounts for 62.8% of the total output value of the above-mentioned industries, and it has been approved as the first national green industry demonstration base.

Here, we are at the forefront of open development. A total of nearly 1,800 foreign-funded enterprises have been introduced. It has been approved as the only Sino-Japanese green industry innovation cooperation demonstration zone and the first batch of Sino-Japanese and Korean industry cooperation demonstration parks in the province.

Mao Wei said,Looking back at the 30 years of development history, the high-tech zone stands in the tide and in the forefront of the magnificent reform and opening-up process, relying on innovation, talented minds, and projects. We hope that through this International Elite Entrepreneurship Week, more outstanding talents from home and abroad will join and take root in Suzhou New District.

Suzhou New District will definitely provide the best innovation ecology, the best supporting policies and the most comfortable business environment to serve the innovation and entrepreneurship of all talents, so that they can release their innovative wisdom and entrepreneurial passion and successfully realize their career ambition and life value in this land of "poetic Jiangnan".

Xue Hailin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Nanjing University. In his speech, he praised the good business environment of the Suzhou New District and the fertile ground for the growth and development of talents. He said, Suzhou New District is a paradise where entrepreneurial talents gather, a paradise with a strong innovation atmosphere, and a fertile land with high investment enthusiasm. Nanjing University will take this event as an opportunity to be the promoter and practitioner of innovation. It will continue to promote Nanjing University's science and technology as well as talents and other elements that are of great importance to Suzhou New District. In addition, it will strive to facilitate the construction of the Suzhou Campus of Nanjing University, to build the "first Nanjing University" as soon as possible, to carry the mission of "being a leader, being a model and being in the forefront" and to contribute to the realization of the  great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Technology Leaders Sharing

Thomas George Logan, Suzhou magAssist Inc., Chief Scientist, Chief Engineer, Scholar from Cambridge University, UK

As a representative of the leading talents in science and technology, he shared his story of innovation and entrepreneurship in Suzhou New District, he said: Being part of the magAssist team, I see a great opportunity to develop some new and very impactful technologies and I am excited to be able to apply some of the design methods I developed at Cambridge University.

Thomas George Logan in the speech

It took us three years to successfully bring an extracorporeal ventricular assist device to the clinical trial in 2020. It is the only extracorporeal ventricular assist device with magnetic levitation technology currently available in China. This development is much faster than the few U.S. and European companies that have been developing such products for more than a decade. Currently, magAssist is the industry benchmark for the fastest R&D progress, best technology and most complete product line in the field of extracorporeal life support in China.

We have a hard-working and enthusiastic team in Suzhou and magAssist to help and participate in the development of our innovative products, and they will persist in the constant stream of problems in the development of high-tech products until they are solved.

We also have the top partners in China —— Junbo Ge academician team.

I am very happy to work and live in the Suzhou New District . After I came to SND, I was awarded the leading talents in science and technology innovation and entrepreneurship in SND, and received a project subsidy of 1 million RMB and a personal settlement subsidy of 1 million RMB. Suzhou New District also provided over 20 million RMB of financial support to magAssist in terms of industrial technology cooperation projects and special loans. I hope my peers and friends will also come to SND to start their business and settle down.

Award & Recognition

During the event, awards were given to the winning projects in the finals of "Medical-Wise" Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, and 167 "Suzhou New District Innovation and Entrepreneurship Leaders", such as Feng and others, were recognized in 2021, and 5 talents, such as Chen Xiaomin, were awarded the title of "The Sixth Charming Science and Technology Personality", which demonstrated the good environment of innovation and entrepreneurship in the High and New Technology Zone to the guests.

Suzhou New District Innovation and Entrepreneurship Leaders Awards

Science and Technology Innovation Week

Science and Technology Innovation Week is the first activity proposed by Suzhou New District, which will carry a series of forum activities for science and technology innovation and industrial development in the zone, and is a powerful initiative to promote the industrialization of scientific research achievements.

SND will combine Elite Week and Science and Technology Innovation Week to create a trinity service chain of "talent + science and technology + industry", which will bring a source of living water and strong vitality to the construction of "two zones and one front" in SND.

During the Entrepreneurship Week, 25 special events were held in Suzhou New District, including the "Wisdom in Yangtze River Delta - Talent in Suzhou New District" national industry talent exchange and roadshow; the first China IC Design Innovation Conference and IC Application Expo; the final of the "Medical-Wise" Suzhou Science and Technology City Medical Device Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition; the Micro and Nano Biomedical Seminar and the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Micro and Nano Robotics Society of the Chinese Micro and Nano Society.

Since the establishment of the International Elite Entrepreneurship Week, Suzhou New Districthas attracted nearly 3,500 high-level talents from more than 20 countries, with over 1,000 settled projects and registered capital of over 7 billion RMB. Nearly 70% of the settled talents have master's degree or above, among which 42% are doctors. The International Elite Entrepreneurship Week has become an important event for promoting, introducing and developing Suzhou New District.

Source: Suzhou New District