Sun Yat-sen UniversityCarnegie Mellon

Joint Research Institute

Foshan: Let’s Do Business The following report investigates local research and development opportunities in Foshan, using the Sun Yatsen Carnegie Mellon University Joint Research Institute as an example of the city’s unique investment environment. Described by McKinsey & Company as a city which will contribute more to global growth than Zurich, Madrid or Milan, Foshan is the center of industrial innovation in South China. The report was compiled by the International Department of the Foshan Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA), China’s first Sino-Foreign government department.

One of China’s most dynamic cities. Located at the heart of the Pearl River Delta, Foshan is one of China’s most prosperous and dynamic cities. Since the beginning of the country’s reform and opening-up process, foreign investment has been a vital tool for Foshan’s economic development. Combining a sound business environment with the forward thinking mindset of local leaders has contributed to the success of enterprises across Foshan, both foreign and domestic.

A strong local market. With a GDP per capita higher than that of Shanghai, and even some European Union members, Foshan’s population of nearly 8 million residents has the purchasing power to match international markets. From Foshan, a manufacturer can reach over 65 million of China’s wealthiest consumers in less than two hours.

A modern economy powered by the private sector. There are almost 400 thousand private companies in Foshan. As highlighted by The Economist, that is an average of approximately one private company for every twenty residents.

China’s richest district. Located to the south of the city, Shunde is the richest district in China and the production powerhouse of Foshan. Shunde is home to some of China’s most famous brand names, such as Midea, Galanz and Country Garden.

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What is the JRI? An international partnership. The SYSU-CMU International Joint Research Institute (JRI) is a three-way partnership between the Shunde Government, San Yat-sen University, and Carnegie Mellon University. The JRI acts as an incubator for research and development teams from world-renowned institutions. The research conducted here aims to have an immediate industrial impact.

Collaboration and cross-cultural cooperation. As a sister institute of the SYSU-CMU Joint Institute of Engineering (JIE) and CMU-SYSU Innovation Research Center (CIRC) in Guangzhou, the JRI offers postgraduate education in engineering. Simultaneously, it aims to facilitate the development of impactful industrial technologies through cutting-edge research and intercultural collaboration.

Real-time research impacting industries across the world. The goal of the JRI is to provide a space for industry experts, researchers and students to come together and improve lives around the world. The international base of the JRI has facilitated high level collaboration projects, aiming to encourage the commercialization of technological innovations locally and globally.

An expansive talent pool. The city also has a large pool of international researchers, participating in projects with research centers around the world, encouraging high tech development in all areas of industry. With nearly 300 postgraduate students, taught by over 35 professors and supported by over 60 researchers, the JRI produces highly talented, internationally-minded engineers and technicians, ready to directly impact Foshan’s industrial development. Around 120 students graduate each year from the JRI, with a high post-graduate employment rate.

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“The JRI facilities make up a truly world class modern research environment, and within the Pearl River Delta we find so many related industries where high level research can have a big impact. The research we are doing here in Foshan involves making fundamental advances in the field of computer vision and autonomous

perception. Our research can have impact in local industries while also impacting the

global economy. - Dr. Gary Overett , Assistant Professor

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Shunde: China’s Richest Talent Pool Top for business, top for talent. Built upon an advanced industrial foundation, the Shunde District of Foshan is not only the richest district in China, it is a regional leader for entrepreneurship and innovation. The wealth of Shunde’s talent resources has attracted over 2,000 foreign enterprises, many of whom transfer their facilities from other Chinese cities, in favor of Shunde’s business environment.

Second-tier prices, first-tier talent. Not only does Foshan boast a highly professional and well-trained workforce, it also offers such an incentive at a far lower cost than its first-tier city counterparts. While drawing on the human resource strengths of cities like Guangzhou and Hong Kong, Foshan is home to key technical institutions for engineering and mechanics.

High level of tertiary education. In the Shunde District alone, there are 13 vocational schools and one major polytechnic institution, providing nearly 13,500 professional technicians each year. With the establishment of institutions like the SYS-CMU partnership, the quality of postgraduate talent has developed rapidly.

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The Facts in Figures

Shunde HR Association

116 Recruitment fairs in Shunde

7,900 Enterprises using the fair

90,000 Participants in attendance

The Facts in Figures

Shunde Polytechnic

92% Postgraduate employment rate

97% Postgraduate employer satisfaction rate

15,000 Over 15k students each year

The JRI: Making an Impact Shaping South China’s knowledge economy. Universities in south China are taking the lead in an array of reforms aimed at making academic centers and scientific collaboration more international and more dynamic. The JRI is helping South China to strengthen its position as a global leader in science and engineering. The Sun Yat-sen Carnegie Mellon partnership was formed to create a more globalized university, combining human and technological capital from across the world.

A variety of post-graduate courses with real impact. With professors specializing in subjects ranging from artificial intelligence to new materials and nanoparticle synthesis, the JRI offers a post-graduate education with real-life applications. The work at the JRI is indicative of Foshan’s exemplary research environment, researchers are eligible for government scholarships and bursaries, and individual enterprises are subsidised for upgrading industrial processes, creating a ready market for products and technologies developed by institutions like the JRI.

Celebrated professors and international researchers. The JRI is home to world-renowned professors like Dr. Andrey S. Andrenko, the JRI’s Principle Investigator. With an academic record spanning a quarter of a century, Dr. Andrenko has previously worked for the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation R&D Center and Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd in Japan. Author of 76 international publications, and 28 patents in Japan and the U.S., Dr. Andrenko has actively contributed to research areas including:

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Wireless Sensor Networks __________________________________

RFID Systems __________________________________

Antenna Integrated RF Circuits __________________________________

RF Energy Harvesting __________________________________

The Internet of Things

Real-life applications for cutting edge technology. Though only a young institution, the JRI has already filed for patents on technologies having a real impact across the Chinese industrial landscape. Applications for JRI patented products vary from industrial use to commercial. For example, researchers are currently using the Internet of Things and a “LiFi” system to connect the lighting in supermarkets to advertising screens built into a customers shopping cart. The aim is to provide customers with location-dependent product information as they move around the supermarket.

Kinetic energy harvesting and smart applications. Another example of real-life applications of JRI products is the work of Kai Wang in developing a Piezoelectric device for tactile sensing and energy harvesting. Researchers at the JRI have been developing a product to convert mechanical vibration and force into electricity, for application in an industrial setting. Targeting Guangdong’s strong variety of high-tech industries, Kai Wang’s patented technology is fully compatible with the TFT-LCD manufacturing process, and instantly applicable to industrial needs.

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“We aim to strengthen production, study and research in cooperation with the dominant industry in Shunde and the Pearl River Delta. Delivering a world-class postgraduate education in engineering, we build on innovation, scientific research and technology transfer to provide first-class research professionals at home and abroad.”

- Hong-Zhou Tan, Director of the JRI

“Smart grid research is a major scientific and technological innovation for the 21st

century. At the JRI we are making significant achievements in theoretical and experimental research in the area.

One project proposes advanced techniques that enable integration of high

levels of renewable energy that will reduce China’s reliance on polluting coal

power generation. - Dr. Yinliang Xu, Assistant Professor

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R&D: Computational Medicine & Neuroscience Xiaoying Tang, Director of Computational Anatomy & Neuroimaging Lab

I'm an Assistant Professor at the SYSU-CMU Joint Institute of Engineering, the SYSU-CMU Shunde International Joint Research Institute, and an Associate professor at the School of Mobile Information Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University. I am also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University. Before joining SYSU-CMU JIE, I did my Ph.D. at the Johns Hopkins University.

My research interests are primarily focused on the field of quantitative medical image analysis, neuroimaging, computational anatomy, and computational neuroinformatics. The research topics that I have focused on and the main contributions that have emerged as a result include: 1) Bayesian estimation of biological parameters; 2) Diffeomorphometry of anatomical manifolds; 3) Learning and parametrization of anatomical manifolds; 4) Statistical modeling for biological shape analysis; 5) Structural MRI and Diffusion Tensor Imaging analysis.

“Our goal is to help doctors see what they cannot see, to understand the mystery of the brain, to let machines make smart decisions… and even prevent brain dysfunctions in the era of big data.

- Xiaoying Tang, Assistant Professor

My approach to medical image analysis is based on Computational Anatomy. Computational Anatomy (CA) is an emerging discipline aiming at understanding anatomy by utilizing a comprehensive set of mathematical tools. CA focuses on providing precise

statistical encodings of anatomy with direct application to a broad range of biological and medical settings.

The mathematical notions of Riemannian geometry underpin CA as a modern formalism for the study of anatomical shapes with a cent ra l theme be ing the const ruct ion of la rge diffeomorphisms between smooth manifolds which represent specific anatomies.

In CA, our goal is to translate the great amount of neuroinformatics presented in medical images to their corresponding anatomical and functional representations, to help doctors see what they cannot see, to understand

the mystery of brain, to let machine make smart decisions regarding prognosis and diagnosis, to

provide strategies for correcting and even preventing brain dysfunctions in the era of big data.

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R&D: Alternate Energy Vehicles Orkun Karabasoglu, Director of Electric Vehicle Technology Lab

I believe in the SYSU-CMU partnership and feel that there is a huge growth opportunity here in China. There are many automotive and energy storage factories in this region, and I want to see the impact of our academic work in industry.

Currently, I am working on multiple projects related to electric vehicles: (1) I design new navigation (routing) algorithms for electrified vehicles. Our approach creates low-cost travel routes, when compared to the routes provided by Baidu or Google. We want to commercialize this technology. (2) I aim to develop new battery management systems that would make batteries more efficient and less prone to degradation over time. Recently, I visited some battery factories in Shenzhen to build collaboration. (3) Our smart driver assistance project involves collecting sensory data from the powertrain of the vehicle through a cellphone app and processing this information. We inform drivers about their behaviors, cost of their trip, etc. We have plans to turn this project into a spin-off company of the JRI and are currently looking for investment opportunities. (4) I also work on determining the optimal vehicle design for China’s unique conditions such as traffic, terrain, and climate.

“As a world class research institute, JRI attracts talent from all over the world. JRI aims to become a center for energy and electric vehicle research in China.”

- Orkun Karabasoglu, Assistant Professor

I find the research environment in Shunde very productive and efficient. The government provided me with research labs and a generous start-up fund, to help support my research.

I can work with my students at any time, day and night. Students are very interested in my work and they are highly motivated. We solve real world engineering problems at a fast pace.

I am currently looking for companies to collaborate with. I want to work with companies in China and abroad that are interested in electrified vehicles, battery technology, connected cars, and smart grid.

I believe that the electric vehicle revolution has a bright future in Foshan. Foshan government has established a series of policies to accelerate the adoption of EVs, such as generous subsidies. People here have a very positive attitude to EVs.

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Research Environment:

Student Testimonies

It's my honor to follow Dr. Overett and finish my internship at the JRI.

The campus is quite suitable for contributing to research. Life in the JRI is

simple but meaningful, which means you can focus on your work, attend lectures from well-

known professors, and share ideas with people around the world.

- Mingdi Mao

I think JRI is a very free place to stay, it offers the best lab environment as well as really nice accommodations.

Here, I have freedom to learn something I am interested in, and my mentors help me to

participate in scientific research. Also, I meet lots of interesting people at the JRI, we

really enjoy the time we have spent with each other.

- Alan Ma

I'm a master student at the JRI. It is a great place for any student or professor to study and live. It provides the best experimental facilities, all of the professors complete due

diligence, and a wealth of academic activities are usually held here.

- He Yuyan

The environment here allows us to collaborate with the finest educational staff in China and the U.S. in a variety of research fields in which contemporary and

state-of-the-art methods in science are applied. This particular advantage enables us to not only see ‘what and how to learn' from the best but also to witness the close

relationship of passion and work. I can say without a doubt that I'm proud to be an intern here.

- Caner Seymenoglu

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Foshan Bureau of Commerce Foshan Investment Promotion Agency

Address: 135 Fenjiang Zhong Lu, Chancheng, Guangdong

Zip Code: 528000 Telephone: (+86) 757 83280559

Fax: (+86) 757 83353632 Website: www.fipa.gov.cn

Email: info@foshan-gov.com

佛⼭山市商务局 佛⼭山市投资促进局

地址：⼲⼴广东省佛⼭山市禅城区汾江中路135号 邮编: 528000 电话：(+86) 757 83280559 传真: (+86) 757 83353632 ⺴⽹网址：www.fipa.gov.cn 邮箱:info@foshan-gov.com