The Successful Completion of BIT-Santander Summer Program on Innovation and Entrepreneurship
On 20 July, 2018, the BIT-Santander Summer Program on Innovation and Entrepreneurship completed with the final pitch of 8 groups formed by student participants.
Themed in “Internet Plus Changes Life”, this program consisted of lectures, case study, lab visit and company visits. The objective is to enhance student’s ability of innovation and entrepreneurship. With the review from the panel of professors, 25 final students with scholarship from Santander had been chosen out of over 40 applicants from all over the world. They are from universities of China, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Italy, Argentina, Ecuador, Russia, Brazil and Greece, with the students’ specialties covering a wide range from mechanical engineering, information, automation, bio-engineering, management, law, etc.
The chief academic director is Prof. MEI Hong, Executive Vice President of BIT, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences and IEEE Fellow. Lectures are taught by BIT professors with international backgrounds in management and computer science, professors from BIT’s overseas partner universities and successful entrepreneurs. During the three weeks, students also paid visits to 91 Technology, Didi Chuxing, Xloong Technology, Dawa Education, Xiaohongchun and Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Intelligent Robots and Systems. Many students feels impressive on the developments of the Chinese internet based companies, the innovation in China and the intelligent robots technology.
To boost friendship among the students, BIT arranged a special exercise of badminton and the coach is the professional player from Spain. Although badminton is one of the most popular sports in China, it was probably the first time for students from Europe and Latin America.
On the last day of the program, eight groups formed by students presented their ideas in the final pitch. The judges are Mr. XU Shaobai from Bank Santander, Prof. MENG Fanchen, Vice Dean of School of Management and Economics and Prof. QI Chun from School of Management and Economics. The final winner is DrinkIT by Tiago Porfirio Fonseca and Aline Ferreira Caliente from University of Lisbon, Valery Onofriychuk from University of Girona and Maria Fernanda Gutierrez Angulo from Tecnológico de Monterrey.
Mr. XU Shaobai made comments on the final pitch, and he told the students that Bank Santander had been supporting the development of innovation and entrepreneurship of university students worldwide and encouraging students to practice and develop new products.
The three-week program ended with friendship among students from all nationalities, and better understanding of Chinese and Beijing culture, innovation and technology in China.