On the afternoon of March 1, 2016, the world-famous scientist & educator Shih Choon Fong was invited to the 61st session of SUSTech Lectures. Chaired by President Chen Shiyi, the Lecture was attended by SUSTech faculty and students, representatives of many innovation companies and other universities in Shenzhen University Town, who listened to the English lecture on “Accelerating the Engine of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.”

President CHEN Shiyi chaired the meeting.

Academician Shih Choon Fong gives the lecture

Prof. Shih Choon Fong once worked as the President of National University of Singapore (NUS). In 2008-2013, he worked as the Founding President of King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. Because of the calculation methods developed by him in non-linear fracture mechanics and his outstanding contributions in fracture analysis, Prof. Shi enjoys international fame and works as the Foreign Academician of American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of US National Academy of Engineering, as well as the member of Review Committee of Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering in UK. 

About global wave of innovations

Academician Shih Choon Fong said the 3rd industrial revolutionary is actually stimulated by the omnipresent Internet. In this high-tech environment, the entrepreneurship wave is spreading vigorously across the world. A number of young leaders with great innovation spirit have seized the opportunities brought by digital communications and Internet, thus realizing the rise of cross-border micro start-up companies. 
Prof. Shih, taking the “interactive info system” of Airbnb as an example, elaborated on the important position of Internet and IT development in innovation and entrepreneurship. “It has great potential for development. And the core of realizing such services is that it can provide interaction and IT at any time and in any place.”
Tale of 2 Cities in US
Prof. Shih compared the past and present of Detroit and Silicon Valley, showing us the old US economy, because it fails to follow up with social progress, is now trapped in difficulties. And the emerging economy boosted by entrepreneurs is booming. 
Detroit used to be most favored by entrepreneurs. But today, the city owes billions of USD. “What can we learn from the experience of Silicon Valley”, said Prof. Shih, “Our conventional understanding is that R&D can promote emerging techs and emerging techs can establish start-up enterprises. However, the experience of Silicon Valley tells us they first know the market needs and use the original creative ideas as the driving force of tech development before establishing start-up enterprises. Because they closely follow the steps of era, the incubated enterprises show greatest vigor and make success.”

The world future belongs to China

In Part 3 of his lecture, Prof. Shih said, “China is now experiencing social transition and is in the stage of rapid economic growth”. “If we look at the realities in China, we can find the thinking model of the Chinese people, in particular the young Chinese people, is changing fundamentally. China is now most favored for innovations and entrepreneurship. Today, China is the world’s largest trader whose economic growth is stimulated by private sector and the growth stimulated by innovations and entrepreneurship. The wealth created by this round of development will realize more extensive wealth distribution, thus forming the new middle class. China is rapidly increasing input in innovation and entrepreneurship, which will soon exceed that in USA.”

At the same time, Prof. Shih also believes it is not enough for China to engage in R&D alone. The country should also have a core strategy of innovations and entrepreneurship so that R&D actions can be transformed into innovations and entrepreneurship. “Innovations not only include R&D. Even more, innovations mean creating new products and services, which are delivered to the market through a viable business model. As a result, I believe the core measurement of its success is the new tech and service and the fact that they can be accepted by the market and consumers.”

“Market needs come first before they stimulate the industry of innovations and entrepreneurship and meet the requirements of R&D and market. We call it the dual-spiral enterprise of innovations and entrepreneurship. They constitute highly interrelated dual-spiral structure that supports each other. One spiral is the R&D invention, tech results and applied patents. The other is the market-oriented development of innovations and entrepreneurship. I believe China has to work harder in this regard”.

How does Shenzhen build an eco-system
In the last part of his lecture, Prof. Shih analyzed the position of Shenzhen in this round of innovations and entrepreneurship in China. He also gave his ideas and proposals on how to accelerate the energy of innovations and entrepreneurship in SUSTech. 
“Shenzhen is located in the center of Pearl River Delta. Many developed regions in the world lie along the coast”, Prof. Shih praised the high-tech enterprises in Shenzhen such as Huawei and TenCent, and showed confidence in the development of innovations and entrepreneurship in Shenzhen and even in China, “By 2020, the Chinese economic aggregate will rank No. 1 in the world, showing China is rising. In the 21st century, Europe is no longer the match of US. And China has become a powerful competitor of US.”
Prof. Shih also talked about his expectations for SUSTech students, “The universities’ mission is not just to do R&D, but also do innovations and entrepreneurship. If you want to seize the opportunities in this round of innovations and entrepreneurship in China, you should study hard and know how to transform your knowledge into the enterprises of innovations and entrepreneurship before creating wealth. Sincerely, I hope you can focus on two pillars on the stage of global competition, e.g., seeking excellence in R&D, and working on application of R&D results. The innovation economy in China has to be propelled by the young people.”
In the end, Prof. Shih used a picture showing two hemispheres looking at each other and told us, “As a young man, you should look to the west and east at the same time to secure future development. You should learn to find the opportunities in the world and have sharp vision.”

President Chen Shiyi gives SUSTech Lectures Certificate to Prof. Shih Choon Fong