With the sound of the National Anthem, ShanghaiTech University opened the celebration of its 10th anniversary at the Athletic Center on the morning of September 28. Over 2,000 people attended the celebration on site, including officials of the state and Shanghai government, members of the University Governance Board, leaders of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), universities and institutes affiliated to CAS, universities from Shanghai and other provinces, students, faculty, staff, alumni, and media press.
The celebration began with the addresses delivered by officials of the government, and leaders of CAS, University of Science and Technology of China, and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. The university faculty representative, Liu Zhi, who is the Vice Provost, Director of CTS, and Vice Dean of SPST, shared his story of pursuing his dream at ShanghaiTech. “When I came back to China from the US ten years ago, it was the goal to build a high-level university next to large-scale scientific facilities that attracted me to join the university, which was founded as an academic platform for scientists to collaborate equally and innovate confidently. I thought I could realize my dream at ShanghaiTech.” Liu felt excited and assured in the development of ShanghaiTech’s next decade.
Liu Zhi shared his stories happened at ShanghaiTech
The alumni representative, Wu Di, who is the founder of Deemos, an AI company with computer vision technology used in movie production, talked about his campus life in the past seven years. “I realized the importance of computer algorithms in the application of film production when I shot my own microfilm, in my first year. I then joined a research group in SIST to create my own studio by building up a state-of-the-art shooting system. I worked with my team members and finally developed a human face scanning device that can be broadly used in film production,” said Wu Di with great confidence. “The university provided us with significant support and we have already obtained 100 million RMB of financing. I really benefited from the interdisciplinary learning environment and innovative research-oriented undergraduate cultivation model of ShanghaiTech.”
Wu Di felt proud of what he learned during his seven-years’ ShanghaiTech life
In his speech which included a succinct review and comprehensive conclusion of the inaugural decade, President Jiang Mianheng highlighted the major achievements of the past decade, pointed out the challenges the university is facing, and will be faced with, and emphasized the importance of sticking to ShanghaiTech’s own mission to be sustainable in the years to come. “In spite of the impressive development ShanghaiTech achieved in the past ten years, we still have many tasks to complete and a long way to go, and we should not boast about what we already have, and not slack off in our upcoming journey,” said President Jiang. “We need to stick to our own values and goals, and at all times, we should avoid blindly following the trend, not be distracted, not seek for surficial fame, and not seek for quick success. Only by steadfastly adhering to the goal and mission of ShanghaiTech can the university achieve durability, stability and sustainability in its development strategy and management system.”
President Jiang delivered his themed address
In his speech, President Jiang also highlighted that innovation and openness are the most critical driving forces behind ShanghaiTech’s development. As a brand-new university, the unique advantage of ShanghaiTech is that it can explore a new path for the governance of a modern Chinese university without the burden of history and fixed ways of thinking.
Looking ahead towards the next decade, President Jiang expressed his expectation. “The 10th anniversary of ShanghaiTech is a new start, we need to be ambitious and pragmatic, courageous and innovative, confident and perseverant, so that we can build the university to be one of excellence in innovation.”
The theme of the “thanks and commendation” session of the celebration was the expression of thanks from the university to the former leaders of the government for their significant efforts during the preparation and development process of the university. Twelve faculty and staff representatives were conferred certificates of commendation in honor of their ten-years’ service.
Student volunteers took bunches of flowers to some former leaders as the thanks from the university
Faculty and staff representatives were conferred the certificates
The celebration concluded successfully with a chorus performance by ShanghaiTech faculty, staff and students.
A chorus performance signaled the ending of the celebration