Empower the Future with Design
On the morning of November 11, 2021, Qingdao Development and Reform Commission， the Development and Reform Bureau of Qingdao West Coast New Area (“New Area Development and Reform Bureau”)，and Tsinghua (Qingdao) Academy of Arts and Science Innovation Research (TASA) made research visits to manufacturers of advanced textile machinery in Qingdao West Coast New Area, to learn about the plant construction of the enterprises and gain an in-depth understanding of their development concepts and market responses. After the research, experts from the Municipal Development and Reform Commission and the New Area Development and Reform Bureau visited TASA. Among the participants of the event were SONG Xiaojie, Director of the Department of Dynamic Energy Conversion and Promotion of the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, ZHOU Qingnian, Deputy Director of the New Area Development and Reform Bureau, LIU Weidong, Director of the Office of the Tsinghua (Qingdao) Academy of Arts and Science Innovation Research, and WANG Linlin and LUO Xin, Managers of the Development Planning Office of TASA.
Group photo of the research team at the Academy
In the industry exchange meeting before the research, Mr. SONG Xiaojie shared the successful experience in developing scenario labs to drive industry development. He said that a diagnostic team could be used to help industries discover their problems and achieve industrial improvement and development through design and innovation. With reference to the outstanding cases of industrial design development in Shenzhen, Mr. SONG Xiaojie put forward the concept of "design empowerment", which means using industrial design to improve the added value and promote the transformation and innovation of industries. Mr. LIU Weidong shared the successful cases of cooperation between the Academy and famous domestic enterprises. He said that the cooperation projects between the Academy and enterprises had made four achievements: firstly, new industrial results; secondly, more employment opportunities for graduates; thirdly, the availability of a large number of high-quality talents for enterprises; fourthly, the gathering of global advantageous resources for Qingdao. In view of that, Mr. SONG Xiaojie expressed that the advantages of domestic top-notch talents and disciplines brought by the launch of the Academy would bring more vitality to the New Area and give a strong push to the overall development of the area.
The research team is holding the industrial exchange meeting
After that, the research team made field research visits to Dongchang Textile Machine Manufacturing Co., Ltd. In Huangtai Town, the Tianyi Group, the Hicorp Group and other manufacturers of advanced textile machinery, learning about the development and latest products and achievements of the textile machinery industry. Mr. SONG Xiaojie and Mr. LIU Weidong put forward several suggestions for the development of the enterprises from different perspectives, such as the replacement of old growth drivers with new ones and industrial design, which were unanimously approved by those present.
The research team is conducting field research on enterprises
After the enterprise research, the team of experts from the Municipal Development and Reform Commission and the New Area Development and Reform Bureau visited the Art and Science Experience Center and the International Industrial Design Center of TASA to learn about the operation mechanism and development concept of the Academy.
Visiting the Art and Science Experience Center
Visiting the International Industrial Design Center
During the visit, Mr. SONG Xiaojie learned in detail the Academy's historical heritage of the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, as well as its construction, industrial planning and future development direction, and spoke highly of the Academy's development plan. He said that AADTHU has a long history and has trained numerous talents for the society and promoted China's industrial development through its designs. He expressed the hope that the Academy could be built into an industrial design center for northern China in the future. Mr. SONG Xiaojie emphasized that the establishment of the Academy implies outstanding significance to the industrial upgrading and industry-academia-research development in the New Area, and the Academy has the capacity and responsibility to build an innovation service platform of international standard to serve as a bridge in promoting the exchange and cooperation of excellent design resources at home and abroad, so as to realize the joint construction of platforms and resource sharing.
Finally, the Academy had a full exchange with the Municipal Development and Reform Commission and the New Area Development and Reform Bureau on driving local industrial development and promoting "design empowerment", integration and innovation, and other aspects, laying a good foundation for future in-depth cooperation.
