Original title: Trickle down Tiangong Kaiwu - Innovation and Growth of Tiankai Higher Education Science and Technology Innovation Park
Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter Li Kun, Wang Ning, Guo Fangda
Beside the university road and the bank of the Tianjin River, eight tall buildings surround a square. In the daytime, groups of young people come and go. Parking spaces are "hard to find". At night, the lights are bright and the sense of science and technology is full. It has become a beautiful landscape in the central city of Tianjin
Just over a year ago, this bustling area was still a uncompleted residential building that had been idle for a long time. One night in May 2023, with the red and blue "sky" and "open" signs outside the building and the golden roof lights, a new science and innovation park - Tiankai Higher Education Science and Technology Innovation Park (hereinafter referred to as "Tiankai Park") came into being. A number of functional areas consisting of "one core", "two wings" and "multiple points" jointly explore the realization of three core orientations of scientific and technological innovation source, scientific research incubator and scientific and technological service resource cluster.
In May, Tiankai Park came up with the latest report card - on the 18th, Tianjin held a press conference, and Zhu Yubing, director of Tianjin Science and Technology Bureau and director of Tiankai Park Management Committee, introduced that at present, Tiankai Park has more than 1700 newly registered enterprises in the fields of artificial intelligence, biomedicine, new energy and new materials, and has various funds of 6.3 billion yuan, Several enterprises have achieved industrialization development.
As each innovative achievement goes out of the laboratory and into the production line from Tiankai Garden, a new picture of mutual nourishment and two-way rush between universities and cities is slowly unfolding in Jingu.
This is the scene of Tiankai Higher Education Science and Technology Innovation Park (UAV photo) taken on May 13. Photographed by Zhao Zishuo, reporter of Xinhua News Agency
Speed of "Tiankai": one scientific innovation enterprise is born every 5 hours
According to the latest data released, from May 2023 to May 2024, there are 1745 registered enterprises in Tiankai Park with a total area of about 80 square kilometers, and enterprises have received an accumulated investment of 235 million yuan and loans of 120 million yuan. According to this calculation, Tiankai Park produces one science and innovation enterprise every five hours on average, and receives nearly 1 million yuan of financing every day on average.
How is the speed of "Tiankai" refined?
Tianjin is rich in science and education resources, gathering more than 170 national institutes and domestic high-level research and development institutions, 56 ordinary colleges and universities, and more than 700000 teachers and students. In order to better transform the advantages of science and education resources into the driving force of scientific and technological innovation, Tianjin's high standard Tiankai Park officially opened on May 18, 2023.
Tiankai Garden, from Tianjin University and Nankai University, takes the words "Tian" and "Kai" respectively, and implies "Tiangong Kaiwu". In terms of space and functional layout, the park has built a "one core" focusing on R&D incubation and a "two wings" and "multiple points" focusing on industrialization, radiating the whole city.
In order to help the entrepreneurial team of college teachers and students complete the identity transformation quickly, Tiankai Park first provided convenient government services. For example, it only took less than 2 months for Tianjin Yongxu New Materials Co., Ltd. to complete the review cycle, which usually takes 1 to 2 years, from submitting the preliminary review to obtaining the invention patent authorization; Tianjin Changxing Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. got its business license and official seal in less than one day.
Office 604, Building 5, Tiankai Square, located in the core area of Tiankai Park, is the first entrepreneurial base of Dr. Feng Shaowu of Tianjin University. The "pulsation fatigue test system of vascular stent" placed in the room is eye-catching.
"In the past, it was inevitable that the detection of vascular stents would encounter problems of poor measurement, uncertainty and incompleteness, and this equipment not only significantly shortened the detection time, but also ranked at the international leading level in accuracy and path." Feng Shaowu said that his research was recognized by virtue of technical advantages, and became one of the first projects to settle in Tiankai Garden.
He registered the company and served as the general manager, switching back and forth between doctoral students and entrepreneurs. Feng Shaowu was always happy: "Last year, the company has made profits, and this year, the order is expected to exceed 10 million yuan."
Covalent organic framework materials (COFs) are produced in tons for the first time in the world, the world's smallest microfluidic detector is "born", and the first intrusive brain computer interface test is successful... Tiankai Park has signed cooperation agreements with 17 alumni associations of colleges and universities, including Nankai University, Tianjin University, Tianjin University of Technology, to open the "handshake" channel between colleges and universities and the park, Promote the transformation of more scientific and technological achievements of colleges and universities into Tiankai Park. Among them, 69 scientific and technological achievements of the National Key Laboratory, Haihe Laboratory and other laboratories have been settled in Tiankai Park, and the positioning of the birthplace of scientific and technological innovation has gradually become clear.
At the same time, in the "two wings" expansion area of Tiankai Park, a number of scientific and technological innovation achievements have accelerated their implementation and transformation. The first batch of Changxing Energy Storage Company settled in Tiankai Park will move from the core area to the "west wing" of the expansion area in November 2023. Yan Zhenhua, the person in charge of the company and an associate researcher of the School of Chemistry of Nankai University, said, "When we seek to implement a new energy battery achievement, it is easy to hit a chord with Tiankai Xiqingyuan. At present, the installation and commissioning of the equipment have been basically completed, and the pilot test will begin in the near future."
Under the incubation of Tiankai Park, many enterprises such as Changxing Energy Storage, Sustainable New Materials and Tianrun Hanyang have started the industrialization process in many places in Tianjin.
This is a corner of Tiankai Garden Comprehensive Service Center (photographed on May 15). Photographed by Li Ran, reporter of Xinhua News Agency
"Tiankai" service: mechanism innovation, problem-solving achievements and transformation into "Valley of Death"
In the world, the process of scientific research achievements from laboratory to production line is often called "Valley of Death". The data shows that the industrialization rate of invention patents in Chinese universities is less than 4%.
Wang Yinsong, a professor of Tianjin Medical University, has many research achievements and patents in the field of energy medicine, but she said frankly: "It's OK to do research on your own, and starting a company is' Xiaobai '. She has never dared to take this step."
"To help university scientific and technological achievements and entrepreneurial projects break through the valley of death is the original purpose of the founding of Tiankai Park and the foothold of various work measures," said Fang Wei, deputy director of Tianjin Science and Technology Bureau and deputy director of Tiankai Park Management Committee.
How does the "Tiankai" service break the "Valley of Death"?
Concept verification is the "first mile" of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. Gesang Chuangfu (Tianjin) Concept Verification Management Co., Ltd. is a concept verification center focused on scientific research transformation of universities introduced by Tiankai Park. Xu Xinyuan, the chairman of the company, said: "What we are doing is to complement the weaknesses beyond the scientific research ability of experts and scholars, help enterprises pass the stage of small and medium-sized trials, and achieve 'from 1 to 10'."
Sustainable New Materials is one of the first beneficiaries. Liu Chaohui, the general manager of the company, said that Gesang Chuangfu had verified their technical route and business route, with a technical valuation of 150 million yuan and a customized industrialization plan.
Fund guarantee is the key to the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. Tianrun Hanyang Technology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd., which is engaged in the research and development of nickel based welding materials, has obtained more than 9 million yuan of financing from funds, leasing, banks and other financial institutions. "The financing institutions of Tiankai Park are relatively more tolerant of risk control of scientific and technological innovation enterprises. They do not require fixed assets or cash flow, but mainly rely on the evaluation of technology, which benefits us," said He Jianjun, the head of the company.
Wang Yang, deputy general manager of Tiankai Development Group, said that through the introduction of various entrepreneurial service enterprises, Tiankai Park focuses on creating "full life cycle" business incubation services. In the past year, Tiankai Park has 225 technology finance and technology service institutions, and a number of equity investment institutions, such as Beiyang Begonia Fund, Xinkai Lake Fund, and government angel investors, have solved the "money bag" problem for start-ups.
Tracer reagents, hand-held light sources, and a small iron box full. Now, Wang Yinsong's team, who calls himself "Xiaobai", has transformed the concept on the slide into an actual product that can be seen and touched. It only took more than half a year for the team to complete the process from company registration to trial production, and also obtained an angel round investment of 3 million yuan.
Application scenarios are related to whether the products of start-ups can be launched. In April this year, Bainiao Zongheng Technology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd., which was founded less than a year ago, just received an order of 90 million yuan. Zhao Ning, the head of the company focusing on folding technology, told reporters that Tiankai Park had promoted its products to several key state-owned enterprises, and the enterprise had reached cooperation intentions with many large state-owned enterprises, including Tianjin Tourism Group.
"The team has developed the nano cellulose technology for five years, and no one paid attention to it before, and we don't know which scenario is needed." Liu Chaohui sighed that with the help of Tiankai Garden, the company successfully established cooperation with Tianjin Food Group's food preservation, Bohai Chemical Group's nylon gas barrier and other scenarios.
In October 2023, Tiankai Development Group, together with 12 key enterprises in Tianjin's industrial chain, launched the Tiankai Application Scenario Alliance. Tianjin Food Group, Tianjin Tourism Group, Bohai Chemical and other state-owned enterprises in Tianjin joined in.
"The application scenarios of the government and state-owned enterprises are open and shared, so that technology and market can 'find each other' in Tiankai Park," said Wang Han, director of the Cooperation Office of Tianjin University.
At Tiankai Square in Tiankai Park, students of Tianjin University of Technology who participated in the "Tiankai Cup" National Undergraduate Intelligent Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Challenge in Tianjin are debugging their products (photographed on May 14). Photographed by Zhao Zishuo, reporter of Xinhua News Agency
"Tiankai" as: empowering the development of new quality productivity
Wang Shuang, vice president of the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, and other experts said that the development of China's science and technology innovation parks has experienced a "technology, industry and trade" dividend period relying on foreign trade processing, a "technology real estate dividend period", and an Internet dividend period, and now it has returned to the "hard technology" competition.
As a national advanced manufacturing R&D base, Tianjin is now invigorating its industry with scientific and technological innovation to promote the formation of new quality productivity, which also puts forward higher requirements for the construction of Tiankai Park with high standards.
How can "Tiankai" empower new quality productivity?
In fact, from uncompleted buildings to science and innovation parks, Tiankai Park itself is a typical case of revitalizing existing assets. "Revitalizing the stock is not just about tangible assets." Fang Wei said that Tiankai Park pays more attention to revitalizing the stock achievements of universities and research institutes. For example, under the docking of the park, Yue Zhao, a professor in the Department of Microelectronics Engineering of Nankai University, successfully "awakened" the patent "tidal parking lock" that had been sleeping for nine years.
The entrepreneurial enthusiasm of college teachers is also "awakened". "We did have some concerns about 'going to the sea' before, because it is not the main job of teachers. But with the Tiankai Garden, we have the confidence to promote the transformation of university achievements into 'famous teachers'," said Hu Haofeng, a professor at the School of Marine Science and Technology of Tianjin University.
The "1.0 version" of the support policy of Tiankai Park released in 2023 has been optimized in many aspects, such as the sharing of benefits of scientific and technological achievements, optimization of horizontal scientific research project title review, etc., aiming to remove the institutional barriers to the transformation of scientific research achievements. In the latest "2.0 version" released on May 18 this year, the scope of policy support such as achievements transformation has been extended from universities to scientific research institutes to promote more high-quality scientific and technological achievements from laboratories to production lines.
"The horizontal project launched in Tiankai Park can be recognized in the professional title evaluation, which is a breakthrough." In the opinion of Guo Wei, the chairman of Tianjin Nankai University Asset Management Co., Ltd., this system innovation can effectively mobilize the entrepreneurial enthusiasm of college teachers and students, and alumni everywhere.
"In the nearly one year since the founding of Tiankai Park, the number of enterprises entering the park has shown an obvious echelon. The first group is mainly teachers and students and alumni enterprises of Tiankai University and Nankai, the second group is mainly teachers and students and alumni enterprises of other universities in Tianjin, and the third group is from Beijing and other places. The science and innovation resources gathered are getting richer and richer," said Fang Wei.
Data shows that among the newly registered enterprises in Tiankai Park, there are 128 Beijing source enterprises and 78 Hebei source enterprises, accounting for 12% in total. Tiankai Park has become an important carrier of the Beijing Tianjin Hebei National Technology Innovation Center Tianjin Center, and is becoming a new fertile ground for entrepreneurs in Beijing Tianjin Hebei.
Recently, Tianrun Hanyang Company has set up a factory in Ninghe District and is about to put into production. "Beijing R&D, Tianjin transformation, Tiankai Park helped to complete the test, docking industrial plants, everything went smoothly." He Jianjun said that he was a practitioner and beneficiary of the combination of Beijing's technological innovation advantages and Tianjin's advanced manufacturing R&D advantages.
With the growth and expansion of a number of high-quality entrepreneurial enterprises, Tiankai Park has formed an innovation cluster advantage in new energy, new materials, artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, biomedicine, brain machine engineering and other fields, which has continuously injected vitality into Tianjin's high-quality development. In 2024, Tiankai Park will strive to cultivate 20 enterprises with listing potential.
"In the future, Tiankai Park will strengthen exchanges and cooperation with domestic advanced parks such as Zhongguancun, regularly connect Beijing's innovation resources, and deepen cooperation with Peking University, Tsinghua University and other universities to create a 'paradise' for entrepreneurs," said Zhu Yubing.
