Jiao Tong launches marine research center

A Shanghai Jiao Tong University center for marine research, innovation and industrialization of related achievements was established at the Minhang Economic and Technological Development Zone on Thursday.

It marked the start of enhanced cooperation between the university, the Minhang government and Shanghai Land (Group) Co to expand and upgrade neoBay, an innovation and entrepreneurship cluster they set up five years ago, to a new level. The three parties signed an agreement to build a bigger neoBay at the center’s unveiling ceremony.

By the end of last year, more than 630 programs and over 470 startups were being incubated there .

To serve China’s marine development strategy, the university set up a marine equipment research institute in March to build a platform supported by the Ministry of Education aiming at breakthroughs in deep-sea operation equipment development and innovation.

With the newly unveiled center, the institute plans to explore new ways for cooperation among industry, education and research to develop it into a strategic innovation and entrepreneurship base for the marine equipment industry by 2022.

It also plans to develop its marine equipment research center into a landmark for Shanghai’s development as a center for science and technology innovation of global influence by 2025. By 2030, it will establish a national-level lab for ocean research and gathering outstanding talent from all over the world.

The new institute has selected nine teams from the university, including its deep-sea operation equipment research center, ship equipment reliability assessment and smart diagnosis research center, and the intelligent marine information technology and system research institute, to settle in the bigger neoBay.