Driven by sci-tech business and fueled by technological innovation, the competition promotes the in-depth integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation. On March 29, 2026, the final of the 1st "Future Engineering · Tech Innovation Leadership" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Incubation Competition, co-hosted by CTO and the AEBS , was successfully held in the Yifu Building, Putuo Campus. As a key initiative of CTO and AEBS in advancing the SciTech, this competition aims to cultivate future tech innovation leaders with technological insight and business leadership through innovation and entrepreneurship education.
A total of 11 teams signed up for the competition. After strict review by the organizing committee, 8 high-quality entrepreneurial teams stood out and stepped onto the final stage. Their projects cover cutting-edge tracks such as AI applications, smart hardware, maritime technology, “silver hair” economy, educational technology, international services, and cultural tourism digital ecology. They launched a peak showdown in the form of "8-minute roadshow + 8-minute defense", fully demonstrating the innovative strength and entrepreneurial enthusiasm of ECNU students from the perspective of Sci-Tech business.
Opening Ceremony
The final was hosted by Zhang Tingting, a student from the 2025 MEM Chief AI Officer (CAIO) class. The event was honored to invite distinguished experts from industry, academia, and research to form the judging panel, who provided precise guidance and feedback from a diverse and professional perspective, marking the beginning of this remarkable Sci-Tech business showcase.
The jury lineup included:
Xing Hexiang: Dean of the Institute of Industrial Technology, ECNU; Dean of the Lingang Research Institute, ECNU
Ni Zheng: Distinguished Practice Professor of CTO, ECNU; Senior Human Resources Consultant; Former Chief Human Resources Officer & Managing Director of a well-known fund
Deng Ruoyu: Executive Deputy General Manager of Tongji Artificial Intelligence (Suzhou) Research Institute; Industrial Professor of Suzhou Vocational University
Yao Xiang: Deputy Director of the Industrial Integration Promotion Center of the Yangtze River Delta Smart Urban Area Cooperation and Development Alliance; General Manager of Shanghai Huaqi Enterprise Management Co., Ltd.
Dean's Speech
Dean He Jiaxun, Second-level Professor of ECNU, Doctoral Supervisor, Executive Dean of CTO, and Chinese Dean of AEBS, attended the event in person and delivered a speech.
Dean He first expressed sincere encouragement and expectations to the participating students, and shared three profound core thoughts on entrepreneurship:
1. Uphold the entrepreneurial gene: Clarify the original intention and mission of the project, and lay a solid foundation for development;
2. Achieve key breakthroughs: Courageously cross the threshold from 0 to 1, allowing innovation to be truly tested by the market.
3. Think about long-term development: Guide future development with ambitious goals and build sustainable competitive advantages.
Dean He conveyed the same encouragement in English to the three international student teams on site, emphasizing the international characteristics and the important significance of cross-border innovation and entrepreneurship. He encouraged the international students to realize the life value of studying in China through technological entrepreneurship.
Project Roadshow
The final adopted the "8-minute roadshow + 8-minute defense" model, and 8 teams took the stage to present in turn. The students of each team were calm and confident, introducing in detail the project background, technological innovation, market prospects, business model, team advantages and other contents. The judges raised precise and professional questions, creating a strong communication atmosphere.
Innovatas
This international team from AEBS introduced their project Clent, putting forward the concept of luggage-free travel. Relying on an international perspective and professional business capabilities, they focus on cross-border business service scenarios and create a lightweight and highly adaptable cross-border business solution.
Zhixun Future Partner Team
The team introduced AI-driven Career Development Companion Platform: Ask Senior", targeting high-potential talents with 3-5 years of work experience, junior managers and career transitioners. They built a private vertical knowledge base through more than 100 real workplace interviews, reduced consulting costs with AI, provided continuous career growth services, along with a product subscription system, profit model and development plan.
Snapirro Team
The team demonstrated the AI-driven digital avatar infrastructure (Snapirro), building a digital identity system through "AI generation engine + interactive terminal + cloud platform". Users can generate a continuously evolving Snapirro ID with one shot, which can be used for social expression, cultural and creative consumption, IP co-creation and digital asset precipitation. They also introduced the project patents, algorithm filing and large-scale deployment plan.
Tongqu Infinite Team
They introduced a multi-modal visual AI companion doll, targeting emotional companion needs of all age groups. The AI companion toy "can see, speak, remember and have a personality". Key technologies include a proprietary six-dimensional emotion recognition engine, vision models, natural emotional dialogue, and local privacy protection.
Ciqu Workshop Elite Team
The team presented the Crayfish Word Learning Community, taking "Chinese radical analogy to English root" as the core memory method. They deconstruct etymology through AI-animated videos and build a gamified, community-based learning ecosystem for K–12 students, college students, and professionals. The platform’s profit model and market plan were also introduced.
Shenwen Zhihang Team
The team introduced a ship stability feedforward early warning system. Designed for scenarios such as offshore wind power hoisting, special-purpose vessels, and carrier-based aircraft takeoff and landing, the system achieves a one-second advanced attitude prediction through algorithmic processing, effectively compensating for mechanical latency and addressing challenges under extreme sea conditions. The team also presented the technical barriers, market value, and industrialization pathway of the project.
International Student Housing
Platform Team
The team introduced the International Student Housing Platform, focusing on the actual pain points of international students in Shanghai renting off-campus. It provides one-stop services such as housing verification, landlord KYC, bilingual contracts, cross-border payment and accommodation registration guidance. They also introduced the platform's charging model, profit situation and national university replication plan.
NeitSPE Team
The team introduced the GuardWave millimeter-wave radar elderly care health monitoring project. Leveraging 60GHz millimeter-wave radar technology, it enables camera-free, non-wearable, and fully privacy-preserving health monitoring. The system can accurately identify key indicators such as falls, respiration, and heart rate, covering high-risk areas including bathrooms and bedrooms. The team also presented the hardware costs, profit model, and market demand for the project.
Judge's Summary
Dean Xing Hexiang delivered an insightful summary and sharing for the final.
Dean Xing analyzed the composition of the core competitiveness of entrepreneurial projects. He pointed out that hard technology and disruptive technology are the key to building long-term competitive barriers, while easily replicable business models rarely offer lasting advantages. After technological achievements enter the market, they must maintain continuous iteration and upgrading to achieve industrialization and create genuine social value. Based on his experience, Dean Xing systematically shared the five core dimensions of project evaluation:
Technological advancement: Whether the project possesses genuine technological innovation advantages
Team integrity: Whether team structure and expertise align with development needs
Market pain points and capacity: The pertinence of solving problems and the potential market scale
Industry prospect: The development trend and growth space of the field
Business model: How to realize sustainable commercial value creation
Dean Xing emphasized that the Lingang Research Institute will provide all-round support to help outstanding projects achieve implementation, transformation, and growth.
Dean Xing hopes the competition will be held annually, expanding in reach and impact. He sees it as a platform for students and faculty to share ideas, inspire each other, and grow together — driving lasting momentum for ECNU's innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Winners Announcement
After rigorous scoring and review, the list of winners of this competition was announced on the spot:
First Prize
International Student Housing Platform Team
Second Prize
Shenwen Zhihang Team, NeitSPE
Third Prize
Snapirro Team, Tongqu Infinite Team, Ciqu Workshop Elite Team
Merit Award
Innovatas, Zhixun Future Partner Team, Paimeng, AI Digital Store Manager Team, Chuangzhi Vanguard Team
Future Engineering · Technology Innovation Leadership
As a landmark technology innovation activity co-created by CTO and AEBS, this competition practices the Sci-Tech business educational philosophy and bridges technological innovation with industrial needs. Through the SciTech, the CTO and AEBS have built a high-level platform for students, fostering technology innovation leaders with a global vision.
Spanning AI services, hard technology, education, maritime innovation, the 8 final teams responded to the times with cutting-edge ideas and practical actions, fully demonstrating the relentless innovative spirit of ECNU students.
Looking ahead, The CTO and AEBS will further strengthen their collaboration and persistently develop innovation and entrepreneurship education, offering robust support to a greater number of students, and allowing Sci-Tech business education and industrial innovation to flourish at ECNU.
注亚欧更