Dialogue@ZJU: With Idea Explorer Innovation & Entrepreneurship Global Summer Program 2021

[Editor’s note: Idea Explorer Innovation & Entrepreneurship Global Summer Program 2021 concluded successfully. Initiated in 2012 and suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19, the Program was shifted online this year, bringing together 297 students from 26 countries across 5 continents. Themed on “Embrace Digital World”, it offered the opportunity to unlock different facets of knowledge targeting entrepreneurship and find uniqueness of Hangzhou. 30 Participants also were selected to form groups and complete the business projects. Reviewed by ZJU-SOM professors and program peers, the group ElderHub was awarded the Most Innovative Group. The program director, academic lecturer as well as participants shared their comments and feedbacks as follows.]

WANG Liang

Program Director

Associate Professor of Tourism and Hotel Management

School of Management, Zhejiang University

This year, we offered 10 video courses with topics ranging from decoding the rise of Chinese Internet firms to digitalization efforts in, for example, healthcare and city management. Virtually, we showed our students around a Hangzhou-based start-up by an alumnus of our PIEGL program and Zhongce Rubber Group.

In addition to students’ commitment and devotion to the courses, what impressed me the most is the quality of group projects. The odds were stark: virtual communication, limited preparation time, different time zones, and unfamiliarity of team members, to name a few. But the outputs were stunningly amazing, which cared for the environment, the elderly, the younger, and the disabled, physically and mentally. Through the projects, I see the idea explorers we are expecting. I hope life will return to normal soon and meet our participants in Hangzhou as well as our beautiful campus.

ZHANG Zheng

Program Academic Lecturer/Mentor of the Most Innovative Group: ElderHub 

ZJU 100-Young Professor of Service Science and Operation Management

School of Management, Zhejiang University

It was super fun to advise a team of students breezing and refining an innovative project. The students were diverse, creative, and diligent. My job was to push them to think more specifically and comprehensively. But, of course, the most enjoyable thing was observing the DDL drive the team to be more creative and productive.

Apichaya Trakarnsakdikul (Pear)

Thailand

Management (Undergraduate)

Sasin School of Management

It’s very fun exploring new China Business opportunities and innovation in many aspects such as the overall market, smart cities, healthcare, tourism, etc. We also had opportunity to work with teammates globally to develop ideas together. Although we’re from different cultures, we have learnt a lot and shared experiences among us! We also had specialized professor as our mentor. I would like to encourage you to be part of this program!

Rishaan Oodeen

Guyana

Supply Chain Management/ MIS Concentration (Undergraduate)

Rutgers University

Idea Explorer paved the way for me to cooperate with individuals globally for a shared purpose and goal. I learned about different cultures and perspectives, all while exploring a multitude of ways to preserve those cultures and heighten those perspectives. I am extremely grateful for the Idea Explorer program, as it allowed me to grow in many ways. It provided a way for me to learn about China while establishing a way for our business, ElderHub, to be sustainable. I will remember this experience, and I will always value the knowledge, insight, and guidance I gained from my peers and mentor throughout this journey.

Goh Khai Hong

Malaysia

Information Systems (Postgraduate)

National University of Singapore

The Global Summer School 2021 was a unique and an unforgettable experience. It was a perfect combination of challenging business project, awesome people, and amazing virtual cultural learning.

The group project helped us to make friends from all over the world and simply enjoy our virtual learning journey with Zhejiang University! The very diverse student group provided a fantastic opportunity for thought provoking perspectives in the virtual classroom as well as for intriguing cultural learning.

The program was exceptionally well organized, allowing us to grow personally and professionally. It is also an excellent complement for my master’s degree. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Once again, I would like to express my great gratitude to the organizers for the awesome ZJU Global Summer School 2021!

Henry Boyer

France

Management (Undergraduate)

ESCP Business School

Having lived more than 14 years in Asia, I wanted to know more about this continent that I consider home. The Idea Explorer program at Zhejiang University is valuable. The courses were interesting and gave you a good aspect of business and e-commerce in China. In addition to this, we had the opportunity to attend a lecture by a former student who opened a start-up in Hangzhou, which completed well with classes. Also, the fact of being able to work on a project with other international students was excellent and helped to discover other perspectives and cultures. To sum up, I appreciated the program. It did net all my expectations. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about business in Asia and China and wants to encounter an international experience.

Source: School of Management