Aalto University has a strong focus in China
30.10.2012
Aalto University has successfully built strategic connections to China in close cooperation with Tongji University. The Sino-Finnish Centre was opened at Tongji University in 2010, and since then Aalto University and Tongji University have been jointly developing the Aalto-Tongji Design Factory.
The aim of the cooperation is to promote research, education and innovation and to offer a platform where students and researchers encounter enterprises and society.
Aalto University is committed to elevating the university’s international presence and strengthening its worldwide community by starting the first Alumni Chapter in China in Shanghai. Aalto University is also launching a special marketing campaign for recruiting Chinese students.
"During the first two years of the Sino-Finnish Centre, Aalto University and Tongji University have deepened the university-industry-city cooperation between China and Finland and built a bridge of innovation connecting the countries. It is a bridge to the future. We believe that together we can co-create a new means for creatively sustainable wellbeing and build a better world for all. Radical Design Week 2012 is a brilliant example of what Aalto and Tongji can achieve together," says Mrs Tuula Teeri, President of Aalto University.
Aalto University’s main event in the Radical Design Week is the NEXT Design Exhibition, a multidisciplinary selection of works of graduates of Aalto University, 'Masters of Aalto'. The exhibition is more than just another collective showcase. It represents the ideals and values of the new generation and presents their vision of the future of design. The exhibition kicks off the Tongji-Aalto design exhibition series. Next year, there will be a Tongji Design Exhibition at the School of Art, Design and Architecture at Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland.
Radical Design Week brings Aalto University’s academic workshops to Shanghai in cooperation with Tongji University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and several companies. Finnish and Chinese students and researchers work together with company professionals on urban planning meeting sustainability challenges, on finding new means for user-driven innovations, and on creating rooftop gardens in urban architecture.
A large Aalto University delegation comprised of leadership, faculty and students will participate in the Radical Design Week with the goal of deepening Aalto University’s contacts with Tongji University and boosting Finnish-Chinese university-industry cooperation.