Dii 2022 Fall Batch Team Announcement

Congratulations to the 11 teams who have been selected for the Dii 2022 Fall batch! We hope you can enjoy the journey of creating and developing your own projects. For those of you who were not able to join the Dii this time but still be interested in presenting your innovative and entrepreneurial projects, we encourage you to keep on developing your ideas and apply for the Dii batch next time. We are welcoming more teams to join Dii with their innovative and entrepreneurial ideas in the future!

Dii is an engine for cultivating and supporting startup ideas from across the DKU campus. We aim to leverage the dynamism and enthusiasm of young change-makers striving to have a positive impact on the world with their unique ideas and innovative products and services.

At Duke Kunshan University, fostering innovative and entrepreneurial thinking in students has been one of our key missions. Dii was launched in the Fall of 2019 with the goal of building a comprehensive platform for students to practice innovation and entrepreneurship. Each year, we welcome a new batch of student startup teams to Dii. In the next two years, they will receive various resources and supports such as startup funds, professional guidance, and lab space and equipment, and receive systematic training on user insights, marketing and branding, business for good, etc., that empower them to turn entrepreneurial ideas into reality.

Meifang Chen / Associate Professor of Health Policy

Kai Huang / Associate Professor of Physics, Division Chair of Natural and Applied Sciences, Undergraduate Program

Xin Tong / Assistant Professor of Computation and Design

Donald Snow / Professor and Senior Director of Language and Culture Center

Jinbo Cui / Associate Professor of Applied Economics, Acting Director of Environment Research Center (ERC)

Fan Liang / Assistant Professor of Media

Liqi Ren / Associate Director for DKU Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, Lecturer in Innovation and Design

Frank Li / Assistant Director for DKU Innovation Incubator

Congratulations to the 11 teams who have been selected for the Dii 2022 Fall batch! We hope you can enjoy the journey of creating and developing your own projects. For those of you who were not able to join the Dii this time but still be interested in presenting your innovative and entrepreneurial projects, we encourage you to keep on developing your ideas and apply for the Dii batch next time. We are welcoming more teams to join Dii with their innovative and entrepreneurial ideas in the future!

• Have a clear goal
• Identify the problem and provide a viable and feasible solution
• Know your competitors
• Identify outstanding features of your project
• Have a long-term plan
• Make use of campus and external resources
• Start early, get your team prepared
• Be confident

Q1. What are the outstanding features of your project?

Binyan Sun: It was a great advantage for us to have our teams set up before we applied for Dii 2022 Fall, as our team members were selected early. Then we assigned five students to be in charge of the Dii project. As different members are assigned different tasks, such as PowerPoint production and budget control, we have a relatively well-organized management system.

—DKU VEX U

Christine Sui: I think there are probably two things that stand out in our project. One is that we have the resources from the NGO. We spent a lot of time on weekly meeting with our headquarter and writing reports in the early preparation stage, and they paid great attention to our initial operation. In addition, although there are many general counseling services in the market, none of them are specifically for students overseas, which is why we want to do this. This project is not only about psychological counseling but also involves things cross-cultural.

—Mood Psychology

Q2. Are there any tips for the final pitch presentation?

Christine Sui: As for the final pitch, I think it is necessary to listen carefully to what the judges care about, and make preparations on that. If your project is more on the academic side, you can figure out what is in your project that no one else has done before, so you can better promote your project. If your project is an entrepreneurship project as we do, you need to identify your competitors and the outstanding features of your project/what makes your project stand out. You may encounter unexpected questions during the final pitch, and all you have to do is get your minds right.

—Mood Psychology

Q3. What’s your suggestion for future applicants?

Binyan Sun: I think applicants should specify the goals of their projects. As for many projects this year, they actually had very good starting points but lacked a long-term plan. In addition, I would like to thank Professor Ren and Frank for their help. I talked to Professor Ren before about our project, and she showed great interest in it, so we started to set up our team. To obtain more resources, we decided to participate in the Dii recruitment. We also had a conversation with Professor Ren at InLab about how to better use the campus resources. These resources helped us a lot during the Dii preparation process and it is also a key reason that we can have this team built up.

—DKU VEX U

Christine Sui: On the application side, I think you need to think about the positioning of your project. Many students may have a basic idea, but their ideas may only be an idea rather than a complete proposal. Therefore, I think applicants should think about the goal and target audience of their project. It is also a good idea to look for mentors’ help. We actually consulted the teachers at CAPS, and we also talked with Frank before we submitted our final proposal. I think these are all the resources that can be used. For instance, if some students want to do projects on innovation and entrepreneurship, they can also contact other Office for help. Making full use of campus resources can help build up their own ideas.

—Mood Psychology