April 25 marks the 104th anniversary of Tsinghua University. More than 200 representatives from nearly 60 colleges and universities and a dozen or so companies and institutions across the country gathered at the western lecture hall of Tsinghua University, where they jointly witnessed the launching ceremony of the Makers Education Base Alliance.
Members of the Alliance signing on the board.
The founding ceremony was hosted by Professor LI Shuangshou, director of i.Center (the Fundamental Industry Training Center) of Tsinghua University. Firstly, ZHENG Li, Director of Academic Affairs Division, Tsinghua University, gave an opening speech followed by his congratulation on the official launch of the Alliance and expressed high expectations for its future development. Later, ZHANG Xiaohui, Director of Engineering Training Center of Xi’an University of Technology, introduced, as a representative of colleges and universities, the draft of Constitution of the Alliance. SHUAI Tianlong, a well-known legal expert explained to the delegates the legal basis behind the establishment of the Alliance. Afterwards, Professor GU Xueyong from the Department of Industrial Engineering of Tsinghua University described the various rights and entitlements granted for being part of the Alliance as DAO-distributed autonomous organizations in this information technology dominant era and proposed to establish the alliance, which received strong support from each and every member representative.
Professor LI Shuangshou, Director of the Fundamental Industrial Training Center of Tsinghua University, hosting the Launching Ceremony and the Forum.
GAO Dongfeng, Deputy Director of the Laboratory Division of the Higher Education Department under the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, delivered a speech, congratulating on the establishment of the Alliance. He hoped that under the framework of the Alliance, all members can take advantages of their respective Maker Education Base and build a sound ecosystem characterized by creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, bringing China’s innovation and entrepreneurship education to new heights. Subsequently, representatives from five colleges and universities, on behalf of North China, Central China, East China and Southwest China, jointly unveiled the Alliance. After over five months of preparation, the Maker Education Base Alliance was launched officially.
Representatives Unveiling the Alliance.
The word “Maker”, having found its way into the Government Work Report, has caught the attention of the general public. In alignment with the national education strategy of creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship oriented education, the i.Center Fundamental Industry Training Center of Tsinghua University, jointly with more than 50 colleges and universities and over 10 enterprises, launched the Maker Education Base Alliance. At the same time, the high-end forum for the construction of a Maker Education Ecosystem was held at the western lecture hall of Tsinghua University. The Forum, themed “facilitating the Construction of the Maker Education Ecosystem”, was attended by well-known individuals in the Makers community, experts on innovation-oriented education and Maker organizations.
Speech by SUN Hongbin, Deputy Director of Academic Affairs Division, Tsinghua University
The idea of establishing the Maker Education Base Alliance was neither impulsive nor fanciful. At the end of last year, Tsinghua University initiated a discussion participated by 60 representatives from nearly 40 institutions, organizations and agencies across the globe as they gathered in Beijing to explore how to make practical education innovative universities. Practical education in the new era faces both challenges and opportunities in the midst of rapid technological development, and thus, traditional concepts of practical education should be overhauled. The introduction of the Maker campaign and the Maker concept into practical education at colleges and universities is a new breakthrough, which has allowed students to get close to the Maker Culture and to work with top-quality makers both at home and abroad in R&D of original products. This was how the idea was initiated to launch the Maker Education Base Alliance.
After over five months of preparation, the “Maker Education Base Alliance” was officially established on April 25. The Maker Education Base Alliance, under the guidance of the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Education Alliance of Colleges and Universities in China, is a non-profit, open access, service-oriented, research-oriented, international cooperation oriented organization launched voluntarily by educational institutions, enterprises and Maker organizations committed to the construction and development of Maker bases, the research and practice of Maker education and the promotion and enhancement of Maker activities. The Alliance called for individuals and organizations to be part of it, to provide support to the Alliance in the areas of Maker Education, Seed Fund Incubation, Maker Technology and so on.
“The Maker Education Base Alliance” will, following the trend of global economy, social development and human progress, by adhering to the motto of “mass entrepreneurship and innovation”, pool resources domestically and internationally in Maker Bases, Maker Education and Maker Practices and will, through information sharing, resource sharing, exchange of views, research consultation and coordination of activities, explore and study models of Maker Bases, facilitate and promote activities of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, enrich and expand the field for Maker practice and promote the development and sustainability of the International Maker Ecosystem.
SHUAI Tianlong’s explanation of the Alliance Constitution from a legal perspective.
The interaction of members in the Maker Education Base Alliance is and foremost about the building of a sharing mechanism that facilitates and safeguards the exchange of information among members in related fields. Meanwhile, hardware and software resources such as Maker Education resource, software tools, computing power, manufacturing equipment, testing instruments and human resources represented by “campus-based Makers” and “Maker Instructors”, are made to be sharable. Off-line exchange activities are actively carried out through personnel assignments, exchanges and seminars, training guidance, school-enterprise cooperation, project innovation, collections and releases of industrial project requirements for innovation, publicity and showcase of achievements in technical innovation and applications, competitions in over creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship and so on in order to support members with the construction of Maker Education Base Alliance. The purpose is to target common issues in relation to Maker Base, Maker Education and Maker Practice as well as specific issues encountered by members during development, coordinate members to carry out academic and application research on special topics, provide relevant organizations and individuals with consulting services in Maker Base, Maker Education and Maker Practice, actively promote Maker Education models, open up new field for Maker practice and support the development of Maker Base, Maker Education and Maker Practice. The “Maker Education Base Alliance” is a service-oriented organization capable of truly pooling together resources from colleges and universities across the country as well as integrating creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.
April 25th is not only the day when the Maker Education Base Alliance was established but also the day when the high-end Forum for the Construction of Maker Education Ecosystem was hosted. The Fundamental Industry Training Center (i.Center of Tsinghua University ), due to its responsibilities for promoting education reform and boosting social progress and educational expansion, jointed members of the Alliance and people from all walks of life to explore the “promotion of the construction of a Maker Education Ecosystem”. The main topics of the Forum included the active role of Maker Culture in shaping the future academic culture and in promoting education practice, resources pooling both on-campus and off-campus, domestically and internationally, in Maker Education and Maker Practice, resource sharing among members, the impact of Maker Education System and Internet Plus on the effectiveness of engineering-practice education and the development of an “International Maker Ecosystem” characterized by sustainable growth and integration of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.
