Recently, the Ingenuity Lab Summer Bootcamp jointly organised by the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) and the University of Nottingham Malaysia was successfully held. This bootcamp was designed in two stages: Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Robotics. It was specially organised for outstanding students who excelled in the Nexus for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NIE) and Plug-in programs of the Ingenuity Lab.
The bootcamp aims to create a diverse and practical learning platform for students to broaden their horizons and open up unlimited possibilities in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship. Before it, Professor Kok Wei Khong, Dean of Nottingham University Business School China, expressed his expectations for this summer camp, holding hopes that students can creatively collide to create sparks of insight and nurture new ideas. Subsequently, Ms Bing Wu, an alumnus of the Business School and Executive Director of Ningbo Xiecheng Group, shared her entrepreneurial and educational experience. As one of the first cohort of students at UNNC, she was deeply moved by the tremendous changes in the university over the past 20 years and thanked her alma mater for giving her the courage to keep moving forward.
The instructors for the first stage of the course were Dr Mike James Mustafa, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Management at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, and Mr Timothy Sean Haslett, Founding Executive Director of Entrega Solutions Sdn Bhd. They as mentors provided the students with a full process demonstration and guidance on entrepreneurial projects. From divergent thinking and personalised awareness, to the factors that form effective teams, and the analysis and problem-solving approaches of target audiences, the two mentors systematically guided each group of students to gradually complete the conception and implementation of their entrepreneurial ideas.
Throughout the process, the students learned how to stimulate creativity through brainstorming, how to combine personalised needs to find innovative points and how to understand the important characteristics of an efficient team. The instructors also taught market research methods to help students analyse the needs and preferences of the target audience, and then find targeted solutions.
The second stage of learning was led by Dr Luke Younghoon Chang, Associate Professor in Marketing and Analytics at the Business School, and Dr David Chieng, Associate Professor in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, who helped the students contemplate and explore how to use robotics technology to promote efficiency improvements in various industries. They studied the practical needs of different fields, and analysed the potential applications and advantages of robotics technology in these areas.
Dr Chang explained to the students how to apply robotics technology to different business scenarios through market analysis and marketing strategies. He helped the students understand market demand, and how to use robots to solve practical problems and develop effective promotion strategies.
Dr Chieng started from a technical perspective, and taught the basic principles and operational skills of robot systems. Under the guidance of teaching assistants, the students interacted and communicated with robots, and used the robots to assist in the preliminary preparation work of entrepreneurial projects, experiencing the complete process from theory to practice.
The success of this bootcamp not only provides students with a valuable platform that integrates learning and practice, but also effectively promotes deep communication and cooperation between the UNNC and the University of Nottingham Malaysia, laying a solid foundation for more innovative and influential activities in the future.