We are looking forward to our inaugural Asia Graduation

The University of Essex is looking forward to hosting its inaugural Asia Graduation ceremony in Beijing next week to celebrate the achievements of nearly 200 recent graduates from across China and East Asia.

At the ceremony, on Saturday 23 February, Mobike co-founder and Essex alumnus Xia Yiping will be awarded an Honorary Degree to mark his entrepreneurial vision in addressing one of the main global modern challenges of urban mobility. Mobike is one of the world’s first and largest smart bike-sharing services and currently operates in more than 200 cities across the globe.

Essex will also honour a second graduate Dr Ruijiao Li, with the award of Alumnus of the Year. In 2017 Dr Li founded the company AMY Robotics after graduating from Essex with a Masters in Computer Science in Robotics. AMY Robotics, which specialises in service robot customisation, was listed as one of “China's Top 10 Most Potential Companies for Commercial Robots" and has gone on to become a world-leading and award-winning company with a network of international branches in the USA.

Ruijiao said: “I am so excited and thankful to receive this honour of Alumnus of Year and I would like to express my full gratitude to my university. The three years I studied and carried out research at the University of Essex was a great experience in my life and it continually supports my work and career.

“Supervised by a world-class robotics expert, Professor Huosheng Hu, I had the opportunity to work with a group of excellent colleagues in several robotics projects and attend events in robotics worldwide.”

University of Essex Vice-Chancellor Professor Anthony Forster said: “We are delighted to be able to honour two Essex alumni at our inaugural Asia Graduation ceremony. This is recognition of their huge impact on areas of global importance. We pride ourselves at Essex in fostering creativity and encouraging entrepreneurship. Yiping and Ruijiao are true ambassadors of this Essex Spirit, highlighting the value of an Essex degree.

“We hope their example will inspire our Essex graduates now and in the future. We look forward to continuing to support all those who attend our first Asia Graduation in their careers in China and across the globe. We hope many of them will become the next generation of inspirational entrepreneurs set to transform our world.”

Essex is also using the visit to continue to grow and strengthen links with its Chinese partners. In 2017 Essex signed an education and research partnership agreement with Northwest University in Xi’an that includes a joint four-year programme in Electronic Systems Engineering and Electronic Information Science and Technology. Taught in both English and Mandarin, there are currently over 100 students enrolled on this new partnership programme.

Whilst in China, Professor Forster and members of the University’s senior team will be visiting several other education establishments including the University of Science and Technology in Beijing and the Beijing Institute of Technology, to further develop education and research links.