Xu Ke, a student of the Lenovo Star class at the Lenovo Institute and Suzhou Nano Institute, was recently awarded the 2010 China Association for Science and Technology (CASE) Outstanding Youth Achievement Transformation Award.
    In the afternoon of November 1, People's Daily Online interviewed Xu Ke, who talked about his feelings about the award and his experience and thoughts on the interface between industry, academia and research in China. The following is the report from People's Daily Online.

Xu Ke of Nano Institute: I didn't expect to win the award for being a company

On November 1, 2010, the award ceremony of the 2010 China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) Outstanding Youth Achievement Transformation Award was held at the 12th CAST Annual Conference. Liao Feng, Wang Qingmin, Wang Donglin, Xu Ke and Zhao Yugang were awarded. Xu Ke was interviewed by People's Daily in the afternoon of the 1st, talking about his feelings about the award and his experience and thoughts on the interface between industry, academia and research in China.

"When I was called the other day and told that the Achievement Transformation Award would be given to me, I was honestly surprised." Xu Ke smiled as he answered a reporter's question about why he won the award.

Xu Ke now works at the Institute of Nano Studies of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. When the Institute was first established, President Lu Yongxiang expressed his hope that they would do more work on applied basic research and the translation of results. "We worked together for a long time, and later reached a consensus that we should do scientific research in the same way as we do business." Xu Ke and his colleagues set up Suzhou Navi Technology Co. Thus, Xu Ke gradually lifted his head from scientific research and started the road of business operation.
   Xu Ke has been working on gallium nitride material growth research for 15 years, and his wish is to take this research achievement one step further. At this stage they have solved a series of key technical problems and the product has been developed, "but it has not yet been produced on a large scale, so I feel a bit ashamed that this award is given to me this year." Xu Ke said modestly, "But on the other hand, it is a kind of encouragement and recognition for our team (the Outstanding Youth Achievement Transformation Award).
Two reasons for the poor translation of scientific and technological achievements

Xu Ke believes that the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, especially in the field of high technology, is facing two problems: on the one hand, although key technical problems can be broken through, it is difficult to form "large-scale, guaranteed, market share" products, the reason for which is the most prominent talent problem. The reason for this is that there is a shortage of talents between research institutes and enterprises, who are familiar with engineering and can produce high-tech products on a large scale. On the other hand, the concept problem is still one of the factors that hinder the development of enterprises. According to Xu Ke, scientists and entrepreneurs think differently - scientists are mainly technology-driven, pursuing technology leadership and often ignoring the laws of the market, while entrepreneurs are measured by profits. So in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, it is more difficult for scientists and entrepreneurs to communicate, and even more difficult to form a tacit relationship of mutual trust. "If one day the gap in thinking (between researchers and entrepreneurs) can be bridged, then the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in China will be more fluid."
Entrepreneurs with a scientist's mind and a strategic vision

In response to a reporter's question about how to position himself, Xu Ke smiled, "I've been thinking about this too, about what kind of person I really am. Now I hope I am an entrepreneur with a scientist's mind and a strategic vision." Talking about his hopes for his business, he says that his business doesn't have to have a large market size, but it must have a core of high technology. And this technology is not just owned by him, but can influence a very large industry and really radiate out to form a high-tech industrial cluster, "The most important quality for an entrepreneur is to be broad-minded and visionary."