Ein neues ETH Alumni Chapter sticht in See in Shenzhen, China

Dieser Artikel wurde nicht ins Deutsche übersetzt.

"The value of a social network is proportional to the square of the number of connected members within the system (m²)" - quote inspired by Metcalfe's law in telecommunications.

The Chapter Shenzhen Alumni was officially established in June 2021, for the purpose of serving a growing number of ETH alumni living and working in the Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region in China, especially Shenzhen, which is the innovation hub and window of reform of China. The Chapter Shenzhen aims to grow as an energetic and influential association connecting ETH alumni in South China, providing a high-level platform for communication, collaboration, and innovation.

The ice-breaking event was held on Saturday evening on July 24, 2021, in a garden restaurant of Nanshan District as the first social event of Chapter Shenzhen. Thirty alumni participated in this wonderful event, representing almost half of the current number of alumni in the newly formed affiliate organisation. The first board member team was assembled through this event with three existing founding members and five new members. Now the board is under the leadership of Ms. Claire Zhang, who is the president of Chapter Shenzhen Alumni, which has 8 members in total.

Before kick-off, alumni mingled in a relaxed ambience upon their arrival, happily introducing themselves as most of the alumni did not know each other. The event officially started with the president's speech. Ms. Claire Zhang shared her motivation and experience creating Chapter Shenzhen. Under the support of the ETH Alumni administrative office, together with Dr. Ke Wu and Dr. Hanyu Qin, the founding team submitted the proposal to establish Chapter Shenzhen Alumni and received approval successfully in June 2021. The number of alumni in the Chapter Shenzhen quickly expanded to almost 80 in just a few weeks.

After the speech and introduction of the founding members, the former vice president of Association of Chinese Students and Scholars in Zurich, Dr. Dou Hu, moderated an interesting game to help all participants getting to know each other in a rapid and memorable manner. Everyone was suggested to introduce himself/herself by an impressive and unforgettable short description as a tag. Each alumnus or alumna would need to recall the tags of previous person. If not successfully done, a slight punishment to sing a song would be required. The task was challenging but entertaining. Participants usually used appearance, hobby, hometown, or personality to describe themselves. Laughter, applause and singing punctuated one after another.

After this wonderful ice-breaking game, all participants started to enjoy the main part of the event: dinner and connecting. People chatted in a very dynamic manner since they already knew each other’s background and characteristics thanks to the last section. Particularly, alumni were actively sharing their experience and insights into career development. The thirty participants work or study in various fields ranging from manufacturing, IT, financial services, healthcare, biopharma, academia, sustainable energy, Internet, and so on, sparking brainstorming for potential collaborations. Valuable messages such as local policies and career advice were also shared from the experienced senior alumni to fresh graduates and professional newbies. In addition, several alumni also announced vacancies, providing options for those who were considering new career opportunities.

The event ended with the assembly of the board team. In total, 8 alumni volunteered to serve the Chapter Shenzhen Alumni as board members in the coming year by organising activities such as professional seminars, outdoor activities, and consulting services on a regular basis. All board members are highly motivated to contribute to Chapter Shenzhen and willing to share their professional networks in academia, industry, or financial services.

Well done, Chapter Shenzhen.