UNSW CTET's First Virtual Board Meeting in the Age of COVID-19

On 26 May, affected by the pandemic travel ban, the fourth board meeting of CTET was formally conducted by video conference. Professor David Waite, Chairman of CTET, chaired this meeting. Mr Warwick Dawson, Director of Knowledge Exchange, UNSW Sydney, Mr Zhiliang Pei, Deputy Secretary of ES&TP management committee, Mr Shaoqing Qin, Director of Science and Technology Bureau of ES&TP Management Committee, Dr Yuan Wang, General Manager of CTET, Dr Chao Ji, Deputy General Manager of CTET, attended the meeting.

Professor Waite thanked ES&TP for its continuous strong support of CTET’s development, and reviewed the action items from the last meeting. Professor Waite emphasized the important role of CTET in overcoming political barriers with strong connections through collaboration in research and education leading to better understanding. 

Dr Chao Ji gave a comprehensive report to the board from the perspectives of talent gathering, project collaboration, platform establishment, etc. Dr Ji indicated that CTET has secured more than RMB 10 million in funding from partners including China Coal Technology & Engineering Group, Jiangsu Academy of Environmental Science, Suez Shanghai, Institute of Advanced Technology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou in support of research activities at UNSW Sydney and in China.

ES&TP was complimentary of the achievements made by CTET so far and approved the funding release for the year of 2020. The Board provided constructive suggestions and recommendations to CTET and discussed the implementation plan in detail with special attention to finance risk control, international patent applications and pilot zone construction.

As the representative from the UNSW Division of Enterprise, Mr Warwick Dawson raised his concern with respect to the attendance at exhibitions and conferences and questioned whether the outcomes justified the expense involved. The Board of Directors suggested that CTET select influential and targeted marketing events for promotion and consider new digital tools for marketing, promotion and business matching activities.

Additionally, considering the adverse impact of the travel ban on international students’ education programs, the Board discussed how to assist Chinese students using CTET resources. ES&TP indicated their support for CTET facilitating UNSW’s educational programs using all current available resources. Further discussion of this issue will be undertaken following internal discussion at UNSW.

Professor Waite summarised the meeting results and summarised the actions arising from the Board meeting.  It is hoped that the Board can meet in Sydney or Yixing after the pandemic later this year.