The 2nd Cohort of the IDE Students Start Their Journey in the Welcome Ceremony

On Friday, 16 September 2022, the second cohort of the IDE students attended the 2022 welcome ceremony in Qixin Auditorium, Ningbo Innovation Center, Zhejiang University (ZJUNB) with other newly enrolled master’s students.

Dr. Taffere Tesfachew, Acting Managing Director of the UN Technology Bank gave his remarks

Dr. Taffere Tesfachew, Acting Managing Director of the United Nations Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries, expressed a warm welcome to IDE students in his remarks. He encouraged IDE students to make the most of their time in the IDE Program, in particular not just learn from ZJU’s outstanding faculty members but also learn from their peers – who come from all corners of the world bringing with them diverse knowledge and educational backgrounds, to acquire interdisciplinary design skills in the digital world. He further invited all IDE students to keep in touch with UN Technology Bank’s initiatives and share their stories in their learning journey as they enhance their industrial design skills and competitiveness. 

Prof. HAN Gaorong, Deputy Leader of ZJUNB construction work leading group, Director of ZJUNB gave his remark

In his welcome speech, Prof. HAN Gaorong, Deputy Leader of ZJUNB construction work leading group, Director of ZJUNB also pointed out that, students are shouldering new missions in this flourishing and fast-changing era. He encouraged students to be innovative and diligent, and to achieve their greatest potential.

Safin Rahman, an IDE student and the international student representative gave his speech

Safin Rahman from Bangladesh, an IDE student who served as the international student representative also gave a speech. He mentioned that entering a master’s study is a brand-new start and it constantly tests a student’s ability to dream, to think, to create, to act and to be self-disciplined. The upcoming research life requires everyone to aim high, dare to dream, and embrace new challenges.  

The International Design Education (IDE) Program was jointly organized by the United Nations Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries (UNTB), World Eco-Design Conference (WEDC) and the International School of Design, Ningbo Innovation Center, Zhejiang University (ZJU-ISD) since 2021. The Program is dedicated to providing industrial design engineering education for students from least developed countries (LDCs) to enhance LDCs’ capacity and competitiveness in industrial design. A total of 32 outstanding students from 14 LDCs were awarded scholarships in 2022. To know more about the IDE program, please visit the program page here.