In its first year, the University of Wisconsin–Madison Shanghai Innovation Office (SIO) has hosted high-level delegations, coordinated conferences that have brought together Wisconsin and Chinese experts from academia as well as from the public and private sectors, and facilitated collaborative agreements. As UW–Madison moves to further strengthen connections in China, faculty and staff across campus are being encouraged to pursue new ideas for engagement through the university’s first overseas outpost.

“This office is meant to serve the entire campus community,” says W. John Kao, associate dean in UW–Madison’s Division of International Studies, who oversees the SIO.  “We have had a dynamic first year, highlighted by two major conferences and an agreement to offer professional training in dairy science.  We invite faculty, students and staff from across disciplines to let us help put their innovative ideas into action.”

Building on its long history of partnerships in China, UW–Madison opened the office in the Zizhu High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, a research park in Shanghai, in partnership with Shanghai’s Minhang District and University Research Park. Interim Chancellor David Ward joined with Minhang District leaders to formally inaugurate the SIO in June 2012.