On the afternoon of November 23, the second roadshow of the international technology series of the Centre -- New Electronic and Optoelectronics Technology Roadshow hosted by the Centre came to a successful conclusion. The event adopted the form of a combination of "on-site + cloud", focusing on the promotion of three applied technology projects from Cambridge University. The relevant leaders of Nanjing Jiangbei New Area attended the event and gave speeches. The roadshow not only invited well-known investment institutions such as Sequoia Capital Seed Fund, SR Capital, Goldtech Venture Capital, Guozhong Venture Capital, and Chengwei Capital to conduct professional reviews, but also invited guests from BOE, CRRC Zhuzhou Institute, Nanzhi Optoelectronics and other related companies to exchange with roadshow representatives to jointly help Cambridge scientific research projects grow better, and achieve achievement transformation as soon as possible.

At the beginning of the roadshow, Chen Chanmei, member of the Party Working Committee and Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Nanjing Jiangbei New Area, delivered a speech. She pointed out that the Cambridge Nanjing Centre is in a strategic position in the deep link between the construction of Nanjing's innovative city and the development of Cambridge University. The electronic and optoelectronic industry focused on this roadshow is an important driving force for the deep integration of China’s informatization and industrialization. She expects that the roadshow will introduce a number of high-quality photovoltaic projects with strong technology and broad prospects to Jiangbei, and promote the construction of the independent innovation pilot zone to a new level.

Daping Chu, Tenured Professor of the University of Cambridge, and CEO & Academic Director of the Centre, thanked guests from all walks of life who participated in this roadshow. He said that the Centre focuses on applied research and achievement industrialization, and actively promotes the landing of Cambridge high-end technologies, talents and projects in Nanjing. "For the three projects of this roadshow, the core technical members are outstanding talents who are or have been engaged in research work at the Optoelectronics Research Centre of Cambridge University. They have a number of technical patents with high gold content, high innovation and broad application prospects. I look forward to all the guests to give more support to the growth of the project," said Professor Chu.

In the early winter, although the wind is very cold, the roadshow is in full swing. Three representatives of the roadshow team presented their respective project to the evaluation panel from the dimensions of industry scale, technical advantages, competitive analysis, business model, financing goals, and development planning. Senior evaluation experts put professional questions and comments on the technological advancement of the project, the evaluation of industrialization prospects, and the feasibility of landing.

The roadshow project "High power density DC converters of 48V power supply systems used for data centres" led by Dr. Long Teng, lecturer at the University of Cambridge and PI of the Centre, aims at the booming data centre industry in the era of new infrastructure, and aims to reduce costs and increase efficiency of data centre power supply systems by developing high-power density, high-efficiency and reliable 48V to 4V DC converters.

The new DC-DC converter topology and its derivative structures adopted by this technology can reduce the size of the converter in the high-voltage transformation ratio scenario, and make it more close to the server processor, thereby effectively reducing transmission power loss. In the future, data centre power systems using 48V DC power supply will reduce energy consumption by more than 7% compared to traditional data centres.

The "Novel Head-up Display Project" from the team of Dr. Deng Yuanbo, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge and a co-PI of the Centre, focuses on improving driving safety and intelligence. The novel head-up display (HUD) technology is a display technology that can project virtual images directly in front of the driver's line of sight. Based on the results of cooperation with CRRC Zhuzhou Research Institute, the team developed the world's first WHUD suitable for rail transit. 

"The project uses new standardized optical devices to achieve ghost-free projection based on ordinary windshields, which can reduce the cost of HUD production and research and development, and is widely applicable to a variety of vehicle models." Dr. Deng concluded, "We aim to enable all users to quickly and cheaply use high-quality AR-HUD."

Based on the current market situation where HUD technology is mainly used for high-end models, Cao Chuanyang, investment director of Nanjing Xin'an Chengyi Equity Investment Fund, paid attention to how the project can achieve breakthroughs in low-end and low-end models. Dr. Deng said that the project is committed to achieving mass production and standardization of HUD technology, and the team's technology is expected to reduce HUD costs by 50%.

In the 5G era, China’s lack of independent development capabilities for silicon-based liquid crystal chips and wavelength selective switch modules is the "stuck neck" problem. The roadshow project " Advanced Spatial Light Modulation LCoS Chip" aims to provide self-developed high-performance silicon-based liquid crystal chips to meet the needs of China’s optical communications. 

Dr. Li Kun, project representative and former senior researcher of the University of Cambridge, introduced that the technical members of the team have more than ten years of application research and development experience in the core optoelectronics field and have successfully developed the world's largest size, highest signal-to-noise ratio, and highest refresh rate silicon-based liquid crystal spatial light modulator, and has established a long-term strategic cooperation relationship with Jasper Display Corp., the world's leading CMOS backplane manufacturer.

Yang Baoning, a partner of Goldtech Venture Capital, asked questions on the project’s early market positioning, product reliability and development planning. Dr. Li Kun responded that the early positioning of the project is "replacement of imported technology and focused on performance improvement." At present, engineering prototypes have been provided to well-known companies such as Huawei and Accelink. In the future, it is planned to gradually reduce costs through performance improvements.

After the roadshow, the section of project matching and negotiation was arranged to build a communication platform for the three parties of the researchers, the intentional investors, and the representatives of the intentional enterprises.

It is the long-term mission of Cambridge Nanjing Centre to efficiently promote the transfer and transformation of international cutting-edge technological achievements to the domestic application market. Focusing on local leading industries, the Centre will normalize project roadshow activities, gather elements from the academic circle, industry, government, and capital, and strive to create a circular ecology that integrates transnational technology development and industrial application.