From July 20th to 22nd, the 13th Cross-Strait Food Trade Fair and the Fujian-Taiwan (Quanzhou) Food Trade Fair, along with the 2026 Entrepreneurs and Scientists Food Innovation Development Conference, were held at the Jinjiang International Convention and Exhibition Center. As an important participant of this food trade fair, Yang Jiaoding, the director of the Alumni and Fund Affairs Development Center of Tianjin University of Science and Technology, and Cheng Dai, the vice president and dean of the College of Food Science and Engineering, led the college's expert team to Jinjiang for a series of regional cooperation activities. This trip focused on the school's "3510" strategic project, the "Pioneer Plan", and the college's "Struggle Project" strategic deployment. Using the "strengthen network and amplify sound" action as the path, they fully utilized the role of alumni as a link, through visits to the food trade fair, holding science and technology conferences, and in-depth technical exchanges with enterprises, to precisely connect industrial demands and deepen collaborative innovation between industry, academia, and research. They injected the wisdom of Tianjin University into the high-quality development of the regional food industry.

Alumni as mediators, proactive efforts: Going to the front line of the food trade fair to diagnose industrial demands

On the morning of July 20th, under the careful guidance and full accompaniment of local alumni enterprises in Quanzhou, Dean Cheng Dai led the college's expert team to the food trade fair immediately. They actively went deep into the exhibition booths of the participating enterprises to conduct "door-to-door inquiry" type research. The team visited the booths of leading Quanzhou food enterprises such as Ya Ke, Pan Pan, Qipin, and Wax Color Little New, and had face-to-face exchanges with the technical managers of the enterprises, to understand the actual technical bottlenecks and innovation demands of the enterprises in areas such as clean labels and natural substitutes, functional ingredients local substitution, baking anti-aging and shelf life balance, and pre-prepared food and marine food flavor restoration.

Alumni work has always been an important bridge for the school to expand the territory of regional cooperation. This Jinjiang trip not only provided precise industrial information and connection channels for the team of the alma mater, but also demonstrated the vivid practice of the "city + alumni + school" alumni economic model. This is precisely the in-depth advancement of the "strengthen network and amplify sound" action in the southeastern coastal areas - using alumni as a medium to promote the efficient connection of school innovation resources and local industrial demands.

Technology gathering, precise connection: The 2026 Entrepreneurs and Scientists Food Innovation Development Conference was successfully held

On the afternoon of July 20th, as one of the important supporting activities of this food trade fair, the "2026 Entrepreneurs and Scientists Food Innovation Development Conference" was grandly held in the D Hall of Jinjiang International Convention and Exhibition Center. The conference was themed "Entrepreneurs + Scientists, jointly building a future food industry highland", and was jointly hosted by Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Liming Vocational University, Shanghai Ocean University, and the Fujian Food Enterprise Chamber of Commerce.

The conference focused on the common technical bottlenecks of Quanzhou's food industry development, setting up three technical special topics: traditional food industrialization and flavor retention, functional ingredients and nutritional enhancement application, and green preservation and shelf life extension. Based on the in-depth collection of technical needs of Quanzhou food enterprises in the early stage, the Tianjin University of Science and Technology expert team presented the latest scientific research results.

As a concentrated manifestation of the "struggle project" in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, the conference site witnessed the on-site signing of cooperation agreements by three enterprises, Ya Ke Food, Jiujiu Wang Food, and Yihui Food, to jointly promote a batch of innovative achievements from "laboratory" to "production line". These series of signatories marked a substantive step forward for both the school and the local area in technical joint research and the transfer and transformation of achievements.

The conference also specially set up a "Food Industry Talent Dual Selection Conference", focusing on the issue of talent support in the high-quality development of the food industry, and conducting exchanges and sharing on the "return of Fujian alumni and local industrial development collaboration" of Tianjin University of Science and Technology. The representative from the Food Science College presented the employment trends and development of graduates in recent years. Outstanding alumni shared their growth experiences of returning to work in the food industry in Fujian. Current graduate students from Fujian province expressed their employment intentions. The representatives of the participating enterprises interacted deeply with the students, laying the foundation for subsequent precise matching and internship-employment cooperation.

Entering enterprises and deepening collaboration: Visits and investigations promote the implementation and effectiveness of cooperation

Before and after the conference, President Cheng led the team to conduct multi-level enterprise visits and on-site research activities. The team visited enterprises such as Ya Ke Food, Kaisan Xiaoxin Group, and Abuo Food Co., Ltd., and went deep into the production workshops and R&D frontlines to understand the actual needs and future plans of the enterprises in terms of food processing process optimization, product innovation and research, quality control management, etc. Both sides conducted in-depth exchanges on topics such as the establishment of joint laboratories, cooperation in technical research projects, and joint talent training, and reached preliminary consensus.

President Cheng stated during the visits that the College of Food Science and Engineering will, in accordance with the established goal of the "Striving Project", based on the application-oriented positioning of the food discipline, start from the technical needs of enterprises, accumulate trust through precise services, build core technologies, and continuously enhance industry influence and project competitiveness. The college will continue to deepen all-round cooperation with Quanzhou food enterprises and promote more innovative achievements to move from the "laboratory" to the "production line".

This series of activities in Jinjiang is another successful practice of Tianjin University of Science and Technology's College of Food Science and Engineering, guided by the "3510" strategic project and the "Pioneer Plan", led by the "Striving Project", and based on the "Strengthening Network and Amplifying Voice" initiative. It deepens the cooperation between the university and the local area and promotes the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. In the future, the college will continue to expand the breadth and depth of the "Pioneer Ecosystem", promote the deep integration of innovation vitality and human resources into local industrial development, and continuously contribute the wisdom and strength of Tianjin University to the upgrading of the food industry and the high-quality development of regional economy.