The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is a research university in Hong Kong's Clear Water Bay peninsula, known for its strength in engineering and technology entrepreneurship. It has served as an academic base for founders tied to multiple Chinese VC-backed startups: Tony, co-founder of data startup Ququ (acquired after 11 years at HKUST from 2003–2014) ; Lu Ziheng, founder of AI-for-Science company Kaiwu Ji, who did his PhD there in solid-electrolyte computational simulation ; and robotics professor Li Zexiang, whom 暗涌Waves profiled as an engineering professor with a "sweet spot" for bridging academia and Shenzhen's industrial ecosystem in the late 1990s . HKUST also appears as a founding council member of the Global Tech Industry Alliance alongside Yunqi Capital, IDG Capital, and Alibaba Entrepreneur Fund, established at the 2023 Xiaomanyao Tech Conference .