On Novemember 27, Prof. Wu Zhiqiang, Vice President of Tongji University met with Mr. Jukka Mäkelä, Mayor of Espoo and the delegation at Sino-Finnish Centre. Opening ceremony of ISeeLife! Lab was held on the same day. Mr. Jukka Mäkelä, Mr. Wei Ruixing, Vice Director of Foreign Affairs of Shanghai Municipal Government, President Wu Zhiqiang attended the opening ceremony.

ISeeLife! Lab is directed by Prof. Matti Hämäläinen from DIGILE, which aims at studying and understanding the real everyday life needs of elderly, and their over time changing and situational nature, and based on that proposing, the lab will develop and test solutions, co-create with the elderly. The aim is to target in particular home based services, both in cities and in rural areas where the access to services is limited and may be moderated partly by appropriate use of technology.

Prof. Lou Yongqi, Dean of Design and Innovation College, Executive Vice Director of Sino-Finnish Centre introduced the role SFC played in Sino-Finnish cooperation. He interpreted Sino-Finnish cooperation as Startup for Future.

Prof. Jarmo Suominen, Executive Vice Director of Sino-Finnish Centre introduced Tongji Lounge, which is an international cooperation platform of Tongji University just established in Aalto University.

Prof. Wu Zhiqiang, Vice President of Tongji University, Chief Planner of Shanghai Expo took a look back at the Finland Pavilion. It showed Finnish culture and innovation to people all over the world in 2010. Sino-Finnish Centre was built in the same year, and it will continue promoting Finnish culture in China. At the same time he also put emphasis on the importance of innovation, expressing his wish for Sino-Finnish cooperation in innovation aera.

Mayor Jukka Mäkelä reaffirmed the friendship between Shanghai and Espoo, and the Sino-Finnish cooperation will be the important foundation of ISeeLife! Lab. He also expressed his strong support to the construction of Tongji(shanghai) – Aalto (Espoo) – Stanford (Palo Alto) “University-City” international innovation knowledge circle.

In the end, Mayor Jukka Mäkelä, Mr. Wei Ruixing, Prof. Wu Zhiqiang unveiled for ISeeLife! Lab together with Prof. Matti Hämäläinen.

After the opening ceremony, Mr Jukka Mäkelä exchanged gift with Prof. Wu Zhiqiang.