Mexican university sets up tech exchange center in Hangzhou

HANGZHOU - A top Mexican university on Monday set up a national technology exchange center in East China's Hangzhou to turn its technological research into reality.

Starting from this year, the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) will send 500 researchers and students annually to Hangzhou to studying biomedicine, mechanical engineering, and food engineering, as well as finding commercial applications for their research.

At the center's opening ceremony on Monday, Chinese investors funded more than 10 projects at a roadshow put on by the institute.

"We expect to raise $2.5 million in Hangzhou and break into the global market from China," said Ceasar Bustos, head of one of the projects that makes wearables to help detect cardiac emergencies.

"It's easier to find capital and technology in Hangzhou to commercialize our projects," said Alfonso Araujo, director of the center, adding that the city's primary industries, internet and medical technology, are in line with much of the research.

ITESM is a leading private university in Latin America with 90,000 students across 26 campuses in 20 Mexican cities. More than 25 percent of graduating students start their own businesses three years after completing their studies and 22 percent of the CEOs of Mexico's top 500 firms have graduated from the school, according to ITESM data.