Recently
Forbes China released the 30Under30 list
The list is open to people under the age of 30 who are
who have made a name for themselves in the industry
or show potential to become the future leaders of the industry
and society in the future
Founder and Chairman of SEEEEX Technology
Dong Zhen, who graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s and master’s degree
was listed in the ‘Industrial Manufacturing, Enterprise Technology & Retail’ category
He is also the only entrepreneur in the hydrogen energy field to make the list.
Dong Zhen has been working on power electronics
control and optimisation of new energy systems
He is the author of more than 100 international journal and conference papers and patents.
Gold Medal in the National Postdoctoral Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition
Gold Award of China International Student Innovation Competition
Top Ten Young Talents (Innovation and Entrepreneurship) in Jiangsu Province, etc.
Listen to Dong Zhen’s story of innovation and entrepreneurship.
After 6 years at HIT, he found something worth pursuing for the rest of his life
In the summer of 2012
At the age of 18, Dong Zhen, with excellent results in the college entrance examination
Accepted into the Electrical Engineering and Automation programme at Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT)
He was also selected for the undergraduate programme at the College of Excellence.
Thanks to the new talent cultivation model
He finds pleasure in free exploration
Strives to become a better self
He is the deputy secretary of the Youth League Committee of the College of Excellence
and the president of the student union
Has helped him to improve his ability
In his opinion
Harbin Institute of Technology’s motto of ‘Strict Standards, High Effort’
has left a deep mark on the growth of students.
Graduates trained by Harbin Engineering University
are solidly grounded and technically proficient
They are praised for their practicality and reliability.
At the same time, the university pays special attention to cultivating students’ innovation ability
In the context of accelerating the development of new productivity
Students trained by Harbin University of Technology
In the establishment of science and technology-based enterprises
They have more advantages and can go farther
During their undergraduate studies
With outstanding students from Chinese universities
During his undergraduate study, Dong Zhen went to Brazil to participate in a summer exchange programme
Made Dong Zhen see his own shortcomings
And also strengthened his idea of going out to see the world
After graduating from undergraduate school
He chose to continue his postgraduate studies in this university
During his graduate studies
Under the guidance of his supervisor Professor Yu Yong
he chose high performance drive and control technology for high speed and ultra high speed motors as his research direction
as his research direction and achieved a series of innovative results
The relevant achievements have been recognised by experts at home and abroad
During the summer, he went to Lille University in France
and received a full PhD scholarship from the University of Manchester, UK
full PhD scholarship from the University of Manchester, UK
During his last year of study at Harbin Institute of Technology
he was writing his thesis
while doing all the preparations for going abroad.
He describes that time as
‘an intensive time of life training.’
In the acknowledgement of his master’s thesis.
He thanked his alma mater for the training and teaching of his teachers.
He thanked everyone he met during his study at Harbin Institute of Technology.
and wrote in the acknowledgements:
‘I am glad that I found something worth pursuing in my life when I was still young
I found something worth pursuing in my life
I will continue to practice my love for the person I met more than ten years ago
I’ll always keep my promise to that kid who loved to stand on the viaduct and fantasise.
I’ll spend my life telling the story
He used to look at the other side of the road.
What the world looks like outside.’
From studying for a doctorate to returning to China to start his own business, he saw a blue ocean.
During his doctoral studies in the UK
Dong Zhen learnt from international adaptive control expert
Ding Zhengtao, Chief Professor at the University of Manchester
Research on the control and optimisation of complex new energy systems
He completed his doctoral research in only two years
After obtaining his PhD
Zhen Dong was offered a research fellowship at the University of Warwick, UK
Leading a research team around fuel cell systems
Achieved a series of innovative results
So far
He has published more than 40 papers
Including nearly 30 SCI papers
Related results
have been applied to many wind power and hydrogen energy projects
Talking about the benefits of studying abroad, he said
From solving specific engineering problems
to solving systematic engineering problems
The second is to think seriously about personal future development
How to better realise
interface between scientific problems and engineering practice
While studying in the UK
He is always concerned about
China’s strategy and prospects for the development of new energy
Looking forward to the day
The results of his research will be translated into China
In 2020
Dong Zhen, a doctoral student, applied for the
‘Chunhui Cup China Overseas Educated Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition
The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology
The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology organised the competition and set up a matchmaking platform for the winning projects.
He learnt about the entrepreneurial atmosphere in China through the competition
He also saw the bright future of the new energy industry
‘Hydrogen energy’s rigid demand for advanced integrated power electronic system
Rigid demand for advanced integrated power electronics systems for hydrogen energy meets all my expectations for
to validate my years of research results.
For me, entrepreneurship is never a career choice
but a way to realise my dream.’
June 2021
Dong Zhen, as the founder and chairman
Established Trace Technology Co.
From the first day of the company’s establishment, it was positioned as
New energy system integrated electronic control around hydrogen energy
and scene comprehensive solution provider
Talking about the origin of the name ‘Trace and Harness’, Dong Zhen gave the following words
Dong Zhen gave the answer of ‘to go upstream and see the future’.
He hopes to lead the team to explore the origin and rise to the challenges
Lead the industry change with the best solution
The team is also known by the name ‘SEEx’
（‘Sustainable Electrified Energy Expert’.)
The company is committed to building
Sustainable Electrified Energy Expert
The path of entrepreneurship, from ‘experience twists and turns’ to ‘bright prospects’
Although the new energy industry is booming in China
But the entrepreneurial road of Dong Zhen and his team
At the beginning there are also twists and turns
SEEEEX technology core team members
Most of the core team members come from
Domestic and foreign first-class universities and top 500 enterprises
Being young and energetic is an advantage
It also means that we need to look for
potential investors with more vigour
‘As a manager and leader of a team
Whether in good times or bad
I have to always trust my own judgement and choices
‘and give my team confidence.’
After more than two years of efforts
The company obtained several rounds of financing, valuation of hundreds of millions of yuan
The size of the company has steadily expanded to 70 people
The prospects of the team and the project are favoured by many parties
Selected as a key project of the national level stay and create support programme
Top Ten Innovative and Entrepreneurial Young Talent Projects in Jiangsu Province
Suzhou Gusu Entrepreneurial Leadership Programme
Wujiang Entrepreneurial Leadership Talent Project (the only key project)
As the technology leader
Dong Zhen proposed and realised for the first time
Integrated domain-controlled electronic and electrical architecture in the field of hydrogen fuel cells
Led the team to build the first domestic
integrated hardware and software programmable fuel cell
controller development architecture and its tool chain
and successfully carried out the conversion on the ground
Academicians and experts highly appraised
‘Leading technology level in the industry
Filling the gaps in domestic technology’
‘An important technological breakthrough
An important technological breakthrough’
The company’s products
‘Intelligent hydrogen-powered drone under safety control’
As one of the representative projects of China Invention Association
Won the Gold Award of the 3rd Asia International Innovation and Invention Exhibition
(The only one in mainland China)
‘Hydrogen-Lithium Hybrid System Integrated Electric Control’ project
Won the gold medal of the 2023 National Postdoctoral Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition
and Gold Award of China International Student Innovation Competition, etc.
Currently
The company relies on a standard integrated hardware and software electronic control platform
and user-programmable software ecology
has formed two series of air-cooled and water-cooled
Hydrogen-Lithium hybrid system products
Covering a range of power levels from 100 watts to megawatts
to meet the needs of hydrogen energy storage, emergency power supply, electric ship
light and heavy vehicles, large capacity and long endurance vehicles
and other scenarios
Looking ahead, Dong Zhen said
Succeeding technology will take high-quality electronic control technology as the core to help
Helping the scale application of hydrogen energy
Continuously promote the electrification of new energy
So that human society can enjoy
The green life brought by zero-carbon hydrogen energy
Coding丨Shang Yan Kai
Picture 丨supplied by the interviewee
Editing & Typesetting 丨Shang Yan Kai
Responsible for editing 丨Liang Yingshuang
Reviewed by Song Ling Li Shoubin
Reprinted from Harbin Institute of Technology
