Hangzhou Dianzi University is emerging as a leader in aligning education with industry needs through bold reforms in talent cultivation.

In 2022, HDU teamed up with Hikvision to launch a course that emphasizes adaptability and skills-based application. "This is a true partnership," said Lian Hongshuang, head of campus recruitment at Hikvision. "We integrated real industrial demands, project cases, and equipment into the course and aligned it with HDU's teaching strengths. It's all about shortening the transition from school to work, and producing the exact kind of talent we need."

Enterprise experts teach the course, covering critical areas such as computer systems, Linux, embedded systems, and computer vision. Students work on hands-on projects modeled on actual R&D scenarios. "I gained both theory and real-world experience," said Huang Xiansheng, a graduate of the course who now works at Hikvision.

In just three years, the program has enrolled 148 students, with top performers gaining internship and employment opportunities. Over the past four years, 331 HDU graduates from electronic information-related majors have joined Hikvision, many becoming key technical contributors in AI, big data, and software-hardware integration.

This transformation is part of a broader initiative by the Zhejiang Provincial Government, which has prioritized employment growth as one of its top ten public welfare goals for four consecutive years.

"In the past, we had to chase companies to find placements for our students. Now, employers come to us, looking to co-design talent pipelines," said Lin Fei, director of academic affairs at HDU. Her office regularly fields calls from companies eager to collaborate.

Zhejiang's employment-focused policies, combined with HDU's forward-looking educational practices, are setting a benchmark for how universities and industries can jointly drive high-quality, innovation-led growth.