Graduates | 岑致诺：逐梦广以，上限无限
流年似水，岁月如歌。今年六月，广东以色列理工学院即将迎来首届毕业生。广以2017级本科毕业生系列采访将带大家一同聆听这四年来学生们与广以的故事，共同见证广以学子们的成长。
今天分享的是化学工程专业毕业生岑致诺的故事。
姓名：岑致诺
毕业高中：中山市第一中学
本科专业：化学工程
高考填报志愿的时候，为了离心中的“创业梦”更近一些，岑致诺原本打算报读商科相关的专业。然而，父亲的一番话点醒了他——“我觉得你想要创业，应该在本科期间先学一些实际的技术类的知识，而不是直接读商科、管理这样一些比较‘虚’的专业。”后来，岑致诺了解到广以这所理工科院校同时以创新创业教育为特色。“犹太文化孕育了世界各地无数的商业巨头，潮汕地区也产生了无数国产商业牛人，广以这所学校恰好融合了这两种文化，还能让我学到扎实的理工科知识，这对我这个怀有创业梦的年轻人来说太诱惑了！”于是，岑致诺放弃了国内的“211高校”，选择来到广以攻读化学工程专业。
颠覆认知，教学相长
在广以四年的学习让岑致诺对化工专业产生很多新的理解。“来广以之前，我没有机会接触到那么细分的专业方向。一开始我对理科的认识就是不断研究学术、不断算数、不断实验，是非常枯燥乏味的。但是，通过学习我才发现理科和工科很不一样。工科更偏向将已有技术转化为应用，让学术更加贴近生活。所以化工专业不会要求我们一开始就钻研很深奥的有机、无机化学机理，而是从学习物理、有机化学、分析化学、流体力学等基础内容以及各种仪器的操作开始。这样的专业并不枯燥，因为我们不仅有很多动手实践的机会，还能不断了解现在所学的东西未来能够如何应用在生活中。我们不是在头脑中抽象地学习，很多科目是可以实实在在看到自己所研究的东西是如何存在以及发生变化的。”
纸上得来终觉浅，绝知此事要躬行。在广以跟着教授做科研项目的经历，也让岑致诺从一开始入门的迷茫和煎熬中迅速成长起来。“我们在本科期间就有机会跟教授做科研项目，这对本科生来说是非常难得的。我曾参与研究如何用SPO染色剂来测量水中微塑料的丰度，以及研究在含有微塑料的水溶液中消毒副产物的产生。从提出项目、文献学习、做实验，到得出实验结果、学会写科研论文、做科研成果展示，这个相对完整的科研过程对我帮助很大。现在我已经懂得如何快速找到匹配文献并获取有用信息，学会了很多仪器使用方法，掌握了科研论文写作的技巧，也学到了如何做一个简洁易懂且有效的科研演讲。”
岑致诺很感激自己在求学路上遇到的益友良师。在广以，老师和同学教学相长，互相见证着彼此变得更好的过程。回想起Yigal教授的生化课，岑致诺依旧对这位“宝藏教授”的趣味课堂回味无穷。“大一下学期，Yigal教授发现自己原本的教学方式没有很好地引起同学们的积极反馈后，他开始尝试着在课堂上用一些小笑话把原本枯燥难记的知识点变得有趣易懂且好记。我们有学生曾见过他晚上独自一人对着空教室练习第二天的上课内容。”
创业梦在广以生根发芽
岑致诺是广以商社的创建者之一，也是商社的第一届社长。提起创立商社的初衷，岑致诺表示，这是一个关于“梦想与合作”的想法的结晶。“我是一个商业创业‘狂热迷’，我相信广以也有许多对创业感兴趣的小伙伴。因此我希望通过创建商社，把有共同爱好的同学们联系起来，一起交流学习。或许在未来的某一天，大家可以带着各自不同的见识和经验，去做进一步的交流与合作。”
一个社团从无到有的过程仿佛是创业的缩影。岑致诺表示，商社创建之初，自己因经验不足经历过很多迷茫，“很感激学校的老师们用他们的知识和经验为我们提供很多中肯的建议和资源支持。在多方共同努力下，商社邀请过许多优秀企业家与我们进行经验分享，如入榜2017年中国福布斯30U30名单的黄鸿川先生，汕头创青春金奖得主代塑材料企业负责人关宇东先生，汕头大学校友广超师兄等；也邀请过南京大学犹太学文化研究先驱徐新教授为我们分享以色列的犹太文化；广以副校长林丹明、Connie和Victor等有商科背景的老师也给我们分享了许多经验。商社会定期组织学术交流论坛，让我们在交流中碰撞出好的创意和想法，逐步形成更加成熟的商科思维。”
2019年，岑致诺和商社的小伙伴们创办了广以第一届创新创业大赛。“我们都知道犹太人擅长经商，潮汕人也被称为‘东方犹太人’，因此我们很期待广以这样一所流有以色列理工学院血液的学校在汕头办学之时，能够在创新创业方面碰撞出全新的火花！我们想在广以营造更好的创新创业氛围和生态，让大家保持创新创业思维。希望在未来的某一天，汕头也能因创新创业发展而闻名。”
如果说，这个少年最初只是在心中悄悄埋下“创业梦”的种子，那么广以为心怀梦想的学子们提供的平台、机会和专业知识，无疑成为他们浇灌梦想的阳光和养料。岑致诺的创业梦不断在心中生根发芽，他对创业的热情和渴望溢于言表，“我希望带着自己在广以所学的知识，未来成为一名真正的创业者！”
眼界决定高度
四年前，岑致诺如同目光精准的创业者，看到广以巨大的发展潜力。“当时我的想法是，这是一所新学校，一定有很多资源、机会是其他学校无法比拟的！而且和我一样愿意在第一年就选择广以的小伙伴们，应该跟我会有很多共同语言，估计我会遇到蛮多‘知己’。”
创立商社，创办活动，聆听优秀企业家到校进行经验分享，参加来自德国的乌韦教授的产品设计的workshop，参加和各国学生一起组队的商业项目x-culture，代表学校去华润孵化器做商业路演，进入陈教授组里参与科研项目，获得去企业参观的机会，旁听广东省化工实验室的论坛......来到广以收获的经历和体验，让岑致诺当初选择广以的初衷一一实现。
“我很感激广以给了我很多很难得的机会，让我认识了很多很优秀的前辈和小伙伴，以及许多我原本可能一辈子都接触不到的人，这让我的眼界和思维变得更加开阔了。我一直认为一个人只有‘更上一层楼’才能看到更多不同的风景，而这些风景很多时候会对我们的决策产生深刻的影响。多与优秀的人交流，能让我提前看到其他同龄人还没意识到的东西，提前脱离迷茫，提前开始努力，而不至于到事情无法改变的时候才发现为时晚矣。”
截止目前，岑致诺已经收到伦敦大学学院、曼彻斯特大学、南安普顿大学和新加坡国立大学化学与化工相关专业抛出的“橄榄枝”。“以色列理工学院在欧美地区尤其美国是个很受尊重的学校，广以绝对不是普通的“双非”院校。GPA90+、丰富的社团经验尤其是创新创业领域的课外活动、有科研经历、有业内知名的教授愿意为我写推荐信......我觉得自己能拿到理想院校的offer离不开这些因素。我想跟学弟学妹们说，GPA很重要。我们可以把大学生涯想象成‘打怪升级’的过程，不断丰富自己的履历，这样毕业之后才有更多选择权利。”
“我希望读研期间自己能在学好专业知识的基础上进一步扩展自己的眼界，丰富思考维度；也希望自己步入社会后依旧能够保持初心，不要被现实生活击败而放弃理想。”
“有幸成为一艘努力向前的大船的建设者”，这是岑致诺就读广以最大的感受。“广以虽然刚建立不久，但拥有许多资源，学校的‘高上限’为我提供了无限的可能性。我就像是这艘大船的建造者之一，我和学校的目标一致。我在建设这艘船的同时，它也在无条件地为我提供各种支持。对我来说，我仿佛在用自己的双手书写着这艘巨轮的历史。这种感觉很微妙、很难得。”
“作为广以的第一届学生，我想对学弟师妹以及未来报读广以的同学们说，希望你真心爱这个学校，真正认识到自己作为‘广以建设者’、‘广以历史书写者’的角色。其实在社会中也一样，你将成为什么人很大程度取决于你认为自己应该是什么。如果你觉得在社会中，让世界变得更好是你的使命，那么你将成为带领社会前进的引导者。反之，如果你只是一味埋怨而不做出应有的努力，最终只能一事无成。
This June, the first cohort students will graduate from Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. The series of interviews with the graduates from Class 2021 will show their stories with GTIIT in the past four years.
Here is the story about Cen Zhinuo, a student of Class 2021 from Chemical Engineering Program.
Name: Cen Zhinuo
High school: No.1 Middle School, Zhongshan
Program: Chemical Engineering
To help fulfil his dream to start his own business, Cen Zhinuo originally planned to apply for a business-related program in a university after the college entrance examination. However, his father's words changed his mind. "I think if you want to start your own business, you should first learn some practical and technical knowledge in your undergraduate study, rather than learn about business and management-related programs directly."
Later, Cen Zhinuo learned that all programs provided by GTIIT were related to science and technology, and this university also features innovation and entrepreneurship education. "Both Jewish and Chaoshan cultures have given birth to countless business talents all over the world, and GTIIT is a perfect combination of the two. I can learn science, engineering, and business-related knowledge at the same time. It is very attractive to me." Therefore, Cen Zhinuo rejected the offer from a famous university in China and chose to study Chemical Engineering Program at GTIIT.
Make progress with teachers together
The four years' study at GTIIT has brought Cen Zhinuo numerous new understandings of the chemical engineering program. "Before I came to GTIIT, I didn't have the opportunity to get in touch with specialized directions of this program. At the very beginning, my understanding of science-related programs was that they were very boring. However, I gradually found that engineering-related programs were more inclined to transform existing technologies into applications and make academia closer to life. We wouldn’t be required to delve into very profound organic and inorganic chemical mechanisms at the beginning, but learn from physics, organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, fluid mechanics and other fundamentals as well as the operation of various instruments. It’s very interesting because we not only have a lot of hands-on experiences, but we can also witness the changes made possible to the world by what we learn.”
The experience of participating in research projects helped Cen Zhinuo learn more about his program. "Students at GTIIT have the opportunity to participate in research projects with our professors during undergraduate years. It’s a very valuable experience for us. I have been involved in the study of how to measure the abundance of microplastics in water with SPO stains and the production of disinfectant by-products in aqueous solutions containing microplastics. The process of preparing project proposal, literature review, doing experiment, getting experimental results, learning to write research papers and making presentations has helped me learn a lot. Now I have learned how to find the literature quickly and accurately to get useful information, as well as the methods of using instruments, writing research papers, and making a concise and effective research presentation."
Cen Zhinuo is grateful for his peers and teachers he met at GTIIT. Teachers and students learn from each other and witness each other's progress. Cen Zhinuo recalled the interesting biochemistry class from Prof. Yigal Achmon. "In the second semester of my freshman year, I can still remember that Prof. Yigal Achmon found that his original teaching method did not motivate us. So he began to use some jokes in class to make his class more interesting and easier. Some of us had seen him practice for the next day’s teaching in an empty classroom alone at night."
Entrepreneurial dream grows at GTIIT
Cen Zhinuo is the funding President of GTIIT Association of Commercial Entrepreneurs. When it comes to the original intention of establishing the association, Cen Zhinuo said that it was a product of the idea of "dream and cooperation". "I have a dream of starting a business, and I'm sure more GTIIT students share my interests. Therefore, I hope to establish such an association to connect students with common interests to learn together. Maybe in the future, we can use different insights and experiences to have further idea exchanges and cooperation."
Cen Zhinuo said that at the beginning of establishing the association, he often felt confused due to the lack of experience. "I am very grateful to the teachers at GTIIT who provided us with a lot of suggestions and supports. Till now, GTIIT Association of Commercial Entrepreneurs has invited many outstanding entrepreneurs to share their experiences with us, such as Mr. Huang Hongchuan, who was on the 2017 China Forbes 30U30 List; Mr. Guan Yudong, the winner of Shantou Youth Innovation Award; Mr. Wei Guanchao, an excellent alumnus of Shantou University and so on. We also invited Prof. Xu Xin, a pioneer researcher in the field of Jewish culture from Nanjing University, to share with us the Jewish culture in Israel. Prof. Lin Danming, Pro-Vice Chancellor of GTIIT; Connie, Victor, and other teachers with business-related background also shared many ideas with us. Besides, academic forums are held regularly to facilitate the exchange of ideas which in return help us produce more mature and operational business ideas."
In 2019, Cen Zhinuo and his partners organized the first GTIIT Innovation Challenge. "We all know that the Jews are good at business, and Chaoshan people are also known as 'Eastern Jews'. Therefore, we are looking forward to the achievements of innovation and entrepreneurship from GTIIT. We want to create a better environment for innovation and entrepreneurship at GTIIT, and we hope that Shantou will become famous for its innovation and entrepreneurship achievements one day."
Now Cen Zhinuo is more confident of starting his own business. "I hope to become a real entrepreneur in the future with what I have learned in the university!"
Vision determines the future
Cen Zhinuo saw the huge potential of GTIIT four years ago. "As a new university, there must be a lot of resources and opportunities at GTIIT that no other university can match, and those who are willing to choose GTIIT in the first year will have a lot in common with me. I think I can make many friends here."
Establishing GTIIT Association of Commercial Entrepreneurs, brainstorming with excellent entrepreneurs, participating in the workshop of product design and the commercial project x-culture with students from all over the world, doing business roadshows as a student representative in CRC incubator, participating in scientific research project, getting the opportunity to visit to the enterprise, learning from the forum of Guangdong Provincial Laboratory of Chemistry...... The above experiences Cen Zhinuo got after studying at GTIIT made his original intention of choosing GTIIT come true.
"I am very grateful that GTIIT has given me the opportunities to meet excellent entrepreneurs, friends, and many other people that I would never have had an opportunity to meet in my life. It has greatly broadened my horizons and now I trust different perspectives lead to different interpretations. My study at GTIIT has enabled me to resources only few people are fortunate enough to have: better understanding of many things, a clear mind to start preparations early enough to avoid any regrets in life."
So far, Cen Zhinuo has received offers of chemical-related programs from University College London, the University of Manchester, the University of Southampton and the National University of Singapore. "The Israel Institute of Technology is highly respected in Europe and the United States, especially in the United States. GTIIT is as good as other national 211 or 985 project universities in China. GPA90+, rich experience in student associations, extra-curricular activities in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship, scientific research experience, recommendation letters from well-known professors......I think I can’t get the offers without these factors. I want to tell the junior students that GPA is important. Study hard and gain more useful experiences, so that you can have more options once you graduate."
"I hope I can further expand my horizons and enrich my thinking dimension during my postgraduate study. I also hope I can keep my original mind after graduation and not be defeated by the real life and give up my dream." Said Cen Zhinuo.
"I’m honored to be the constructer of a big ship that is striving to move forward", this is the greatest feeling of Cen Zhinuo in the four years at GTIIT. "Although GTIIT is a new university, it has excellent resources to help me create unlimited possibilities. I was like one of the constructers of this big ship, and I shared the same goal as the university. While I was building this ship, it was also providing me with all kinds of support without hesitation. For me, it was as if I were writing the history of this great ship with my own efforts."
"As a student of Class 2021, I’d like to say to the juniors and potential students that I hope you truly love GTIIT and realize your role as the constructer of GTIIT. In fact, what you will become is largely determined by what you think you should be. If you feel that it is your mission to make the world a better place, then you will be the one that leads the society forward. On the other hand, if you just complain and don't make efforts, you will accomplish nothing in the end.”
文：GTIIT传媒与公共事务部
图：岑致诺、GTIIT传媒与公共事务部
Text: GTIIT News & Public Affairs
Photos: Cen Zhinuo, GTIIT News & Public Affairs