Young entrepreneur seizes opportunities of times
Editor’s note:
China is cultivating the development of new quality productive forces, referring to growth of higher quality driven by breakthrough innovations and comprehensive sustainability. Let’s check out how businesses in Shanghai, which is base to many high-tech companies, fare on this route.
Shen Mengdan / SHINE
He Zhengdao, founder of DG Intelligence.
People reflect the times they live in, and one young technology entrepreneur has based his career on the belief that the same holds true for companies.
“Our work is meaningful only if our goals resonate with the pulse of the times,” said He Zhengdao, founder of DG Intelligence.
His small company has focused on the development of “smart” unmanned technology for airborne and underwater use. He has brought strong credentials to his research, having once worked in research at Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, the state-owned aerospace manufacturer that developed the nation’s first domestically made aircraft – the ARJ 1 regional jet and the C919 narrow-body jetliner.
His company’s products are on display at the year’s China (Shanghai) International Technology Fair, which began on Wednesday.
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DG Intelligence’s hybrid vertical takeoff and landing drone with fixed wing.
Shen Mengdan / SHINE
DG Intelligence’s 360-degree underwater device.
He and his team at DGI have developed more than 10 intelligent air and land unmanned products. They also built a platform for control, maintenance and training, based on big data and the Internet of Things, for energy companies and emergency departments.
“I hope to help transform China’s economy, from the ground to low altitudes, by building a complete transportation, logistics, emergency response and security system.” said He.
At the fair, DG Intelligence will showcase the first smaller domestic civil unmanned aerial vehicle, which has a range of more than 1,000 kilometers. The DGI-EX6 “Hongguan” is a long endurance, vertical take-off and landing vehicle with compound wings.
The vehicle is the first of its kind in China to have passed tests of safety, environmental adaptability and economic efficiency. It has completed a million kilometers of field flights.
Entrepreneurship is never an easy path to follow. Many startups that begin with great ideas falter on inadequate funding, faulty business plans or inept marketing.
He said he, too, has had to overcome setbacks along the way. Inspired by China’s accomplishment in space rockets, satellites, manned spaceflight and lunar landings, he said he was resolved to stick to his ideals and pursue his ideas at any cost.
“I am grateful for the times I live in and remain confident,” he said.
Shen Mengdan / SHINE
Parts of other high-tech products by DG Intelligence.
In 2015, He set up DGI together with a few friends who love aviation in the rented 65-square-meter room in the talent apartment in Zhangjiang, Pudong.
The founding team put together more than a million dollars to go to the Sinopec Shengli Oilfield, the angel customer of DGI, to research customer demands. They stayed with oilfield inspection workers for almost half a year and developed the first generation of industrial inspection drones, which was a breakthrough.
In the second year, DGI got 10 million intended orders. And because of the team’s professionalism and excellent product performance, it soon obtained two rounds of financing from well-known organizations and listed companies.
DGI’s technology is timely. It dovetails with a new national goal to develop low-altitude equipment. Since the national government unveiled a program related to its application in general aviation in 2023, province and cities across the nation have introduced policies favorable to companies doing research in the field.
Four provinces have already opened up flight altitudes below 1,000 meters.
“This inevitably involves the control of air traffic, including the planning of routes and the speed and efficiency of vehicles passing through them,” said He. “The application of big data, artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies is particularly important.”
In addition, DGI will also exhibit its DGE-Ocean Eye industrial-grade, 360-degree underwater robot, which He says is the first multifunctional underwater robot in China. It can be used for inspecting underwater pipelines and undersea cables, and in applications such as archaeology and anti-smuggling operations.
“This machine has received very favorable reviews abroad for its high cost-effectiveness,” He explained. “Its purchase price is only one-third of a general commercial underwater robot.”
DGI is also conducting research in new fields, from specialized aerial drones to ground-based emergency firefighting robots. The ultimate aim is to develop comprehensive industrial solutions that cover land, sea and air.
