Yu Xiong

Prof. Xiong is Associate Vice President for External Engagement, University of Surrey. Previously he was Associate Dean International of the University(2020-2022). Professor Xiong is founder and director of the Surrey Centre for Innovation and Commercialization, where he brought in 1.5 million fund to facilitate the relevant activities in the university eco-system. He is also director of Surrey Academy for Blockchain and Metaverse Applications, where he brought in 2 million pounds funding and investment. Professor Yu Xiong is Chair Professor of Business Analytics in Surrey Business School and an academic member in the Department of Business Transformation. Prior to joining Surrey, he worked for University of York(as EPSRC Research Fellow), Queen's University Belfast(as Lecturer and Director of China Management Researdch Institute), University of East Anglia(as Associate Professor and Associate Director of External Enagement for Norwich Busienss School, Director of University's ADAPT Group, with 50 million Pounds VC fund), Northumbria University(as Professor and Director of Enterprise Engagement/Faculty Lead for Knowledge Exchange/Head of Supply Chain Managmeent Group). During his academic career, he has brought in more than 26 million pounds income to the universities and businesses that he associated with(Research Income, Donation, Investment etc.).

Professor Xiong's research focuses on sustainable and technological issues in global supply chains, where he has published in leading international journals, including European Journal of Operational Research, Nature Communications, International Journal of Production Research, Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Production Economics, and Journal of Operational Research Society, Technovation, Transportation Research Part E, Industrial Marketing Management etc. He has been guest editors to International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Technovation, International Journal of Technology Management etc. He is the Editor in Chief of International Journal of Chinese Culture and Management. According to elsevier, from 2014-2020, his number of research outputs in Closed-Loop Supply Chain and Remanufacturing rank No. 3 in the UK, his citation rank No. 1 in the UK in the same category(CLSC and Remanufacturing) of all the researchers in the UK. His publication in Nature Communications has its Altmetrics score reached more than 2000(less than 1% of all the publication in Nature and its series reached this high Altmetrics score), and listed as one of the most significant science activities in 2021, and one of the only few researches in the world that is included in Timeline of Computing 2021.

Professor Xiong's research has been funded by EPSRC (Engineering and Physic Science Research Council), Department of Business, Energy and Industry Strategies, British Academy, British Council, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, Satellite Application Catapult, China National Science Foundation etc. Professor Xiong is a Fellow of University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, Visiting Professor in the Computer Science at University of York. He also carries visiting positions in several leading Chinese universities including Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Central South University, Chongqing University etc. He has brought in more than 26 million pounds to the UK's innovation projects.

Professor Xiong has created impact in several industries:

Activities in Innovation Commercialization

Professor Xiong has extensive experience by working as director/chair of companies. He was co-Chair of Cocoon Global Limited, this is a £13 million investment that established the largest innovation centre in central London, with 7000 square meters. The innovation centre supports technology commercialization activities, and has helped hundreds of start ups and SMEs to get fund to reach market. Apart from this, he was the initiator of the first overseas Tsinghua University Science Park, which was built in Newcastle. This is a £6 million investment innovation centre which has created significant impact to eco-system innovation in North of England. Currently he is non-executive President of UK International Innovation Centre, which focus on scaling the UK's project into interntional market. He is Strategic Advisor to Satellite Application Catapult, the UK's national centre for satellite application technologies, appinted by the CEO of the Catapult. Recently he became the managing director of OxValue.ai, a JV company with University of Oxford, focus on help early stage technology valuation. Professor Xiong has help the growth of more than 40 companies in the UK.

Activities in Sustainability

Apart from Professor Xiong’s research in sustainability, he spent a lot of his time developing real world projects for sustainability. From 2014-2016, he was company director for ADAPT Group, which was owned by University of East Anglia, and run a £50 million Low Carbon Innovation Fund. He then worked for UNESCO on a number of projects relevant to Sustainable Development Goals. He is a board director of 99P Recycling Limited, one of the largest plastics recycling and exporting company in the UK, the company’s turnover in 2019 was about 26 million dollar. He is also one of the trustees of the Charify, Magna Carta World Peace and Sustainability Foundation. He was appointed to be Director/Chair of London Fashion Fund in 2018, which was fully funded by Mayor Office of London, to support sustainable fashion startups. Professor XIong's research was listed by BBC to be one of the 26 researches in the UK that was to celebrate the 2021 COP26.

Activities in Blockchain

Professor Xiong became the Chair of Management Board of the Blockchain Finance company, UKDE Limited, based in London. This company provides several types of finance service for the businesses between China and the UK. Professor Xiong is chief scientist of the Jiukuan Tech Ltd, which is specialized in developing leading blockchain applications, the Pxbee App, which has daily active user ranked No. 2 in the world. He is one of the nine advisory board members of All Party Parliamentary Group in Blockchain in the UK, and the chief scientific advisor to the world's first Blockchain enabled Photo/Video sharing Social Media, PIXIE, this revolutionary platform aims to replace TikTok/Instagram in future. Now PIXIE has more than 10,000 daily active users on the platform. Professor Xiong also a lead member of the blockchain project Maxity, which aims to support charities to fundraise use NFT. According to Altmetrics, his research published in National Communication currently has the world No. 1 research impact of all the academic publications has the keyword of blockchain.

In 2012, he was invited by the London Olympic Committee to be a London Olympic Torchbearer. In 2015, he got the prestigious May 4th Medal by Chinese provincial government, to recognize his significant contribution for international innovation collaboration. Professor Xiong was the President of the Chinese Economic Association in EU/UK(until December 2021), and Vice President of the International Association of Supply Chain and Operations Management.