NTI Nanofilm Technology Forum 2026: One LEAP from Research to Real-World Impact

Over two days in Shanghai, the NTI Nanofilm Technology Forum 2026 brought together more than 120 participants from across NTI’s global network, alongside the NTI-NTU Corporate Laboratory team, for a shared purpose: to connect research, engineering, and business more closely with the needs of industry.

This year’s forum was framed by the theme “One LEAP” standing for Learning, Execution, Acceleration, and Performance. In his opening address, Founder and Group CEO Dr. Shi Xu described acceleration as driving innovation with purpose and shortening time-to-market, so that ideas move faster from concept to customer. He also reaffirmed that, as a deep-tech company, NTI’s mission is not only to advance technology, but to develop products and solutions that solve real-world problems, open new markets, and strengthen the company’s long-term foundation.

That direction came through clearly across the forum.

Connecting Research, Engineering, and Industrial Implementation

Throughout the two-day forum, presentations from the NTI-NTU Corporate Laboratory, the Advanced Technology Research Centre (ATRC), and NTI’s business units brought together a broad spectrum of perspectives across research, engineering, and industrial implementation. Topics spanned advanced coating equipment platforms, hydrogen systems engineering and scale-up pathways, AI-enabled nanofabrication for next-generation AR systems, and the growing role of AI in intelligent coating processes. With more than 20 presentations in total, the forum reflected both the depth of NTI Nanofilm’s innovation efforts and the strong link between research, applied engineering, and commercialization. The visiting Corporate Laboratory team also toured NTI’s ATRC and selected production facilities, creating further opportunities for technical exchange and closer collaboration between academic research and real-world industrial application.

From Innovation to Industrial Impact

More importantly, the forum reinforced an idea that sits at the heart of NTI Nanofilm’s innovation model: commercialization is not the end of innovation — it is its amplification. When a prototype becomes a product and a concept becomes a solution adopted by customers, innovation gains purpose, scale, and staying power. As Dr. Shi also noted, strong communication between business and technology is essential, so commercial teams can better understand the pipeline, identify market opportunities, and help accelerate growth.

More Than an Internal Forum

This is what makes the Technology Forum more than an internal gathering. It is a working platform where scientists, engineers, commercial teams, and research partners come together to exchange knowledge, challenge assumptions, and align around what matters most: developing technologies that are not only advanced, but relevant, scalable, and valuable to customers.

Recognizing Innovation Excellence

The forum closed with the Chairman’s Innovation Award ceremony, recognising teams whose work reflects NTI Nanofilm’s continued commitment to technical excellence and industrial relevance.

As NTI Nanofilm continues to deepen collaboration across its global sites and with the NTI-NTU Corporate Laboratory, Technology Forum 2026 showed what “One LEAP” looks like in practice: one team, moving with greater clarity and intent from deep research to industrial impact.

If you are exploring next-generation coating, nanofabrication, hydrogen, or advanced equipment solutions, or looking to collaborate on R&D and scale-up pathways, we welcome you to connect with our team at [email protected].