January 10th saw the opening ceremony for the joint workshop between Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It was also the unveiling ceremony for the Centers for Mechanical Engineering Research and Education at MIT and SUSTech.
Deputy Secretary-General of Shenzhen Municipal Government You Wu joined SUSTech President Shiyi Chen, MIT Associate Provost Richard Lester, and Chair of Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT Evelyn Wang attended the ceremony. Several faculty members and students from SUSTech were also in the audience with 26 teachers and students from MIT. Dean of the College of Engineering Xu Zhenghe hosted the ceremony.
Shiyi Chen thanked everyone for coming and particularly the Shenzhen Municipal Government for its strong support to the Centers. He pointed out that the Centers are the first center in Shenzhen to cooperate with MIT. Shiyi Chen hoped the Centers would promote friendly exchanges between China and the United States through close interactions and cooperation in research and Education. He also anticipated that it would cultivate a more developed talent pipeline and contribute to the development of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province and China.
Richard Lester thanked the Shenzhen Municipal Government for their support of the cooperation between the two universities. He said that he would fully support the cooperation of the Centers and hoped to build a communication platform so that both universities could build a solid education foundation and research environment for the younger scholars.
Director of SUSTech Center Zhenghe Xu and Director of MIT Center Gang Chen made progress reports on the establishment of the Centers. MIT Mechanical Engineering Professor Sangbae Kim joined SUSTech Director of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering Shan Xiaowen in speaking to the audience at the unveiling ceremony.
The joint workshop lasted for three days. Chair of Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT Evelyn Wang introduced MIT’s Mechanical Engineering Department to the attendees. Director of the SUSTech Technology Transfer Center Liao Xiao and Deputy Director of the MIT Technology Licensing Office Jim Freedman both gave detailed descriptions about the intellectual property policies of their respective countries.
Four sub-forums were also held to further explore the future development trends and challenges in the field of cooperation and to formulate the next phase of research cooperation programs.
