Opening: Shared Vision, Opening a New Chapter in Research

At the beginning of the conference, Professor Laura Bishop, Vice Provost for Research and Knowledge Exchange at UNNC, created an open and harmonious atmosphere with a passionate welcome speech. Following the opening address by Professor John Zhou, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Mr. Gu Shidong, Party member of the Yinzhou District Science and Technology Bureau, expressed his support and expectations for the event. Professor Giampaolo Buticchi, Associate Dean for Research and Knowledge Exchange at FoSE, then systematically introduced the situation of the faculty's various research centers, further outlining the active role of FoSE in promoting knowledge innovation and transformation.

 

Industrial Advisory Board Members: A Bridge Between the Academy and the Industry

To actively respond to the construction goals of the "Ningbo Institute of Excellence for Industrial Engineers," the FoSE officially established an Industry Advisory Board, engaging top experts from various fields as committee members. The Industrial Advisory Board Members gathers outstanding representatives from enterprises including Zhejiang Communications Investment Group, Geely Automobile Research Institute, Ningbo Construction Group, Ningbo Beijing Const Instruments Technology, Ningbo Energy Group and so on. These cover multiple frontier fields such as intelligent transportation and urban infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and embodied intelligence, new energy and new materials, and precision instruments and digital intelligence systems. The members will serve as a bridge between the faculty and the industry, bringing profound industrial vision and practical wisdom to the faculty, and jointly defining the training paradigm for future engineering talent.

 

Keynote Speeches: A Deep Dialogue Between Frontier Technology and Industrial Practice

During the industry keynote lecture session in the morning, two top experts delivered highly forward-looking insights.

Professor Chen Yusen, Chief Scientist of Zhejiang Communications Investment Group and Senior Researcher at TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research), utilized his extensive experience spanning Europe and Asia to deeply discuss how to truly strengthen industry-academia-research cooperation through "Joint Exploration and Experimentation" to expand innovation output. Combining his practice in major EU framework projects and domestic major engineering projects such as smart highways, he provided systematic ideas for the deep synergy between "academia" and "industry."

Dr Wang Yin, Founder and CEO of Ningbo HealthyPhoton Technology Co., Ltd. and a high-level national talent, shared his team's breakthroughs in the field of "Mid-infrared Laser Spectroscopy Technology." He introduced how the independently developed QSweep series broke international monopolies, and how this technology promotes school-enterprise collaborative innovation in fields such as greenhouse gas analysis and smart water affairs, vividly illustrating the complete path of core technology moving from the laboratory to industrial application.

 

Poster Exhibition: Displaying Frontier Results from Six Major Research Centers

A special poster exhibition was set up outside the venue to centrally present the innovative results and research directions of the six major research centers of the Faculty of Science and Engineering. The heads of the six research centers—Advanced Energy and Environmental Materials & Technologies; Advanced Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing and Mobility; Artificial Intelligence and Climate & Environmental Solutions; Human-centered Sustainable Interaction; and Power Electronics, Machines and Control Research Centre—systematically introduced the latest progress and practical application cases in their respective fields to the attending guests, corporate representatives, teachers, and students through posters.

 

Roundtable Meeting: Focusing on Core Issues of Industry-Academia-Research Integration

Under the joint hosting of Professor John Zhou, Professor Giampaolo Buticchi, and Professor Juan Wang, a deep dialogue gathering wisdom from both inside and outside the faculty unfolded. The roundtable meeting brought together all members of the FoSE Industry Advisory Board, heads of the faculty's six major research centers, representatives from the RKE Office, and faculty teachers who have long worked on the front lines of industry-academia-research cooperation and actively nominated industry experts. They engaged in a deep roundtable discussion around one core question: "How to promote knowledge exchange and talent cultivation?" Combining their own cross-boundary experiences, the committee members elaborated on the core value of industry-research cooperation from multiple dimensions, such as accelerating technology transfer, addressing real-world challenges, and feeding back into disciplinary development. They also held heated discussions on specific talent training models such as building internship bases, customized courses, dual-tutor systems, and embedding long-term scientific research projects, contributing valuable wisdom to building a smooth and sustainable industry-academia-research integration ecosystem.

 

Research Exploration: Diverse Exploration from National Funds to AI-Empowered Research

The afternoon agenda was equally brilliant. Professor Yinshui Xia, Dean of Ningbo University & Loctek Ergonomics Joint Research Institute, first took the stage. With his rich experience in reviewing and applying for national-level projects, he brought "NSFC Experience Sharing" of great practical value to the teachers and students present, providing key guidance for the scholars' research paths.

The subsequent "AI and Research Applications" special series of reports pushed the conference to another climax. Five scholars—Professor Sean He, Dr. Kian Ming Lim, Dr. Meili Feng, Dr. Olga Danilkina, and PhD student Yanzhe Xu—successively shared innovative applications of AI in the fields of medical image diagnosis, few-shot learning, environmental geography research, mathematics education integration, and chemical drug discovery. A series of reports profoundly revealed how artificial intelligence, as a general-purpose enabling technology, is reshaping the research paradigms and knowledge boundaries of various disciplines.

 

Conclusion and Outlook

The successful holding of this conference was not only a concentrated display of the research vitality and open spirit of the UNNC Faculty of Science and Engineering but also a collective exploration of future innovation models. It built a solid bridge connecting theoretical frontiers with industrial needs, fusing international perspectives with local practices, and further igniting the infinite enthusiasm of teachers and students for interdisciplinary research. Thanks to all the speakers for sharing their knowledge, thanks to the Industry Advisory Board for their deep participation, and thanks to every attendee for their enthusiastic devotion. The path of research becomes wider through exchange and goes further through cooperation.