On 29 May 2026, the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FoSE) at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China held the second meeting of its Industry Advisory Board. Nine industry experts from sectors including construction, instrumentation, transportation, chemicals, and photonics gathered on campus to advise on talent development and research innovation. The meeting was chaired by Professor Juan Wang, FoSE’s Knowledge Exchange Lead, with strong support from the Faculty Research and Knowledge Exchange (RKE) team.
In his opening address, Professor John Zhou, Dean of FoSE emphasised the core mission of fostering closer collaboration between academia and industry to cultivate practice-oriented engineering talent. He urged board members to bring real-world insights into the classroom and contribute to the development of the university’s newly established Institute of Excellence for Industrial Engineers.
Professor Jian Yang, Associate Dean for RKE then presented FoSE’s strengths. The Faculty currently enrols 560+ PhD students, 300+ master’s students, and 3,300+ undergraduates. With 50% international faculty and over 95% of students having overseas experience, FoSE combines a strong international character with research excellence. Its Engineering discipline ranks in the global top 0.2% by ESI, four disciplines are in the ESI top 1%, and the Faculty has published over 2,500 journal papers in the past five years. Under the “Institute of Excellence for Industrial Engineers” initiative, FoSE is focusing on AI, green chemical engineering, and the low-altitude economy, adopting a project-based approach co-managed with industry partners.
During the discussion, board members shared constructive visions for collaboration. Professor Yusen Chen, Chief Scientist of Zhejiang Communications Investment Group, called for deeper industry-academia-research synergy. Ms Shuhe Zhang of Zhejiang Maixin Technology highlighted opportunities in digital transformation. Mr Jiwen Sun of Ningbo Construction Group explored collaboration in infrastructure innovation and talent cultivation. Mr Xin He of Beijing Const Instruments stressed the importance of attracting high-end talent through sustained joint projects.
Other advisors shared complementary perspectives: Dr Yin Wang of HealthyPhoton advocated for joint practice bases to accelerate commercialisation; Mr Zhanghua Gao of Ningbo Cuiying Chemical called for stronger industry-academia linkages to nurture talent; Mr Yi Liu of Jinhua Hfun-tech emphasised the need for interdisciplinary engineers; Mr Han Ni of World Geospatial Information Town proposed leveraging UNNC’s international platform to support the Belt and Road Initiative; and Dr Yu Hong of Ningbo Energy Group highlighted cooperation in green energy, smart maintenance, and safety production.
The board agreed on the need for regular communication mechanisms to align curricula with industrial change and for enterprise mentorship systems that engage students in real projects. As FoSE continues to strengthen its industry partnerships, this meeting marked an important step in translating research into tangible impact.
To implement the national New Engineering strategy and deepen industry-education integration, Ningbo launched the "Excellent Engineer Training System" in 2024. UNNC has been awarded a plaque of “Institute of Excellence for Industrial Engineers on Future Technologies for Carbon Neutrality". Based on the "361" industrial layout, this system aims to cultivate high-level engineering talents through multi-party collaboration.