Jun. 30, the annual meeting for overseas members of Tsinghua University’s University-Industry Cooperation Committee (UICC) was held in Tsinghua’s Main Building.
Present at the meeting were representatives from over 30 UICC overseas members and partners, including BMW, P&G, BP, Daimler, Toyota Motor, Intel, IBM, Rohm, Siemens, Samsung, Hitachi, General Motors and Veolia. Also present were nearly a hundred teachers and students from Tsinghua’s Department of Automotive Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Department of Electrical Engineering, Department of Computer Science and Technology and Institute for Global Industry.
Tsinghua’s Vice President Xue Qikun gave a welcome speech on behalf of the university. He first reviewed the history of the overseas branch of the UICC, and then affirmed his support for the development of University-Industry cooperation as an ever-innovating mode for realization of mutual interests between academic and industrial partners. He also gave an introduction of Tsinghua’s achievements in construction of a global first-class university by continually promoting the internationalization of scientific research, and enhancing the global influence of Tsinghua’s scientific research, as well as commenting on how Tsinghua University was committed to continuous innovation and reform in education, research and personnel systems, especially in regard to international scientific research cooperation.
At the end of his speech Xue Qikun emphasized that the purpose of cooperation was to break through and innovate in scientific research systems via new cooperation ideas and modes. He added that through the platform of the UICC, all parties could maintain a strong innovative position and carry out multi-divisional cooperation, thereby achieving win-win results.
Zhu Min, former Vice President of the IMF and current Dean of Tsinghua’s National Institute of Financial Research, gave a keynote report titled “Change of Global Economic Structure, Trump’s Impact and Policy Turning Point”. In his report he analyzed the structural changes and policy turning point facing the international financial industry, as well as how these factors may influence the economic structure in the next three to five years, and how manufacturing industry may face great adjustments in the future.
Prof. Li Keqiang, Changjiang Scholar and Director of Tsinghua’s Research Center of Intelligent and Network-Connected Automotive and Transportation , Du Jiangling, Director of General Motors China Research Institute, Urs Laeuppi, Director of Mercedes Benz R&D Center, Daimler’s Greater China Region, and Kenju Kobayashi, Deputy GM of Nissan Motor (China) each gave keynote speeches on the developing vista of smart vehicles, solutions for future personal travel, the future application of piloted driving, and the security and outlook of piloted driving.
In the expert conversation session, experts and scholars engaged in a thorough discussion on issues such as “why should we develop intelligentization”, “how should college, industry and the government interact efficiently, and what are the difficulties”, and “how can we better build the industry-college-research platform and serve industry development”.
After the annual meeting, UICC representatives paid a visit to the Tsinghua University Art Museum.
Established in 1995, the UICC now has over 40 international company members. Through various modes, its members not only collaborate with Tsinghua in scientific research, talent cultivation and academic communication, but also have achieved many practical results. The UICC has also played a critical role in enhancing the university’s international academic influence, widening the international outlook of both staff and students, and helping to cultivate innovative and inter-disciplinary talent.
[update:2017-06]
