March 15, 2024  |  International Office, School of Intelligent Manufacturing and Control Engineering, School of Computer and Information Engineering, School of Energy and Materials, and Vocational & Technical Teacher Education School

From May 4 to 11, President Prof. Xie Huaqing led a delegation to visit the Sino-Italian Innovation Center and the University of Genoa (UniGe) in Italy, the Chinese Embassy in Spain and the IMDEA Materials Institute in Madrid, Spain. The visit expanded the cooperation between SSPU and European universities and related institutions, and promoted further development of international talent training, research centers and academic exchanges. A number of important consensuses and fruitful results are reached.

The delegation firstly visited Sino-Italian Innovation Center. Mr. Simone Tani, the Italian President of the Center gave an introduction. The two sides had an in-depth discussion on the joint building of the Sino-Italian Innovation Center for Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, the Sino-Italian Institute of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence and the industry-university-research center, introduction of foreign experts from Italy, and the construction of overseas student practice bases.

During the visit to UniGe, Shen Jianlei, Minister Counsellor from Chinese Embassy in Italy, and Secretaries Liu Jianzhou and Hao Xiaotong came to join the activities. Witnessed by Minister Counsellor Shen Jianlei, President Xie and UniGe Rector Federico Delfino, signed a new cooperation agreement and fully exchanged ideas with each other on related supplementary matters. Accompanied by Rector Federico Delfino, the delegation had a lab tour to the Smart Energy Building at UniGe’s Savona Campus, where Ms. Paola Laiolo, Head of Cooperative Programs Department of UniGe, introduced the campus and shared some cases of the university in sustainable development. Prof. Stefano Bracco and Prof. Mansueto Rossi delivered a speech on Research and Teaching Activities on Sustainable Energy at the Savona Campus, in which they in particular introduced the courses in the field of sustainable energy at undergraduate and postgraduate level, international summer school, the design of the Smart Energy Building, and the faculty's research directions and achievements. Also the two sides carried out academic discussions on the field of smart energy, and had detailed communication on the qualification of doctoral supervisors, visiting scholars, construction of doctoral programs, joint laboratories and scientific research projects, joint education, and the joint establishment of industry-university-research centers, student practice bases, etc. The delegation also visited teaching and research venues such as laboratories of Mechanical Engineering, Computer Sciences, New Energy and Materials.

Together with Minister Counsellor Shen Jianlei and Rector Federico Delfino, the delegation also visited Genoa Chamber of Commerce and had a conversation with President Luigi Atanasio and General Secretary Maurizio Caviglia. President Xie introduced the economic and social development of Shanghai as well as the development of SSPU, while President Luigi Atanasio introduced the history, the business environment and overseas cooperation of Genoa city. The two sides exchanged ideas on building a platform for university-enterprise cooperation, promoting the cultivation of business talents, etc.

During the visit to Spain, the delegation visited the Chinese Embassy in Spain where they were welcomed by Yao Jing, the Chinese Ambassador to Spain and met with Wang Beibin, an SSPU staff who was selected to work at the Embassy. President Xie reported to Ambassador Yao about the history and current development of SSPU as well as the purpose of this visit. Ambassador Yao spoke highly of the university's orientation of insisting on building a high-level university of applied sciences that closely integrates the industry, university and research. He pointed out that with a large demand for talent training in the field of new energy and intelligent industries in Spain, SSPU could take the opportunity to expand access to educational resources in Spain to enhance cooperation in terms of joint education, vocational and technical faculty training, high skilled talent training, joint research, etc. The Ambassador stated that the Embassy would actively support and assist SSPU and Spanish universities to set up joint institutions, carry out vocational and technical talent training and the establishment of Confucius Institute, etc. President Xie, on behalf of the university, thanked Ambassador Yao for his strong support and said that SSPU would make concrete the proposals as soon as possible to drive the exchanges and cooperation between the university and those in Spain.

President Xie also had a discussion with Minister Counsellor Du Juan, Lei Hongmei, Counsellor for Science and Technology Affairs, Zhao Weimin,Counsellor for Education Affairs of the Chinese Embassy in Spain. The two sides reached consensuses on cooperation in science and technology, education, culture exchange.

In order to promote the joint application of international research projects, the delegation visited IMDEA Materials Institute in Madrid, Spain and had a meeting with Deputy Director Prof. Jon Molina, and Prof. Wang Deyi, Director of the Department of New Materials Research, and Head of the research group of High Performance Polymer Nanocomposites. The two sides envisioned cooperation such as joint research, co-organization of international conferences, joint laboratories, industry-university-research cooperation, joint training of students, membership application of the Sino-Spanish Scientific and Technological Association, etc., and made plans for the next step. The delegation shared the latest research results in the field of materials with Prof. Wang and visited the laboratory of high-performance fire retardant materials.

Heads and faculty from the School of Intelligent Manufacturing and Control Engineering, School of Computer and Information Engineering, School of Energy and Materials, and Vocational & Technical Teacher Education School were also in the delegation.