Jin Donghan Attended the UK-China University Consortium on Engineering Education and Research High-Level Forum 2020

On December 3rd, the UK-China University Consortium on Engineering Education and Research High-Level Forum 2020 was held online by Southeast University. Prof. Jin Donghan, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of Tianjin University, attended the event and delivered a keynote speech. Senior administrators from 14 universities in China and Britain gathered online to discuss higher education development as well as international exchanges and cooperation around the theme of "Recovery, Adaptation and Opportunities---How Covid-19 Re-shaped Higher Education and What Universities Can Do to Adapt to It".

The participants included Prof. Guo Dongming, President of the Dalian University of Technology; Prof. Zhang Guangjun, President of Southeast University; Prof. Chen Jie, President of Tongji University; Prof. Wang Bo, Vice President of the Beijing Institute of Technology; Prof. Liao Ruijin, Vice President of Chongqing University; Prof. Liu Hong, Vice President of the Harbin Institute of Technology; Prof. Li Weiqing, Vice President of the South China University of Technology; Prof. Zhang Yanning, Assistant President of Northwestern Polytechnical University; Gill Caldicott, Director of the British Council in East China; Prof. Jon Frampton, Vice President of the University of Birmingham; Prof. Ding Yulong, Academician of the Royal Academy of Engineering; Sir Mark Welland, Vice President of the University of Cambridge; Prof. Sai Gu, Vice Chancellor of the University of Warwick; and Prof. Wiebe van der Hoek, Executive Vice Chancellor of the University of Liverpool.

At the meeting, Prof. Jin Donghan delivered a keynote report entitled "Reform and Innovation of Higher Engineering Education in the Post-Pandemic Era". The report contained three aspects: talent expectations in the post-pandemic era, emerging engineering education at TJU, and future international cooperation. He pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on global economic and social development and has created new demands for innovative engineering talents. Interdisciplinary thinking, cross-border integration capabilities, and global competence have become the core qualities of talent training. In response to the new demand for talents in the post-epidemic era, Tianjin University has issued TJU Plan 2.0 for the development of emerging engineering education and promoted the integration of multiple disciplines by building a new talent training platform. Faced with new changes in the international exchanges of higher engineering education, Tianjin University is expected to further promote the cooperation with universities in the Consortium through online academic seminars, online courses, resource-sharing platforms, credit transfers and joint degree programs, and the establishment of joint research centers.

The UK-China University Consortium on Engineering Education and Research is composed of 9 Chinese engineering universities and 9 British first-class universities. Founded in 2017, the Consortium is the first university alliance featuring engineering education and research between China and the UK. It is included in the fifth China-UK high-level humanities exchange mechanism. The cooperation covers electronics, electrical engineering, clean energy, and intelligence.