TU Delegation Headed by Chairman LIU Jianping Visited Russia

In order to promote the cooperation and exchange between Tianjin University and Russian counterparts, Prof. LIU Jianping, Chairman of TU Administrative Council visited Russia, and discussed with university leaders and representatives from St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University and Moscow Power Engineering Institute about cooperation possibilities on joint research, student exchange and graduate co-supervision programs. The delegation also includes Prof. WANG Chengshan, Dean of the School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Prof. TAN Xin, Director of Personnel Department and staff from International Cooperation Office. On June 8th, the delegation visited St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University and met with Prof. Vyacheslay P. Shkodyrev, Associate Vice-Rector for International Affairs, Prof. Yu. N. Bocharov, Dean of the Faculty of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, and staff from the International Affairs Bureau. Both sides expressed that the two universities had a long history of cooperation and exchange, and hoped to substantially promote the academic exchanges between scholars and students from the two universities, and further strengthen the mutual understanding between the two sides especially in research areas with strength. After the meeting, the delegation took a guided tour on campus and visited some laboratories in power engineering department. On June 13th, the delegation visited Moscow Power Engineering Institute (Technical University), and met with Prof. Nikita V. Skibitskiy, Vice-Rector on Science, Prof. Shirinskij, S.V., Associate Vice-Rector for International Affairs, and the representatives from schools. Prof. Nikita V. Skibitskiy welcomed the delegation and expressed that Tianjin University was an old friend of MPEI. He felt pleased that the friendly and cooperative relations between the two universities would be strengthened with more substantial collaborative programs in years to come. Chairman Liu expressed his wish for further collaboration between the two universities on scholar exchanges and joint research. The two sides agreed on information-sharing of similar specialties and research fields, and cooperation on PhD co-supervision and scholar exchanges in the fields of common interest. After the meeting, the delegation visited the laboratory of “Automatic system of thermoelectricity process control” and talked with relative professors and scholars. Founded in 1899, St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University is one of the prestigious universities in Russia with a long history focusing on science and engineering. The Cooperative Agreement between TU and St. Petersburg SPU was signed in 1998 and another MoU for Faculty Exchange was signed in 2006. Founded in 1930, Moscow Power Engineering Institute was one of the most famous universities in the former Soviet Union. It is now the most important university on power engineering, electric power, electronics, and information technology. The Cooperation Agreement between TU and MPEI was signed in 1999. During the stay in Russia, the delegation also paid a visit to the Education Office/Section of the Chinese Embassy in Moscow and the Consulate General in St. Petersburg, and discussed with Minister Counselor PEI Yufang and other working staff on the topics of Russian higher education system, how to promote the substantial cooperation between TU and Russian universities in the area of engineering, how to enhance the communication with Chinese embassies and consulates abroad for the purpose of high level intelligence recruitment, and so on. International Cooperation Office June 19th, 2007