From June 28 to 29, the “2019 Jiangsu Science and Technology Forum Smart Manufacturing 3rd Sub-Forum and the 11th International Conference on Mechanical and Electrical Technologies”, co-sponsored by Jiangsu Mechanical Engineering Society, Singapore Computer Society and NJIT, was held in the Film and Television Lecture Hall of the School of Art and Design. Experts, professors and scientists from Jiangsu Province, the United States, Canada, Russia, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries and regions gathered to discuss the opportunities and development of smart manufacturing and mechanical & electrical technology in the field of mechanical engineering.

Feng Shaodong (Member of the Party Committee and Vice Chairman of Jiangsu Association for Science and Technology) attended the forum and addressed a speech. Executives and directors of Jiangsu Mechanical Engineering Society (JMES), representatives of JMES branches and municipal societies, and more than 200 scientific and technological staff members from colleges, research institutes and enterprises attended the forum.

Cheng Xiaonong (Vice President of Jiangsu Mechanical Engineering Society) hosted the opening ceremony on the afternoon of June 28. Shi Jinfei (Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President of NJIT) gave the welcome speech at the opening ceremony. He welcomed executives, experts and representatives attending the conference and expressed his gratitude to the executives, experts and friends who cared about and supported the development of NJIT over the years. Mr. Shi highlighted that NJIT is a general undergraduate university administered directly by Jiangsu Province with a centurial history, a deep engineering foundation, and distinct characteristics of application-oriented specialties. He described NJIT’s ongoing policy of “local, application-oriented and high-level” as well as the motto of “Learning for Application” and the spirit of “Integrating Knowledge and Practice, Inspiring Entrepreneurship and Innovation”, centered on the development of application-oriented talents, by utilizing the model of industry-education integration and university-business partnership. In recent years, NJIT has received numerous science and technology awards in Jiangsu Province and has been ranked above similar universities in China in the teaching development index. During Ms. Sun Chunlan’s tour (member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council) of the School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the College Students Pioneering Park of NJIT, she spoke highly of NJIT’s philosophy and practice in the high-quality training for applied talents and other aspects. Mr. Shi said that this conference is an international event in the field of Mechanical and Electrical Technologies, an essential platform for experts and scholars to exchange academic opinions with each other, share cutting-edge technology and combine innovative resources, and a golden opportunity for NJIT to acquire internationally advanced professional knowledge and ideas. He stated that NJIT would utilize this opportunity to contribute to the development of the smart manufacturing industry, academic exchanges, and talent cultivation.

Xia Hanguan (President of JMEC) gave an opening speech. He indicated the Jiangsu Science and Technology Forum as a high-level academic activity approved by Jiangsu provincial party committee and Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government. He stated that this was the third smart manufacturing forum organized by JMEC. Unlike previous years, this forum was held jointly with the Singapore Society of Computer Science and Information Technology and NJIT. He pointed out that this would assist scientific and technological staff in appreciating the international cutting-edge scientific and technological information and academic achievements, contribute to the international integration of smart manufacturing, and enhance the innovation and development of the machinery industry. He said that JMEC would undertake this activity regularly, follow the theme of “intelligent manufacturing ? brand ? future” and “technological innovation and pursuing excellence”, cooperate with international scientific and technological organizations, establish academic brands, expand social influence, and further enhance the influence of regional economic development in order to encourage additional scientific and technological resources to be invested in the industry. JMEC would enhance and develop its contributions from “Made in Jiangsu” to “Created by Jiangsu”, boosting Jiangsu to become a superior manufacturing province.

Feng Shaodong (Vice Chairman of Jiangsu Association for Science and Technology, JSAST) said in his speech that the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to “accelerate the construction of manufacturing power, speed up the development of advanced manufacturing industries, and boost the deep integration of the Internet, big data, artificial intelligence with the real economy”. Jiangsu is a major manufacturing province, and its equipment manufacturing industry is an important pillar and basic industry of the national economy. Under the right leadership of Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government, the Jiangsu machinery and equipment manufacturing industry has thoroughly implemented an innovation-driven development strategy and enhanced the high-quality development, transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. The new growth drivers have expanded significantly, the smart manufacturing industry has developed rapidly, the development trend of the industry is stable and improved, and the development quality has improved substantially. He said that JSAST would continue to provide strong support for the development of JMEC, and on behalf of JSAST, he presented his expectations for JMEC as follows: firstly, it must take advantage of the opportunity of the smart manufacturing sub-forum to accelerate the digitization, networking and intelligent upgrading of the manufacturing industry to enhance the economic development of Jiangsu Province in terms of quality change, efficiency change and power change; secondly, the academic activities should be combined with technical exchanges to achieve “Integrating Knowledge and Practice”, and make improved contributions to developing a new Jiangsu with “strong economy, rich people, beautiful environment, and highly civilized society”.

The meeting witnessed the awarding ceremony of the “Achievement Award of Jiangsu Mechanical Engineering Science and Technology”, “The First Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition for Young Members of Jiangsu Mechanical Engineering Society” and the issuing ceremony of “Science and Technology Service Station” as well as the signing ceremony of industry-university-research cooperation projects.

NJIT President Shi Jinfei presented the “Achievement Award of Jiangsu Mechanical Engineering Science and Technology” to Professor Sun Guoxiong, who is the President of the Foundry Institution of Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society and President of Jiangsu Foundry Society. Since 2000, he has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the World Foundry Organization, presided over several National Natural Science Funds, participated in the compilation of the Foundry Manual (Cast Iron Roll), and published nearly 200 papers. In 2011, Professor Sun Guoxiong was awarded the “Outstanding Contribution Award in Chinese Foundry” at the first Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society.

JSAST Vice Chairman Feng Shaodong issued tablets to two “Science and Technology Service Stations”.

Jiang Jianchun (Executive Vice President and Secretary General of Jiangsu Mechanical Engineering Society), Cao Xuehong (Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice President of NJIT), and Wang Yurong (Deputy Director of the Student Affairs Office at NJIT), presented awards to 12 teams that received the first, second and third prizes in The First Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition for Young Members of Jiangsu Mechanical Engineering Society.

Wang Baosheng (Executive Director of the Smart Manufacturing Equipment Research Institute of NJIT), and Ni Fei (General Manager of Jiangsu Minsheng Heavy Industry Co., Ltd.) signed an industry-university-research cooperation project agreement of “Development of Mobile Pressure Vessel Traceability System” on behalf of both parties.

At the smart manufacturing forum, Professor Shi Jianjun (academician of the National Academy of Engineering), Professor Ma Yongsheng (University of Alberta), and Professor Qiu Songgang (West Virginia University) were invited to present keynote speeches on the themes of “Machine Learning Promotes Quality Improvement of smart manufacturing System”, “Feature-based Cyber-physics Modeling in Complex Energy Production System” and “Research on Oscillating Flow in Engine AC Heat Exchanger”, respectively. They described the development and cutting-edge science and technology of smart manufacturing around the world, highlighted the key technologies and latest research results in the mechanical & electrical field, and proposed ideas for the future development of smart manufacturing in China. The keynote report stimulated great interest and heated discussion among participants.

At the forum, Cao Xuehong (Deputy Secretary of NJIT), introduced NJIT’s history, development achievements and ideas. The speech focused on NJIT’s integration of industry and university, its development of high-quality applied talents, the establishment of a team of high-level teachers, scientific research and internationalization, and social reputation NJIT had received. Ms.Cao explained that, at present and in the future, NJIT would insist on being realistic and pioneering, improving and developing, and following the philosophy of “focusing on one priority, highlighting two major themes, following three unwavering and achieving four major promotions”. With “discipline construction as the guide, personnel training at the center, teaching staff as the foundation, integration of industry and education as the key, and system and mechanism as the guarantee”, the focus should be made to enhance the core competitiveness of NJIT in applied education, establish a secure foundation for the construction of high-level universities, and strengthen the development of NJIT into a high-level applied engineering university with distinctive characteristics.

The full-day group report on June 29 was divided into six discussion groups around five topics, i.e., electronic design, clean energy, energy system, control system and manufacturing engineering. Some submitted papers were also displayed on the paper display board. The group discussion was warm and orderly. Experts and scholars attending the meeting exchanged and discussed relevant topics with keynote speakers in the interactive session.

The two-day conference was held in the form of “meeting, exhibition, business and competition”. The Achievement Award of Jiangsu Mechanical Engineering Science and Technology was launched during the conference and guided and inspired scientific and technological workers to pursue excellence and progress in science and technology. The issued tablet of the science and technology service station promoted science and technology workers to fulfill their obligations to support businesses. The award certificates of the Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition stimulated the enthusiasm of young members to participate in entrepreneurship and innovation. The meeting also showed the scientific and technological achievements of societies and colleges, highlighting the scientific and technological resources of the society and colleges. The signing ceremony of the technical cooperation agreement among industry, university and research held at the meeting enhanced the transformation of intellectual property rights. More than 50 collected papers and scientific and technological achievements relating to smart manufacturing and interdisciplinary subjects complied at the meeting into a single volume, which was distributed to all participants, with a view to exerting the forum effect and propelling the innovative development of smart manufacturing and mechanical & electrical technology in the field of mechanical engineering.