February 9, 2015
International engineering sciences and technology think tank turns to UOW for collaboration opportunities
Representatives of a newly established centre devoted to the engineering sciences, technology and applied technology visited the University of Wollongong on 4 February.
From left to right: Ms Jessica Sun, Professor Weihua Li, Mr. Zhuo Wang, Mr. Zhiyong Jin, Professor Joe Chicharo, Professor Xu Liu, Ms Chang Liu, Professor Jun Shen, Professor Xi Li, Mr. Gang Pan
A collaboration between UNESCO and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), the Knowledge Centre for Engineering Sciences and Technology (IKCEST) is designed to mobilise the global engineering science and technology community to assemble global data resources, produce and disseminate big data knowledge.
Senior members of IKCEST, which has secured funding from various sources, including the Chinese government, visited UOW to gain a better understanding of the University’s work in big data as well as other research strengths. The delegation was hosted by Professor Joe Chicharo, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Global Strategy) and visited two of UOW’s leading research entities -- the SMART Infrastructure Facility and Australian Institute for Innovative materials (AIIM) – as UOW and IKCEST began working toward identifying potential areas for collaboration.
The CAE is China’s leading engineering sciences and technology think tank. Professor Chicharo said UOW has established successful collaborations with similarly run think tanks including the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). He hopes this visit, headed by CAE Vice President Professor Xu Liu, can be the first step to develop a mutually beneficial collaboration with CAE.
Other delegation members include: Mr. Gang Pan, Deputy Director of CAE Administration Information Centre; Ms Chang Liu, Associate Consultant of CAE Administration Information Centre; Professor Xi Li from the Zhejiang University’s School of Computer Science; Mr Zhuo Wang, Deputy Director of the China Iron and Steel Research Institute Group’s Information Centre; and Mr Zhiyong Jin, Consul for Science and Technology at the Consulate-General (Sydney).