From September 15th to 17th, 2023, the “Hujiang International Forum on Civil Engineering 2023 was successfully held at University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (USST). The forum was co-organised by the Engineering Risk and Insurance Research Branch of the China Civil Engineering Society and the Shanghai Collaborative Innovation Centre for Tumour Energy Therapy Technology and Instruments.
The forum invited quite a number of famous experts and scholars in the field of geotechnical engineering from China and abroad to discuss on the opportunities and challenges of geotechnical and geological engineering in the context of carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality. They brought academic vitality into the forum. They are from the University of New South Wales (Australia), RWTH Aachen University (Germany), University of Exeter (the UK), Tongji University, Shanghai Jiaotong University and other renowned higher institutions. The participants of the forum reached 400 including teachers and students of the Department of Civil Engineering, USST. The forum held discussions on how to deal with the challenges in the background of achieving the goals of carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality, and how to integrate the principles of sustainable development into the practice of geotechnical engineering. Leaders from the School of Environment and Architecture and the International Affairs Office of the university presented the opening ceremony.
Group Photo of the Forum
Cai Yonglian, Vice Principal of USST, Zhu Hehua, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor from Tongji University, and Professor Huang Yuandong, Dean of School of Environment and Architecture, USST, delivered opening speeches of the conference, which was moderated by Professor Peng Bin, Vice Dean of USST Graduate School.
Opening Speech addressed by USST Vice Principal Cai Yonglian
USST’s Vice Principal Cai Yonglian said in her speech that the forum aims to promote the cooperation and exchange of cutting-edge science and technology in the international arena, that USST's civil engineering major has long established friendly cooperation with a group of universities, and that this forum is a manifestation of the joint efforts to deepen international cooperation and exchange. Zhu Hehua, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering said that achieving the goals of carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality is crucial to the development of China and the survival of human beings, and that this forum covered a number of bottlenecks in the development of geotechnical and geological engineering, which provides new ideas for the development of geotechnical and geological engineering under the background of carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality strategy. Professor Huang Yuandong made introduction of the School of Environment and Architecture and delivered a speech welcoming the attending guests.
The forum saw into the hot issues and the frontier problems of civil engineering, and tried to provide Chinese thinking and international vision for the green and high-quality development of the civil engineering industry. Sun Jun, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences and professor of Tongji University, reviewed the great revolution of maritime transport construction and discussed the preliminary work and operation plan of vacuum superconducting magnetic levitation high-speed tunnel project, which provided inspiration on how to build for maritime transport. Wang Fawu, foreign academician of the Japanese Academy of Engineering and professor of Tongji University, shared the analysis of the damage caused by the Kahramanmaraş earthquake in Turkey in 2023 and its inspiration for the realization of China's goals of carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality strategy. Nasser Khalili, fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), and professor of University of New South Wales, gave a keynote speech and shared his new ideas on unsaturated soil mechanics. Professor Rafig Azzam, former President of International Association of Engineering Geology and professor of RWTH Aachen University, Germany, gave a keynote speech on the self-organized sensor network for landslide monitoring based on data fusion and data mining, and developed a prototype system of landslide early warning to provide reference for the improvement of the accuracy of landslide early warning.
Professor Liu Songyu, chief scientist of Geotechnical Engineering Discipline of Southeast University, shared the technological innovation and application of low-carbon geotechnical engineering, including geotechnical engineering intelligence and geotechnical engineering carbon sequestration technology, etc., which realized the effective use of carbon in geotechnical engineering, and provided a new way of thinking for the Civil Engineering Discipline to implement the carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality strategy. Professor Feng Shijin, recipient of the National Outstanding Young Scientist Fund, young chief scientist of the National Key Basic Research and Development Programme (nicknamed as 973 Programme), and director of the Research Management Department of Tongji University, comprehensively analysed the thermal interaction mechanism of the energy cluster piles in the coastal soft soil layer and provided references for the development of geothermal energy and clean energy supplemental heating technology and coastal geotechnical and engineering geology. Professor Huang Yu, recipient of the National Outstanding Young Scientist Fund and Changjiang Scholar entitled by the Ministry of Education of China, working with Tongji University, made a presentation on the spatial and temporal evolution of large deformation flow in soil, the disaster-causing mechanism of multi-phase transition, evolution assessment and disaster prevention and control.
Keynote Speech delivered by Wang Fawu
Keynote Speech delivered by Nasser Khalili
Lectures delivered by Experts from Home and Abroad
In addition to the main venue, the forum also set up breakout rooms where academic exchange was made available for medical-industrial interdisciplinary research. Participants agreed that the success of this forum not only helps to promote the development of geotechnical and geological engineering field, but also further highlights the influence and reputation of USST in the international academic community.
The success of the Hujiang International Forum on Civil Engineering 2023 impressed all the participants. At the closing ceremony, Mrs. Lu Xiao, Party Secretary of the School of Environment and Architecture, said that this forum not only establishes a high-level expertise exchange mechanism, gathers the wisdom of the majority of civil engineering science and technology workers, and displays the innovative scientific research results in the field of civil engineering, but also plays a positive role in promoting the civil engineering disciplines in the school. The School of Environment and Architecture of USST will be honoured to take on the mission to contribute to the sustainable development of civil engineering and the goals of carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality with its own strength and capacity.
