On August 25, 2025, the 10th “Sino-EU Engineering Education Platform (SEEEP) High Level PhD Summer School” was held at the Chan Sui Kau Hall of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Attending the opening ceremony were Vice President Zhang Zhaoguo of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Chairman of the College Council Ge Tianshu of the Global Institute of Future Technology, Deputy Director Wang Qian of the Division of Global Cooperation and Exchange, Vice Dean Zhao Min of the National Graduate College For Elite Engineers, Vice Dean Zhu Lei of the School of Mechanical Engineering, Professor Wang Ruzhu of the School of Mechanical Engineering as well as Head of the Department of Energy Technology Björn Laumert from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), Assistant to the Vice President Yingfang He, Professor Mehrdad Ghandhari Alavijh from the Department of Electrical Power and Energy Systems, Director of the Energy Technology Research Center David Smeulders from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology (the Netherlands), and Professor Yu Zitao from the School of Energy Engineering of Zhejiang University. The event was hosted by Professor Dai Yanjun from the School of Mechanical Engineering.
This event is a high-level summer school organized under the frameworks of the Sino-EU Engineering Education Platform (SEEEP) and the Sino-European Joint Doctoral School in Sustainable Engineering. It is also an approved program of the Graduate School and the National Graduate College for Elite Engineers of Shanghai Jiao Tong University for the 2025 summer school, held alternately in China and Europe every year. Co-organized by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Zhejiang University, the KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden) and Eindhoven University of Technology (the Netherlands), this year's summer school took place in Shanghai and Hangzhou respectively. More than 10 teachers from the four universities and 49 doctoral students from over 10 universities in the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Norway, China and other countries participated in the summer school, with the session at Shanghai Jiao Tong University running from the 24th to the 30th.
This year's summer school focused on the theme "Energy, Industry and AI: Affordable Energy and Technological Transformation". Experts and scholars from the four co-organizing universities, along with nearly 10 industry experts including technical leaders from leading new energy enterprises and environmental technology companies, gathered together. During the event, a series of cutting-edge reports were delivered, covering key fields such as innovation in energy utilization, research on carbon dioxide capture and conversion, and international energy transition practices. It provided teachers and students present with a technical feast that combined academic depth and application value. The students learned through a combination of academic reports, exchange discussions and technical visits. By learning and exploring topics such as Sino-European industrial AI, carbon capture, hydrogen storage and smart grids, the students enhanced their capabilities in interdisciplinary communication and cross-cultural cooperation.
Academic lecture by Professor David Smeulders
Academic lecture by Professor Wang Ruzhu
The 49 doctoral students from more than 10 universities in China and Europe were divided into 7 groups with diverse backgrounds. They engaged in learning through a mix of academic reports, exchange discussions and technical visits. Through their study and exploration of topics like Sino-European industrial AI, carbon capture, hydrogen storage and smart grids, the students developed their interdisciplinary communication and cross-cultural collaboration skills. Within two weeks, they formulated research ideas for the corresponding topics and successfully completed the presentation of their group reports.
Group Discussion
The summer school also arranged a variety of technology and cultural visit and exchange activities. During the enterprise visits, the students went to industry-leading companies such as Carrier Air Conditioning and Huawei Technology. By observing industrial production processes on-site, they not only gained close access to cutting-edge achievements in the fields of industrial manufacturing and information technology, but also developed a direct understanding of the enterprises' innovation concepts and development models.
Visit to Carrier Air Conditioning
Visit to Huawei
Visit to Huawei Lianqiu Lake R&D Center
Group Presentations
This event integrates the advantageous resources of China and Europe in the fields of energy technology, industrial practice and artificial intelligence, and builds a cross-regional and interdisciplinary collaborative exchange platform. It breaks the limitations of single countries and single disciplines in technology research and development, policy formulation and industrial application. It enables doctoral students to keep abreast of the research hotspots and technical trends in global energy transition, broaden their international academic horizons, and establish cross-border and cross-field academic cooperation bonds. This accumulates valuable resources for carrying out joint research and participating in international projects in the future.
Source: SJTU ME
Editor on Duty: Yan Cheng