HIT Media (Wei Wenshuang and Zhao Yuan/text; International Cooperation Division/photo)
During a recent visit to Italy, Fan Feng, vice-president of Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) led a delegation to attend the 2026 China-Europe University Presidents' Dialogue and the 14th annual symposium of the Sino-European Engineering Education Platform (SEEEP).
The delegation also held discussions with the Politecnico di Torino and the Politecnico di Milano to further strengthen institutional cooperation.
At the China-Europe University Presidents' Dialogue, Fan delivered a keynote address entitled Education for Global Challenges and Sustainable Development.
He noted that leading universities have a responsibility to address shared global challenges and integrate the principles of sustainable development into their education and research. He also highlighted HIT's research initiatives and innovations in areas such as carbon neutrality, clean energy, and low-carbon technologies. He expressed hope that Chinese and European universities will deepen research collaboration, develop innovative models for joint education, strengthen technology collaboration, and work together to advance engineering education for a new era.
Fan and his delegation met with Vice-Rector Alberto Giuseppe Sapora and other senior representatives of the Politecnico di Torino.
The two sides reviewed the progress made in student education, jointly established research platforms, and other collaborative initiatives, highlighting milestone achievements such as the Ministry of Education Green International Joint Research Laboratory and their international joint education programs.
They also explored opportunities to expand collaboration in green buildings, engineering safety, aerospace, research on frontier technologies, graduate education, and faculty and student exchanges. Building on their longstanding partnership and complementary strengths, both sides expressed their commitment to broadening collaboration and advancing a new series of joint initiatives that will further strengthen higher education and scientific cooperation between China and Italy.
Fan and his delegation also met with Professor Michele Bonino, dean of the School of Architecture and Design at the Politecnico di Torino and an honorary professor of HIT, to discuss future collaboration in civil engineering and architecture.
Fan Feng meets with representatives of the Politecnico di Torino. [Photo/hit.edu.cn]
Fan Feng meets with Vice-Rector Sapora. [Photo/hit.edu.cn]
Fan Feng meets with Professor Michele Bonino. [Photo/hit.edu.cn]
During the visit, Fan and his delegation attended the 14th annual symposium of SEEEP, where they exchanged views with representatives from European universities on engineering education reform, innovation, and strengthening collaboration among universities, industry, and research institutions.
Fan Feng attends the 14th annual symposium of SEEEP. [Photo/hit.edu.cn]
Fan and his delegation also met with Professor Cristina Jommi, dean of the School of Civil, Environmental and Land Management Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano.
The two sides highlighted their respective strengths and recent research achievements in civil engineering and explored opportunities for collaboration in emerging interdisciplinary areas such as smart civil engineering, green buildings, and disaster prevention and mitigation.
They also discussed joint undergraduate, master's, and doctoral education, as well as the mutual recognition of academic credits. Both sides expressed their commitment to expanding substantive collaboration and advancing cooperation in civil engineering and architectural technology for the mutual benefit of both universities.
Fan Feng meets with the faculty of the School of Civil, Environmental and Land Management Engineering, Politecnico di Milano. [Photo/hit.edu.cn]
Edited by: Shang Yankai
Reviewed by: Song Ling, Li Shoubin, Yang Wenyu