On September 2, the School of Mechanical Engineering Zhejiang University held its 2025 Summer Work Conference at the Zijingang Campus’s Kaiwu Yuan. The meeting conveyed the guiding spirit of Zhejiang University’s 2025 Summer Work Conference, reviewed the School’s accomplishments in the previous phase, discussed the development plan for the upcoming “15th Five-Year” period (2026–2030), and clarified the roadmap for building a world-class mechanical engineering discipline. Over 170 participants attended the conference, including university leaders from relevant departments, all members of the School’s leadership team, heads of departments and institutes, Party Committee members, Party branch secretaries, center directors, faculty representatives, and administrative staff. The conference was chaired by Zhenyu Liu, Party Secretary of the School.
Bing Xu, Executive Vice Dean of the School, delivered a report on behalf of the School of Mechanical Engineering titled “Running the Relay Race Toward Building a World-Class University and Forging a Globally Leading Discipline in Mechanical Engineering.” The report comprehensively reviewed and systematically summarized the School’s achievements and key initiatives over the past year across multiple areas, including Party building and ideological education, teaching and learning, scientific research, talent recruitment and development, international collaboration, and alumni and external engagement.
Over the past year, with strong support from various university departments and the dedicated efforts of faculty and students, the School has steadily advanced its overall development and achieved remarkable results. This year marks the inaugural year of the “15th Five-Year Plan” (2026–2030). Moving forward, the School will remain steadfastly committed to serving national strategic priorities (“the nation’s greatest concerns”), leveraging world-class Party building to guide the development of a world-class discipline. It will optimize its disciplinary structure, strengthen its talent pipeline, and delve deeply into the cultural DNA of the School. Amid intensifying competition—“with pioneers ahead and challengers close behind”—the School will seize opportunities proactively and strive vigorously to write a new chapter in the “Double First-Class” initiative in this new era.
The following university leaders attended and delivered remarks at the meeting: Yongjun Wu, Director of the Office of Collaborative Affairs and Deputy Director of the Party Committee Office and University President’s Office; Jianwei Yin, Director of the Office of Development Planning; Shufang Xiang, Director of the Talent Work Office; Bingfeng Ju, Dean of the Academy of Scientific Research; Shenjun Weng, Party Secretary and Deputy Dean of the Academy of Advanced Technology; Xiaoyan Wang, Director of the Zijingang Campus Management Committee; Zhengrong Liu, Director of the Office of Development and Alumni Relations; Dingjiang Chen, Dean of the Institute of Industrial Technology Transformation; Chuanxia Zhang, Deputy Director of the Student Affairs Department of the Party Committee; Li Zhou, Deputy Director of the Human Resources Office; Wei Han, Deputy Director of the Undergraduate School’s Academic Affairs Office; Xiao Lin, Deputy Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange; Bing Chen, Deputy Director of the General Services Office; and Linan Shan, Deputy Dean of the Institute for Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Research.
Leaders from these departments extended their congratulations on the School’s recent progress and achievements, and highly commended the School’s longstanding contributions to the university’s overall development. Aligning with the university’s strategic goals and deployment for the “15th Five-Year Plan” (2026–2030), they offered constructive suggestions for the School’s next phase of development. They expressed their hope that, under the leadership of its newly appointed leadership team, the School will further leverage its strengths, address existing gaps, continuously improve institutional frameworks, stimulate innovation, prioritize talent recruitment and cultivation, identify and promote exemplary cases, strengthen development and outreach efforts, enhance cultural communication, and foster a vibrant research environment. They encouraged the School to take on greater responsibilities and serve as a model in the new journey toward accelerating the establishment of a world-leading discipline in mechanical engineering.
ZhenyuLiu , Party Secretary of the School, delivered a special report on Party building titled “Deep Integration of Party Building and Core Operations: Uniting Hearts and Minds for Shared Development.” The report focused on the achievements and reflections regarding the School’s Party-building efforts and outlined key priorities for the next phase, thereby laying a solid political foundation for the high-quality development of all School endeavors.
Bing Xu, Executive Vice Dean of the School, presented a special report on personnel affairs and faculty development. He provided a detailed overview of the School’s progress in talent recruitment, analyzed existing challenges, and proposed strategic directions and concrete measures for strengthening the faculty team in the upcoming phase.
Vice Deans Peng Zhao and Yuanliu Chen, along with Hui Tian, Deputy Party Secretary, also delivered thematic reports aligned with their respective areas of responsibility—covering research management, teaching and education, and ideological and political work within discipline development.
与会教师代表结合本次会议主题作交流发言。中国工程院院士、设计工程及自动化系主任谭建荣提出，当前高校科研竞争激烈，学院成果丰硕，但重大奖项仍待突破。希望全体老师高度重视，提升创新能力，深化自我认识，为学院及学校发展做出更大贡献。学院学术委员会主任付新表示，近年来学科发展态势良好，离不开两位院士的卓越贡献和全体教师的辛苦付出。他强调，要坚持深耕与拓展并重，强化人才引育的交叉融合导向。相信在新一届领导班子带领下，学院必将再攀高峰。学院各系所负责人、支部书记及教师代表纷纷表示，坚决贯彻落实国家、学校关于“十五五”战略布局与发展规划的指示精神，聚焦国家重大需求，深化产教研融合，加强课程建设与实践育人，激发师生创新活力。未来学院定将凝心聚力、整合资源，提升科研攻坚水平，助力开辟机械学科发展新道路。
Faculty representatives in attendance delivered remarks aligned with the conference theme. Academician Jianrong Tan of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Head of the Department of Design Engineering and Automation noted that while competition in higher education research is intensifying and the School has achieved abundant results, it still awaits a breakthrough in major national awards. He urged all faculty members to attach great importance to this challenge, enhance their innovation capabilities, deepen self-awareness, and make even greater contributions to the development of both the School and the University.
Xin Fu, Chair of the School’s Academic Committee, remarked that the discipline’s strong momentum in recent years owes much to the outstanding contributions of the two academicians and the dedicated efforts of all faculty members. He emphasized the need to balance deep specialization with strategic expansion and to strengthen interdisciplinary integration in talent recruitment and development. He expressed confidence that, under the leadership of the newly appointed leadership team, the School will reach new heights.
Heads of departments and institutes, Party branch secretaries, and faculty representatives all expressed their firm commitment to implementing the national and university-level strategic directives for the “15th Five-Year Plan” (2026–2030). They pledged to focus on the nation’s most critical needs, deepen the integration of industry, education, and research, enhance curriculum development and practice-oriented education, and stimulate innovation among faculty and students. Looking ahead, they affirmed that the School will unite its efforts, integrate resources, elevate its capacity for tackling key scientific and technological challenges, and pave new pathways for the advancement of mechanical engineering as a discipline.
Following the main conference, the School convened a special meeting focused on research affairs. Attendees included discipline leaders, members of the School’s leadership team, heads of departments and institutes, and administrative staff.
At the meeting, directors of various research institutes, the Experimental Teaching Center, the Engineering Training Center, the Institute of High-End Equipment, the High-End CNC Machine Tool Technology Innovation Center, and the HaiChuang Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center each presented updates on their current research directions and developmental progress. They conducted in-depth analyses of existing challenges and obstacles and, aligning with the University’s strategic deployment for the “15th Five-Year Plan” (2026–2030) and focusing on the key priorities of “Three Major Areas and One World-Class Goal” (“Three Majors, One Top-Tier”), jointly discussed and formulated future development directions and concrete action plans. The meeting aimed to coordinate and effectively implement all key tasks for the upcoming year.
Pic：Feimiao
Word：Sunshuyi Zhang
