The third International Forum for Ph.D. Students in the Discipline of Design at the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) kicked off on Dec 9.

The forum was guided by the National Steering Committee for Graduate Education in Design of the Ministry of Education and the BIT Graduate School, and was sponsored by the BIT School of Design and Arts.

Participants of the forum pose for a group photo. [Photo/english.bit.edu.cn]

The forum received support from the Key Laboratory of Industrial Manufacturing Art Innovation and Design of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Yanhe Culture Art Gallery, the Tangshan Research Institute, as well as 13 renowned universities worldwide, including the Technical University of Munich in Germany and the Polytechnic University of Turin in Italy.

Academician Long Teng delivers a speech at the forum. [Photo/english.bit.edu.cn]

Academician Long Teng, president of the BIT, delivered the opening speech via video. He expressed his hope that the forum would facilitate extensive exchange, spark thought collisions, and inspire more innovative ideas, leading to fruitful academic achievements.

Professor Lou Yongqi, vice president of Tongji University; Professor Wotan Wilden, the former head of the Industrial Design Department at the Technical University of Munich; and Professor Claudio Germak, the coordinator of the School of Design and Technology at the Polytechnic University of Turin, delivered video speeches.

Professor Yang Jianming, dean of the BIT School of Design, gave the keynote speech, encouraging students to establish academic concepts, emphasize academic exchange, and continuously explore and innovate.

During the exchange session, 17 young scholars, including Zhang Jingyu from the BIT, Shi Jiao, a sudoAI user experience designer at the California Institute of the Arts, Wang Yirui from the BIT, and Yang Mingyue from Hongik University in South Korea, shared their research progress and insights.

The forum sparked academic innovation enthusiasm among a large number of doctoral students, promoted communication among young scholars, created an open and diverse academic dialogue platform, and promoted the improvement of the quality of doctoral education in the design discipline at the BIT.