A group photo of leaders of Politecnico di Torino and Beijing Institute of Technology

Alberto Sapora, vice-president of Italy's Politecnico di Torino (Polytechnic University of Turin), led a delegation to visit Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) on May 12.

BIT vice-president Wei Yiming welcomed the delegation and introduced the high-quality development of BIT in recent years in talent cultivation, scientific research, team building and open education.

Wei reviewed the fruitful cooperation achievements between the two universities in areas such as flame-retardant materials, control theory, industrial design, as well as student exchanges. He stated that Polytechnic University of Turin is one of the most valued and deeply cooperative partners of BIT. He expressed his hope that, in the future, both sides can collaborate on innovative projects in cutting-edge fields such as intelligent driving, new energy technology, and industrial design, jointly apply for high-level research projects, enhance student exchanges, explore the establishment of "overseas offices", and pragmatically promote cooperation in various fields.

Sapora thanked BIT for the warm reception and spoke highly of the cooperative achievements between the two universities over the past two decades in research collaboration, academic exchanges, and faculty and student visits.

He emphasized the importance that Polytechnic University of Turin places on its partnership with BIT and looked forward to expanding cooperation in areas of mutual strength such as mechanical engineering, materials science, and industrial design. Sapora said he hoped that the visit would serve as an opportunity to drive new breakthroughs in research collaboration, faculty exchanges, joint doctoral student training, and other areas of cooperation between the two institutions.

The delegation from Polytechnic University of Turin visits BIT's historical museum.

During the visit, representatives from both sides engaged in discussions and exchanges on topics related to research collaboration, faculty and student exchanges in fields such as materials, mechanical engineering, and design.

Founded in 1859, the Polytechnic University of Turin is one of Italy's oldest polytechnic universities. It enjoys international reputation in engineering fields such as architectural design, mechanical manufacturing, and electronic communications, ranking 241st in the 2025 QS World University Rankings. In 2007, the Polytechnic University of Turin signed an inter-school cooperation agreement with BIT. In 2012, the two universities signed a joint construction agreement to establish the "Flame Retardant Science and Technology International Joint Laboratory".