On the afternoon of November 21^st, 2024, the opening ceremony of co-operation program in bachelor of mechanical design manufacture and automation between Chongqing Jiaotong University, China and University of Northumbria at Newcastle, United Kingdom was held in the Academic Lecture Hall of Zhiyuan Building, Science City Campus. The Northumbria University’s relevant representatives Rob Carthy, Director of the International Development Office, Sunny Sun, Head of China Region, and the Chongqing Jiaotong University’s relevant representatives Mao Mingyong, Director of the International Office, Xu Houzhi, Deputy Director of the International Office, Lin Xingdong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Mechanical, Electrical, and Vehicle Engineering, He Zeyin, Vice Dean of the School of Mechanical, Electrical, and Vehicle Engineering and more than 200 teachers and students of the program attended the Opening Ceremony.

The ceremony was divided into two stages, hosted by Zhan Zhenfei, assistant to the dean of the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering of Chongqing Jiaotong University. In the first stage, Director Rob Carthy firstly expressed his warm welcome to all the program’s students of the 23^rd and 24^th grade, and briefly reviewed the two universities’ cooperation history, meanwhile highly praised the results of the cooperation. Vice Dean He Zeyin, expressed his welcome and thanks to Rob Carthy and his delegation for attending the opening ceremony, and shared the development trend of mechanical disciplines in recent years as well as the ideas of the school’s discipline construction. He hoped that the students would develop in all aspects of morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor, adhere to the organic fusion of knowledge and ability, and insist on the organic integration of the international vision and local culture, so as to become innovative, skilled in engineering practice, and cross-cultural and creative. Director Mao Mingyong fully affirmed the fruitful achievements of the program over the past ten years, and hoped that in the new cooperation cycle, both parties could continue to increase their investment, expand the field of cooperation, and continue to improve the quality and quality of the program. At the same time, he also expressed the best wishes to all the students of the program that they should keep in mind the school motto of “Virtues in Mind & Transport Worldwide”, and become a bridge of friendly exchanges between the two universities, the two countries, and even between China and the world.

Terence Liu, the representative of the foreign teachers, gave a detailed introduction on the overview of the faculty, the construction of disciplines and the special courses. Dr. Jiang Zhaohua, the Chinese partner teacher, encouraged the students to better organize their study life and determine the direction of their life through the international exchange platform provided by the Sino-foreign cooperative education program. He Hao, the representative of the 23rd grade students, shared his academic planning and encouraged the students to work hard to study together, and to strengthen the language ability and communication ability while learning professional knowledge well.

In the second stage, Director Rob Carthy highlighted to the students the great progress and achievements made by Northumbria University in recent years in terms of comprehensive ranking, academic construction, scientific research, campus hardware and software construction. Subsequently, Sunny Sun, Head of China Region of the university, and Amy Yu, Admissions Officer, introduced to the students in detail the curriculum of the program, the conditions and language requirements for studying at Northumbria University, accommodation and food conditions, the advantages of employment and the planning for further studies. Representatives of the two universities participated in the opening ceremony and had interactive exchanges with the students, seriously answering their questions about the academic qualifications, training system and other issues.