On December 12, 2023, the 2023 Governing Board and Advisory Board Meeting of the International Centre for Engineering Education under the auspices of UNESCO (ICEE) was held online. YANG Bin, Executive Director of ICEE and Vice President of Tsinghua University, WANG Chen, Vice President of Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), and Shahbaz Khan, Director of the UNESCO Office in Beijing attended the meeting and delivered a speech respectively. ICEE’s governing and advisory board members and representatives of relevant organizations were present. WU Qidi, Director of ICEE, and former Vice Minister of Education (MOE), China presided over the meeting.
 

WU Qidi presided over the meeting

Shahbaz Khan delivered a speech

In his speech, Shahbaz Khan said that ICEE has been focusing on major issues of quality and equity of engineering education since its establishment. Engineering is about the knowledge and practice of solving problems, which is one of the most important activities in the context of sustainable development. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) will be vital to tackle the global challenges we face today, and future engineers need to incorporate sustainability into their practice. We must continue to work on Priority Africa, and youth-related priority; we need to attract more people to engage in engineering, women in particular; we should collaborate with Chinese engineering universities and colleges, particularly with Tsinghua University, to jointly advance high-quality engineering education.

WANG Chen delivered a speech

In his address, WANG Chen highlighted that ICEE has taken active actions, and made fruitful efforts in areas such as consultation research, engineering capacity building, and international exchange and cooperation. The high-quality development of engineering science and technology as well as engineering education to support the realization of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is related to common interests of the international community and the future of the earth. To address current challenges in engineering education, it is urgent to promote innovation in multiple aspects such as educational concepts, cultivation modes, curriculum systems, teaching methods, and collaboration mechanisms. We can adapt to development and lead the change in this ever-changing world by nurturing outstanding future engineers at different levels and types. CAE will continue supporting international cooperation in global engineering education, give full play to ICEE’s role as a bridge in the international engineering education community, and provide exemplary models for engineering education innovation, to make greater contributions to sustainable development.

 YANG Bin delivered a speech

YANG Bin delivered a speech on behalf of the Chairperson of the ICEE Governing Board. He emphasized that the major decision and deployment of building a leading country in education has put forward new requirements for the development of engineering education in China. In the 21st century, engineering education is transforming into a new paradigm of cross-discipline, cross-domain, cross-nation, and cross-culture. Pressing issues that remain to be addressed in the transition of engineering education include how to effectively enhance the quality of interdisciplinary learning of engineering talents and how to systematically improve their innovation capabilities. Looking to the future, Tsinghua University will leverage ICEE as a link to share engineering education experiences with countries around the world, promote the advancement of global engineering education, and contribute to the construction of a more prosperous, sustainable, and better world.

YUAN Si delivered the work report

YUAN Si, Executive Director of ICEE, delivered the annual work report. In the past year, ICEE has conducted research on major strategic topics such as “Research on the Strategy of Global Engineering Education Database Building” and “Research on Some Problems of Engineer Systems”. ICEE has published six monographs and submitted 13 policy research reports and policy consultation reports to CAE, MOE, and China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), etc., and has been deeply involved in the whole process of the revision of the international standards by International Engineering Alliance (IEA). ICEE has put forward a series of recommendations to promote the high-quality development of engineering education strengthened international cooperation in engineering education, and played an important role in supporting the policy formulation. In addition, ICEE has maintained its collaboration with its global partner XuetangX and jointly organized eight global online education dialogues. Together with China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHEC), ICEE has established bases and cultivated over 2,400 local engineering and technical talents for African and Asian countries via major engineering projects,   with approximately one-third being females. Besides, ICEE has participated in organizing the 3rd International Forum on Engineering Education, strengthened the communication and exchanges with international organizations actively promoted the construction of a global engineering education community, and contributed to the promotion of global engineering education development.

Edward F. Crawley made concluding remarks

Edward F. Crawley, Co-chairperson of the Advisory Board of ICEE, made concluding remarks. He said that he is glad to witness the fruitful achievements ICEE has made. We should engage in broader, more diverse exchanges and communication, make full use of global resources, and expand the boundaries of engineering education. The focus of engineering education should be placed on fundamental engineering issues such as energy, bio-engineering, and artificial intelligence, and should pay great attention to ethical issues in artificial intelligence. We should actively promote the future of digitalized engineering education, foster a deep integration of artificial intelligence and engineering, and incorporate the concept of sustainable development into engineering education.

Finally, the Governing Board reviewed and approved the 2023 ICEE work report and 2024 work plan. The Govern and Advisory Board members and special guests made positive and constructive suggestions on the future development of ICEE.

Board members attending this meeting include QIN Changwei, Secretary General of the National Commission of the People’s Republic of China for  UNESCO, QU Zhenyuan, former President of China Association of Higher Education, YU Shouwen, former Vice President of Tsinghua University, GONG Ke, former President of World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), Hideaki Koizumi, former Executive Vice President of Engineering Academy of Japan (EAJ), Robert Pullen, former President of the South African Academy of Engineering (SAAE), Hans J. Hoyer, Secretary General of International Federation for Engineering Education Societies (IFEES), TIAN Hongqi, former President of Central South University, WANG Shuguo, President of Xi’an Jiaotong University (represented by Vice President HONG Jun), Funso A. Falade, President of African Engineering Education Association (AEEA), Brian Figaji, former Principle and Vice Chancellor of Peninsula Technikon, Anette Kolmos, Director of Aalborg Centre for Problem Based Learning in Engineering Science and Sustainability (UCPBL), Denmark, ZHA Jianzhong, Chairholder of UNESCO Chair on Cooperation between Higher Engineering Education and Industries at Beijing Jiaotong University, and Yashin Brijmohan, former Vice President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO).

Other participants include TIAN Qi, Director of International Cooperation Bureau (ICB) of CAE, DING Yangbing, Deputy Director of Bureau II of CAE, LIU Chang, Director of Division I of ICB of CAE, WANG Xiaojun, Consultant of the Education Division of CAE, WANG Sunyu, Deputy Executive Director and Secretary General of ICEE, and Professor of Institute of Education (IOE), Tsinghua University, KANG Jincheng, a distinguished expert of ICEE and former Director of the International Cooperation Bureau of CAE, Prof. SHI Zhongying, Dean of IOE, Tsinghua University, Research Professor Liu Huiqin, Secretary of the Party Committee of IOE, Tsinghua University, LI Manli, Professor of IOE, Tsinghua University, ZHONG Zhou, Associate Professor of IOE, Tsinghua University, QIAO Weifeng, Assistant to Secretary-General and an associate professor of research at ICEE, LEI Huan, Deputy Director of the Office of Development and Planning, Tsinghua University, TANG Xiaofeng, Associate Professor of IOE, Tsinghua University, XU Lihui and SHEN Ye, Assistant to Secretary-General of ICEE, WANG Shuaiguo from XuetangX, an ICEE’s partner, LOU Xia from Huahe Cultural Development Co., Ltd., ZHANG Xiaoqiang, LI Haiquan and SHI Zhongqiang from CHEC, ZENG Jinsong from Global Ballet Centre, PAN Xiaochun, FU Jie, HE Shiyu and TAO Jinhua, postdoctors from IOE, Tsinghua University, as well as ICEE Secretariat members ZHU Pan, LI Jingjing, LI Chao, and others.