From November 4^thto 7^th, “2019 Sino-UK Symposium on Advanced Materials and Structures & Sustainable and Green Manufacturing Forum” was held in South Mountain Lyceum International Academic Exchange Center, NPU Chang’an Campusby NPU and QMUL. More than 50 domestic and oversea scholars and more than 100 student representatives attended the conference.

Asthechairman of this forum andDean of QMES, Kong Jie presided over the opening ceremony on November 5^th. On behalf of Vice President Zhang Weihong, he extended the warmest welcome to the experts and scholars attending the meeting.Taking full advantages of cooperative education, the two universities successively established Joint Research Institute for Advanced Materials and Structures (JRI) and International Centre for Teaching and Learning (ICTL), deepening their cooperation and making great progress in teaching, scientific research, student exchanges, teacher training and other fields.The success of the past two symposiums has played a leading and driving role in the cooperation between the two universities, with cooperation projects, papers and patent achievements constantly emerging.NPU and QMUL shared the same goal of establishing world-class universities and reached consensus on cooperation in developing sustainable and green manufacturing technologies.

Then, Professor Mike Reece from QMUL deliveredanopening speech. He said that the two universities had a strong foundation of friendship. He came to NPU 16 years ago and established a long-term partnershiphere. The operation of JRI and the founding of JRI facilitated the establishment of a more systematic, lasting andcompletecooperation mechanism between the two universities. He also hoped that experts and scholars could fully exchangeideasand give suggestions for the green and sustainable development of China and the UK.

19 international well-known experts and scholars from NPU and QMULin the field of advanced materials and structures gave academic reports in the theme of "Sustainable and Green Manufacturing". Theirreports covereda variety of fields such asadvanced biomedical materials, nano-materials, polymer composite materials,green manufacturing and clean energyutilization. They alsomentionedinternationalfrontierdiscipline concepts and scientific research achievements,providinga high level of international academic feast. More than 100 undergraduates, postgraduates and doctoral students from School of MaterialsScience and Engineering, School ofNatural and AppliedSciences, School of Mechanical Engineering, and QMES attended the conference and had close contactswith internationally renowned experts in the field of advanced materials and structures.Many students benefited from the sharing reportsof this conference, and took the initiative to ask for advice from the report guests and exchange theirpuzzles and problems encountered in academic and scientific research.

On November 6^th, all the guests attendingthe conference visited the History Museum of NPU and QMES. Then theyheldaninterview for the selection of postdoctoral and doctoral students in the "International Cooperation and Training Program for Innovative TalentsofAdvanced Materials andStructures" sponsored by China ScholarshipCouncil. Subsequently, experts and scholars from QMUL and NPU helda conferenceofNPU-QMUL Joint Research Institute on Advanced Materials and Structures, onwhichall participantsdiscussed the latest trends of international scientific research cooperation and other JRI issues, and determined that the fourth Sino-UK symposium on advanced materials and structures would be held in London.

On November 7^th, the conference was held in the form of group discussions. Teachers from School of MaterialsScience and Engineering, School ofNatural and AppliedSciences, School of Mechanical Engineering, School of LifeSciencesand QMES of NPU had in-depth exchangeswith professors and scholars from QMUL. According to the research directionsof different groups, they conducted special discussions on research topics and cooperative projects, and provided solutions and innovative ideas for a number ofprojects,all ofwhich greatly promoted the interaction and cooperation between Chinese and British scholars in related fields.

The successof this conference represents a new stage of academic exchange and scientific research cooperation between the two universities. During the conference, a series of cutting-edge issues and development trends put forward by experts and scholars from the two universities in biomedical materials, nano-materials, clean energy and green manufacturing, etc.,enhancedthe driving force for innovation and transformation cooperation of related industries in the western regionof China. These havealso made new contributions to scientific and technological innovation, as well as green and sustainable development of China and the UK.

(Reporter/Tian Renjie, Li Yuanting; Reviewer/Kong Jie)