University of Warwick out to make China a manufacturing superpower
The University of Warwick has signed up to a new government partnership which will see its engineering expertise exported to China.
The university’s School of Engineering is part of the government-funded partnership of UK Russell Group Universities, which is looking to work in collaboration with the top nine engineering institutions in China.
The partnership was set up with the help of the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy – and supported by the British Council – in a move designed to build Anglo-Chinese collaborations around research and education.
The aim is to improve the quality of engineering research and teaching in China and generate much-needed revenues for the universities involved.
Alongside the University of Warwick, others in the partnership include: Queen’s University Belfast (which is leading the initiative), Birmingham, Cardiff University, Nottingham and University College London.
The group represents one quarter of the Russell Group of research intensive universities in the UK, which all boast world-leading research and education excellence in engineering.
During a delegation to Shanghai last year, headed by Jo Johnson MP, BEIS agreed to award the initiative £200,000.
The UK group of universities met with their Chinese counterparts at a workshop in Beijing earlier this month.
The government funding will enable the various universities to work closely with the top engineering institutions in China, especially in areas such as energy and advanced manufacturing.
It will also allow China to make the transition from a major manufacturer into a manufacturing superpower.
Professor Jihong Wang, a Professor of Electrical Power & Control Engineering in the University of Warwick’s School of Engineering, said: “The world is facing global engineering challenges, not just in my own area of power generation, control and storage, but across a range of technologies.
“We need partnerships such as these that pull together the best minds in the UK and Chinese engineering research to take on those challenges and to make a real, positive, difference to our daily lives.”
Professor Pam Thomas – Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Warwick, added: “Warwick’s Global Research Priorities programme covers a range of topics and addresses some of the most challenging problems facing the world today including: new materials, sustainable cities, energy and innovative manufacturing.
“Engineering innovation will be key to addressing a great many of these priorities. Forming partnerships between some of the leading engineers in the UK and China is another significant step in taking a global approach to these issues.”
The partners in China include: Southeast University, Beijing Institute of Technology, Chongqing University, Dalian University of Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, South China University of Technology, Tianjin University and Tongji University.
