May 15, 2008

Chinese delegation to visit colleges of Technology, Engineering

The group from China will meet with several faculty and staff members from the College of Technology, the College of Engineering, the Office of International Programs and the Product Lifecycle Management Center of Excellence in Discovery Park. The two institutions will sign a memorandum of understanding to establish research opportunities together.

"The goal of this visit is to develop research collaboration between Beihang University and Purdue, initially in the area of product lifecycle management and later across additional disciplines," said Mileta Tomovic, W.C. Furnas Professor of Enterprise Excellence and head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology. "As the world becomes more interdependent, building relationships with universities like this will be vital for advancing knowledge in science, engineering and technology."

Product lifecycle management is a method whereby manufacturing designers around the world can work on a single project continuously in a nonstop work environment, passing the design from one time zone to another seamlessly.

Among those the delegation will visit with include Tomovic; John Sullivan, director of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing; Leah Jamieson, John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering; Dennis Depew, dean of the College of Technology; Andy Gillespie, associate dean of International Programs; Purdue Provost Randy Woodson; and Pankaj Sharma, associate director of Discovery Park.

Among the members of the Chinese delegation will be Tang Xiaoqing, vice president for international relations at Beihang and vice chairman of the Beijing Municipal Committee.

The delegation will visit the Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering, Knoy Hall of Technology, Hovde Hall, the Product Lifecycle Management Center of Excellence and will tour Discovery Park.

The visit from the Chinese delegation is part of an ongoing dialogue Purdue has had with Beihang dating back to 2003. Tomovic and others from Purdue have visited Beihang four times, and faculty members from Beihang have visited Purdue to work on various projects.

In 2006, Tomovic and Sullivan received the Program 111 award from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Education upon the recommendation of Beihang University for their efforts to support collaboration between Chinese universities and institutions around the world. In 2007, Tomovic was made an honorary visiting professor at Beihang University.

Beihang University has an enrollment of more than 26,000 students, including more than 1,300 doctorate candidates and 5,000 master's degree candidates. It has 42 research institutes and interdisciplinary research centers and 89 laboratories. In recent years, Beihang has ranked among the top institutions in China in funding for scientific research.

Writer: Kim Medaris, (765) 494-6998, kmedaris@purdue.edu

Sources: Mileta Tomovic, (765) 494-5866, tomovicm@purdue.edu

John Sullivan, (765) 494-1279, john.p.sullivan.1@purdue.edu  

Andy Gillespie, (765) 494-8463, andyg@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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