A delegation led by Professor Brett Kirk, Associate Deputy Vice Chancellor of Curtin University in Australia, visited the Laoshan Campus of Ocean University of China (OUC) from March 11th to12th, participating in the first Symposium on Marine, Subsea and Ocean Engineering and Technology.

Vice President Chen Rui met with the guests and delivered his welcome speech. The two sides exchanged their views on the latest research in the fields of marine, subsea and ocean engineering and technology. Pragmatic discussions were held to expand the cooperation after the eight experts from OUC and 11 from Curtin University shared their research interests and achievements, as well as the basic situations of marine engineering and technologies in related departments.

The two sides agreed and exchanged ideas on the establishment of a Sino-Australia Joint Research Center for Marine, Subsea and Ocean Engineering and Technology for the deepening of cooperation through joint educational programs, joint research programs, and regular academic exchanges.

The Australian delegation were also present at a conference which was also attended by representatives from OUC and Qingdao High-tech Zone on March 12th to discuss the establishment of the Qingdao Joint Research (Incubation) Center for Marine Engineering and Technology, so as to facilitate research industrialization through international cooperation.

Presided by Director Fan Hongtao from the Office for Blue Growth, the conference, offering brief introduction to basic situation of the Qingdao High-tech Zone and its marine engineering facilities in particular, served as a new platform for the transformation of cooperative mode from inter-universities to the cooperation among the three parties.

During the delegation’s visit, a framework agreement was signed between the two sides, covering such wide areas as people-to-people exchange, joint educational and research programs, and joint symposiums, as well as postgraduate programs. In addition, two experts from Curtin University also visited Yushan Campus, exploring opportunities for future cooperation with their counterparts in the College of Fisheries.