2020 Annual Conference of UKCSAE was successfully held online
The Annual Conference of the UK Chinese Society of Automotive Engineers (UKCSAE) was successfully held online on Saturday 31st, October 2020, with participants including nearly 500 elites in the automotive industry from China, the UK and other countries. China and the UK have profound background for cooperation in the automotive sector. The Annual Conference featured an in-depth focus on two hot topics, automotive digitalization future and new energy vehicle development trend, aiming at facilitating the communication between automotive engineers from China and the UK, as well as accelerating the cooperation between the two countries.
As the President of UKCSAE, Professor Hongming Xu, Head of Vehicle and Engine Technology Center in the University of Birmingham, extended warm welcome and gratitude to all the guests for their attendance and support. He then made a brief review of the Society’s work in the past year.
Minister Councillor for Science and Technology of the Chinese Ambassy in the UK, Mr. Sunan Jiang, conveyed sincere congratulations to UKCSAE on behalf of the Ambassy for successfully holding the Annual Conference. As one of the leading powers in global automotive technology development, the UK automotive industry communicates and cooperates closely with its Chinese counterpart. The two governments have reached a high level of consensus in their close cooperation in the science and technology sector, which will be conducive to the achievement of carbon neutrality. The Chinese Ambassy in the UK welcomes and fully supports the communication and cooperation between automotive engineers from both countries.
Minister Councillor for Science and Technology of the Chinese Ambassy in the UK, Mr. Sunan Jiang, conveyed sincere congratulations to UKCSAE on behalf of the Ambassy for successfully holding the Annual Conference. As one of the leading powers in global automotive technology development, the UK automotive industry communicates and cooperates closely with its Chinese counterpart. The two governments have reached a high level of consensus in their close cooperation in the science and technology sector, which will be conducive to the achievement of carbon neutrality. The Chinese Ambassy in the UK welcomes and fully supports the communication and cooperation between automotive engineers from both countries.
China Business Advisor David Gregory from China-British Business Council( CBBC) reviewed the role CBBC had played in facilitating the cooperation and communication between Chinese and British automotive industries, a course that CBBC, as a non-profitable organization, had always been committed to. The 2020 Annual Conference of UKCSAE also provided an ideal platform for automotive engineers from the two countries to communicate and cooperate.
The Director of the Advanced Propulsion Center (APC) Technology Center Julian Hetherington talked about the automotive electrification plan in the UK. One of the key projects was the integration of production and research in new automotive technology development by setting up a special fund, and he shared relevant experience with us.
Vice President Michael Miller from New Energy Vehicles analyzed the technology and development of new energy vehicles and painted a bright picture of the outlook.
Head of Research Dr Mike Bassett from MAHLE Powertrain Ltd. Global provided some valuable insights into specialized high-efficiency internal combustion engine for PHEV.
Fellow of The Royal Academy of Engineering, Acting Vice Provost & Dean of College of Brunel University London, Professor Hua Zhao, analyzed the future development of engine technologies as well as technologies for zero-emission engines and the corresponding fuel.
CEO of Gasgoo International Ms Tina Zhou analyzed the newly published
Technology Roadmap for Energy Conservation and New Energy Vehicles, and provided her vision about the development trend of future automotive industry from the economic and market perspectives.
Other extinguished guest speakers include: CEO of FISITA Chris Mason, President of China-SAE Professor Jun Li, General Manager of Cummins Inc. Mr. Mark O’Conner, Director of First Automobile Works Mr. Jincheng Li, Technical Director of Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation Dr. Zheng Xu, Chief Engineer of Dongfeng Motor Corporation Dr. Shemin Zhang, President of Association of British-Chinese Professors Professor Jianguo Lin, President of Chinesische Gesellschaft für Maschinenwesen und Elektrotechnik in Deutschland e. V. (CGME) Mr Shicheng Zhang, President of Association des Ingénieurs Chinois de l'Automobile en France (AICAF) Mr Shanjin Wang and President of Promotion Association for Scientific and Technical Cooperation between Autria and China (PASCO) Mr Junwei Jiang.
The Conference was hosted by the Secretary General and Vice President of UKCSAE, Dr Huayin Tang, and the Vice President and Head of External Relations of UKCSAE, Shiru Song. The penal discussion about automotive digitalization was hosted by the Vice President and Head of Organization Department Dr. Chunxing Lin and Dr. Ran Bao. Other than the well-known technology of Artificial Intelligence (AI) , there are many areas of application for all aspects of automotive product development. Digitalization in automotive engineering can be utilized to improve research and development efficiency, lower the development cost and enhance the quality as well as user experience.
The penal discussion about new energy vehicles was hosted by Dr. Huayin Tang and Professor Yue Guo. The development trend of new energy vehicles has been the topic of the automotive industry in recent years, covering different aspects including performance, user experience, security, range and accessible charging as well as different choices and trade-offs. The experts discussed possible development priorities such as HEV and electronic structures based on their adaptation to future user scenarios.
The conference has been supported by the following organizations and sponsors. We would like to thank all of their great support for making this meeting a success.
Dr. Chunxing Lin and Shiru Song provided further details about the past, present and future of UKCSAE. UKCSAE had already held 7 online technical symposiums before the annual conference, with the total number of participants adding up to over 1300. There are nearly 400 members in the Society, including Chinese professionals from OEMs, consulting corporations, universities and research institutes in the British automotive industry. In addition, the Society participated in fund-raising for Wuhan at the beginning of this year. The Covid-19 outbreak in the UK also raised concern among our compatriots in China, and UKCSAE distributed protective materials including more than 8000 masks to the overseas Chinese in the UK. Moreover, the Society also invited two medical experts from Wuhan and Manchester to give online speeches about disease prevention. As a platform between Chinese people living in China and the UK, the Society played a positive role in enhancing their connections. Dr. Huayin Tang laid out further outlines of UKCSAE’s future development, pointing out that the online symposium would serve as a start for a series of online activities and technical communications co-hosted with counterpart organizations in Germany, France and Austria.
The recording of the Annual Conference can be found on YouTube and Bilibili. The links are as follows:
Part 1 Opening address & Future outlook for UKCSAE
Youtube https://youtu.be/4KQkoau_1Vs
Bilibili https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ia411c716/
Part 2 Pannel discussion - Automotive digitalization future
Youtube https://youtu.be/yT1NfhrTYpc
Bilibili https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV16y4y1B7VL/
Part 3 Training Course - Changeway project management Dr. Jun Yang
Youtube https://youtu.be/zFObI_Qxz4I
Bilibili https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Ut4y1e795/
Part 4 Pannel discussion - New Energy Vehicle Development
Youtube https://youtu.be/wdOSGqbEjT4