The 2023 Welcome Ceremony was held in the Auditorium, International Campus, Zhejiang University on September 17. 347 2023 intakes of Chinese and foreign undergraduate, master and doctoral students set foot at a new starting point and embarked on a new journey.

Prof. He Lianzhen, Vice President of ZJU and Prof. John Coleman, UIUC Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost delivered welcome speeches. Prof. Li Hanying, Dean of International Campus, ZJU, Qu Lijuan, Executive Deputy Secretary, the CPC of International Campus, Vice Dean of International Campus, Prof. Wu Jian, Vice Dean of International Campus, Prof. Zhao Peng, Coordinators and Vice Dean of the School of Mechanical Engineering, Prof. Duan Yuanfeng, Coordinators and Vice Dean of the College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, and representatives of relevant colleges in ZJU, as well as heads in the relevant departments of the campus attended the ceremony. Prof. Rashid Bashir, Dean of the Grainger College of Engineering, Prof. Philippe Geubelle, Executive Associate Dean of the Grainger College of Engineering, Prof. Umberto Ravaioli, Director of Academic Affairs for the ZJU-UIUC Program of the Grainger College of Engineering attended the ceremony. Prof. Rashid Bashir and Prof. Philippe Geubelle gave speeches. Prof. Lee Der-Horng, Dean of ZJUI, Prof. Jin Jianming, Executive Dean of ZJUI, Prof. MA Hao, Vice Dean of ZJUI, Prof. WANG Hongwei, Vice Dean of ZJUI, attended the ceremony online and offline. Representatives of ZJUI faculty members and students’ parents attended the ceremony.

First, Prof. He Lianzhen extended a warm welcome to all the first-year students, as well as gratitude and greetings to our partners at UIUC and parents. She pointed out that the current international situation is constantly undergoing profound changes, and global challenges are becoming more severe. She hopes that students can clear their mind with explicit goals, dare to explore and engage in in-depth research, and think great thoughts with unwavering devotion to the shared future. On the path of forging ahead and striving for excellence, she reminds students not to forget the beauty along the way, to enjoy the process, and to ignore gains and losses. She encouraged students to strive to be the trendsetter in the new era, make full use of the platform and opportunities provided by the two universities, practice the mission and responsibility of youth, build a community of shared future for mankind, draw a magnificent picture of human social progress with the essence of eastern and western education, and contribute wisdom to meet global challenges.

Prof. John Coleman stated that ZJUI is truly a peer partnership, and it brings together two well matched universities, two of the best in the world with an equal and strong commitment to excellence in engineering education. All the new students are evidence of that the two universities share a great deal of history together. As a university that values global impact, UIUC’s history is filled with many types of collaborations with many institutions. But the partnership with Zhejiang University that new students are now a part of is truly unique. He hoped that students can immerse themselves in this unique and outstanding platform, inspire themselves to achieve brilliance.

Prof. Rashid Bashir welcomed new students and their parents. He pointed out that the times have undergone profound changes, and universities no longer tell students what to do, but constantly guide and inspire students. He said that it's not that we have changed our mission to challenge you to be excellent, but what has changed is our efforts to make each and every one of you successful. He hoped that all new students act with understanding empathy and kindness towards everyone around the world and create harmony amongst humanity. Prof. Philippe Geubelle introduced the faculty, research, curriculum, and student development of the Grainger College of Engineering, encouraging students to strive for excellence and create a better world through engineering innovation.

Prof. Lee Der-Horng indicated that the international campus has been guided by the mission to empower future international leaders and citizens with skills, passion, ambition, resourcefulness, and knowledge (SPARK) to enable them to change their world, and ZJUI takes "educating innovators in engineering and leaders of tomorrow" as its foundation, and we have always been committed to addressing global challenges through engineering innovation. ZJUI has an outstanding faculty team recognized as world-leading scientists, as well as distinctive education platforms such as the Juanhu International Academician Lecture Hall. We do our best to provide students with rich opportunities to explore the latest developments in global engineering. He hoped that students can embrace the unknown with a thirst for knowledge when experiencing university life, set sights high and strive for excellence in academic research, and dare to try and make mistakes, actively contribute, care for the greatness of the nation and strive to stay at the forefront for a better future.

The representative of undergraduate student, Lin Haoxiang, introduced the importance of taking responsibility by citing President Co-ching Chu's resounding two questions, expressing his determination to take the world as his own responsibility and the truth as his goal. Graduate student representative Pan Yanling joined ZJUI with a desire for an international perspective and interdisciplinary abilities. She stated that she will bravely take responsibility, contribute, and strive to become an engineering elite while adhering to the spirit of seeking truth and pursuing innovation, and a leader with global competitiveness. International student representative Aren Mkhitarya stated that students from all over the world come together with diverse backgrounds and diverse cultures shining brightly, which will also illuminate the path towards personal growth and global citizenship, and they will contribute their own efforts to building a community with a shared future for mankind. Parent representative Chang Xuan's father Chang Junliang expressed congratulations to all the first-year students, emphasized the importance of teamwork, advocated for students to fully enjoy colorful campus life, and looked forward to students growing into first-class compound elites with national identity, international vision, global competitiveness and global responsibility.

The talent shows prepared by the first-year students were exciting and colorful, and the program of Thanks to parents for wearing badges for parents' representatives was also full of warmth. The enthusiastic and warm embrace moved the audience.

After the introduction of the faculty members in the fall semester of 2023, all the attending guests released the paper airplanes full of dreams. As the Chinese old saying goes, “being fond of learning is akin to knowledge and practicing with vigor is akin to benevolence.” The journey of self-discovery, self-exploration, self-transcendence, and self-realization for students in ZJUI begins here.