On March 24, 2023, the project kick-off conference of the Pilot Group Program of the Research Fund for International Senior Scientists “Intelligent Management System for Shared Passenger and Freight Transportation in Sustainable Smart Cities,” funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), was successfully held at International Campus, Zhejiang University. The project is led by Academician Lee Der-Horng, Dean of ZJUI, with Prof. Yang Yi, Prof. Wang Hongwei, Prof. Chen Xiqun, Assist Prof. Simon Hu, and Assist Prof. Wang Gao’ang, Dr. Zhu Zheng of Zhejiang University, Prof. Sun Huijun of Beijing Jiaotong University, Prof. Jin Jiangang from Shanghai Jiao Tong University as core group members. More than 30 participants, including Academician Lee Der-Horng, Dean of ZJUI, and Jin Wangping, Director of Office of Scientific Research and Technology Transfer at the International Campus, as well as project leaders and relevant members attended the conference. The meeting was chaired by Academician Lee Der-Horng.
▲ Director Jin Wangping delivered a speech
Director Jin Wangping first expressed affirmation and congratulations to Academician Lee Der-Horng and his group for their pragmatic and effective work in project application and advancement. She pointed out that it was the first time that such type of project got approval at the International Campus, marking a significant breakthrough in the school’s basic research and international scientific cooperation and said that the campus will fully support the project and provide a favourable research environment and conditions. At the same time, she expects group members to leverage their respective strengths and enhance collaboration, to jointly tackle scientific challenges, and ensure outstanding project outcomes.
▲ Academician Lee Der-Horng introduced the project situation
Academician Lee Der-Horng introduced the project’s research background, significance, objectives, and research content, highlighting the status and challenges in enhancing public transportation services. He emphasized the need to effectively implement high-level papers, patents, software copyrights, and student cultivation in the field of intellectual property rights, further building an innovative group for comprehensive transportation integration theory and achieving the significant transition from the separation of passenger and freight operations to intelligent integrated management of passenger and freight.
▲ Each research group reported on research progress
Each research group reported on research ideas, content, expected goals, and progress, covering key technologies such as data feature analysis, information management and decision-making, and integrated information systems. Academician Lee Der-Horng pointed out the need for horizontal communication among members of each research group and expressed expectations for substantial breakthroughs in theoretical methods. After listening to the reports of project members, participating experts fully affirmed the expected goals and implementation plans of the project, and provided constructive guidance on scientific objectives, research content, and cooperation and communication among projects, guiding the direction for better project advancement.
During the discussion, participating experts unanimously agreed that the research plan of this project aligns with the country’s major strategic needs, has promising and significant socio-economic benefits and vast industrial technological application prospects. Moreover, they acknowledged its originality, forward-looking nature, and interdisciplinary characteristics at the forefront of international academia, anticipating its potential to lead the direction of discipline development and bring about original outcomes with international influence in the field of public transportation and logistics in smart cities.
