Source：https://news.sjtu.edu.cn/zhxw/20221007/174821.html
The School of Mechanical Engineering hosted the Second Liyuan-GEC Frontier Interdisciplinary Science & Future Technologies Overseas Forum from September 13 to 15. More than 5,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from 11 universities, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Harbin Institute of Technology, and Zhejiang University, attended this virtual forum. This forum was on “Metaverse and Future: The Exploration and Coexistence of Human Life and Machine Life”. Five experts from related fields were invited to deliver lectures.
In the session on The Exploration of Machine Life, Dr. Michael Geist Littman, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Undergraduate Departmental Representative, introduced the status quo and future development of bionic robots, in his keynote speech-Technologies Related to Automatic Control and Biomimetic Robotics. He mainly elaborated on the research on tunable laser design. With a combination of project experiences, Professor Littman stressed the importance of practical work in scientific research by demonstrating the application of lasers covered in mechanical engineering, electronic engineering, and computer science courses.
During the Symposium on Interdisciplinary Studies Outlook, Professor Maarten De Vos, Director of the Computational Intelligence in Biomedical Monitoring Lab at the University of Oxford, noted the development of artificial intelligence. He took the application of deep learning in sleep pattern recognition as an example, elaborating on cutting-edge technologies in life monitoring in data science, bioelectronics, and computational intelligence, and discussing the potential development trends of artificial intelligence in medical and health technology with participating students.
Kuiling Ding, CPC Standing Committee Member and Executive Vice President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, gave opening remarks in the session of Master Distinguished Lecture with Nobel Laureate Dr. Joachim Frank, 2017 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University, and Member of National Academy of Sciences, spoke about the historical development of cryo-electron microscopy and his own research experiences. Aside from introducing the experiments and achievements his research team has made in cryo-electron microscopy, the process of continuous structural change of biomolecules, SPIDER (System for Processing Image Data from Electron microscopy and Related fields), etc., he also shared how he continuously identified problems and worked them out in his research. Professor Frank also discussed with the participating students on the future application of cryo-electron microscopy, structural visualization, and so forth.
At the Medicine-engineering Interdisciplinary Exploration session, Dr. George Malliaras, Prince Philip Professor of Bioelectronics at the University of Cambridge, started with the application of deep brain stimulation technology in Parkinson’s syndrome, depression, etc., and then went into details about the application of cutting-edge bioelectronic technology in the development of new intelligent medical equipment, such as brain-computer interfaces and organ chips. He also shared the prospects and technical limitations of bioelectronic medical technology, as well as its potential application in the COVID pandemic.
While exploring the research topics related to the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, Dr. Emad Moeendarbary, Professor of Cell Mechanics and Mechanobiology at University College London, and Deputy Director of the Engineering with Innovation & Entrepreneurship MSc program, explained the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine discoveries-the receptors for temperature and touch. He then expounded on the basic principles of cell mechanics and mechanobiology, and introduced the future perspectives of rheological properties and dynamics based on biomaterials from the perspectives of technology and application, respectively.
The Second Liyuan-GEC Interdisciplinary Science & Future Technologies Overseas Forum, one of the most important academic exchange activities of SJTU- School of Mechanical Engineering, is co-hosted by the Liyuan Academic Committee and SJTU-GEC Interdisciplinary Innovation Design Joint Research Center, with the aim of bringing together scholars and experts from top universities around the world to cultivate students’ academic interest, broaden their horizons, improve their innovative thinking and elevate their academic communication skills. The Forum is also committed to boosting the conversation between students and teachers and preparing graduate students for better academic ambitions and achievements.