On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Engineering discipline and the Materials Science and Engineering discipline at Jilin University, the Strategic Development Advisory Seminar for the Materials Science and Engineering discipline was held in Changchun on September 25. The seminar focused on the scientific planning for the “15th Five-Year Plan” to promote the high-quality development of the Materials Science and Engineering discipline.

Attendees of the meeting included Jilin University President Zhang Xi; Sun Jun, Director of the State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials at Xi’an Jiaotong University and an alumnus; Wang Decheng, Party Secretary of China Academy of Machinery Science and Technology Group Co., Ltd. and an alumnus; Tan Pingheng, Director of the Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); Wang Huiyuan, President of Yanshan University and an alumnus; Wang Shouguo, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice President of Anhui University; Senior Colonel Liu Xueqiang, Director of the Quartermaster Engineering and Technology Institute, System Engineering Research Institute, Academy of Military Sciences, and an alumnus; Sun Baode, Chair Professor at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Assistant Director of Suzhou Laboratory; Xu Hui, Vice President of Heilongjiang University; Xu Fujian, Vice President of Beijing University of Chemical Technology; Xie Jingpei, former Vice President of Henan University of Science and Technology and an alumnus; and Li Dabing, Deputy Director of the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, CAS, and an alumnus. In total, over [number]* deans, domain experts, distinguished alumni, and enterprise representatives from 62 domestic sister universities and research institutes attended the meeting. The meeting was chaired by Sun Heng, Party Secretary of the School of Materials Science and Engineering.

At the meeting, Zhang Lijun, Dean of the School of Materials Science and Engineering, introduced the history of the school’s development and reviewed the achievements made in developing the discipline over the past 70 years. He highlighted the progress the school has made in platform development, faculty building, scientific research achievements, and talent cultivation. Furthermore, he elaborated on the plans and measures for deepening the integration of industry, academia, and research, expanding international cooperation, and advancing teaching reform.

During the Young Scholars’ Presentation session, young faculty members of the school—Zhang Kan, Han Qigang, Gao Wang, and Qiu Feng—respectively delivered presentations titled “Superhard/Hard Thin Film Materials,” “Biomimetic Manufacturing of High-Performance Fiber Composites,” “Predictive Models for Damage Mechanisms in Metallic Materials,” and “High-Efficiency Strengthening and Toughening Alloy Technology Using Trace Nanoparticles and Its Industrial Application.”

During the discussion session, participating experts actively offered advice and suggestions for the development of the Materials Science and Engineering discipline. The experts unanimously recognized the achievements made by the school. They suggested that the discipline should pursue distinctive development, seize opportunities presented by platforms, strategically plan engineering research, and serve practical applications, while continuously promoting interdisciplinary integration to achieve high-quality development.