President Xu Ningsheng led a delegation to visit the USA
Source: Office of International Cooperation & Exchange
Written by: Office of International Cooperation & Exchange
Proofread by: Guo Lianlian
Edited by: Wang Dongmei
In order to advance SYSU’s construction of high-level cooperation platform and in response to Guangdong’s implementation of the innovation-driven strategy, on September 21-24, 2014, Prof. Xu Ningsheng, President of Sun Yat-sen University, led a delegation to visit Stanford University and signed a MOU on integrated circuit R&D with Carnegie Mellon University and Guangdong’s relevant governmental departments.
On the afternoon of September 22, President Xu Ningsheng accompanied Mr. Zhu Xiaodan, Governor of the People’s Government of Guangdong Province, to pay a visit to Stanford University. Prof. John Hennessy, President of Stanford University, and a group of Stanford professors of biomedicine and electrical engineering held a meeting with the delegation. The participants included Prof. Brian Kobilka, recipient of 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Prof. Michael Lebitt, recipient of 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and Prof. Thomas Sudhof, recipient of 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Mr. Zhu Xiaodan, Governor of the People’s Government of Guangdong Province, Prof. Xu Ningsheng, President of Sun Yat-sen University,
met with Prof. John Hennessy, President of Stanford University, and a group of Stanford professors of biomedicine and electrical engineering.
President Hennessy extended a warm welcome to the delegation and looked forward to the dynamic cooperation with Guangdong and SYSU. President Xu Ningsheng thanked President Hennessy for the warm reception and hoped that the two universities could strengthen cooperation in teaching and research and play an active part in the construction of Guangdong’s innovation platform.
Governor Zhu Xiaodan pointed out that Guangdong provincial government will fully support the cooperation between SYSU and Stanford University, especially R&D collaborations in the fields which are in urgent need of development in Guangdong, and the construction of an innovative mechanism of integrating industry, university and research. He hoped Stanford specialists can visit Guangdong and make suggestions on the economic, cultural, scientific and technological development during Guangdong’s transformation. He also encouraged the two sides to conduct collaborations in teaching and foster leading technological talents for Guangdong and China.
On the morning of September 23, under the witness of Mr. Zhu Xiaodan, Governor of the People’s Government of Guangdong Province, Sun Yat-sen University, Carnegie Mellon University and People’s Government of Shunde District, Foshan City signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) in San Francisco, USA. Prof. Xu Ningsheng, President of Sun Yat-sen University, Dr. Subra Suresh, President of Carnegie Mellon University and Mr. Huang Xizhong, Chief Executive of People’s Government of Shunde District, Foshan City attended the ceremony and signed on the memorandum. The signing parties of the MOU also included Guangdong Science and Technology Department and the People’s Government of Foshan Municipality.

Under the witness of Mr. Zhu Xiaodan, Governor of the People’s Government of Guangdong Province,
Prof. Xu Ningsheng, President of Sun Yat-sen University, Dr. Subra Suresh, President of Carnegie Mellon University,
and Mr. Huang Xizhong, Chief Executive of People’s Government of Shunde District, Foshan City signed the MOU.
Before the signing ceremony, Governor Zhu Xiaodan had a cordial meeting with President Subra Suresh. Governor Zhu Xiaodan thought that the collaboration between Carnegie Mellon University and Sun Yat-sen University in the SYSU-CMU Joint Institute of Engineering and the SYSU-CMU Shunde International Joint Research Institute is a successful model of international cooperation and exchange in the field of education and scientific research in Guangdong Province. Guangdong Center for Integrated Circuit R&D and Incubation, which will be established in Shunde, is an important part of Guangdong’s implementation of the innovation-driven strategy, and will contribute to perfecting Guangdong’s innovation system and enhancing its innovation ability. The two universities will collaborate in performing fundamental research at Carnegie Mellon University relating to integrated circuits and systems, which will provide strong support for the establishment of Guangdong Center for Integrated Circuit R&D and Incubation.
This MOU sets the general goals and lays a solid foundation for the future collaboration in the R&D of integrated circuits and systems between the parties. This collaboration will also be a major project between Sun Yat-sen University and Carnegie Mellon University since the mutual cooperation in electrical engineering and computer science and brain research.
Prof. Wei Minghai, Vice President of Sun Yat-sen University, participated in the above events. During the visit in the USA, the university leaders also met face-to-face with some high-level experts to be introduced to SYSU.