On October 23, 2024, South China University of Technology (SCUT) and the University of Nantes (France) jointly hosted a grand International Academic Conference on Image Processing and Communications at the Lecture Hall of the Yifu Humanities Building, Wushan Campus. The conference aimed to deepen academic exchange and cooperation in science and technology between universities of the two countries, and jointly explore the development trends of cutting-edge technologies.

Bringing together experts and scholars from China and France, the conference featured in-depth exchanges and discussions on multiple fields including artificial intelligence, wireless embedded technology, complex data representation learning, and visual attention research. It attracted nearly 100 experts, scholars, and researchers from the School of Computer Science and Engineering, School of Electronics and Information, School of Software Engineering, School of Mathematics, and School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering.

              The scene of the academic exchange conference

The conference was co-chaired by Associate Professor Liang Lingyu from the School of Electronics and Information of our university and Professor Patrick Le Callet from the University of Nantes. Ten French expert representatives attended the conference, including Vice President Antoien Goullet of the University of Nantes, Dean Philippe Dépincé of the Polytechnic Institute of the University of Nantes, and Professor Yide Wang. Vice President Xu Yong delivered an opening speech, extending a warm welcome to all the distinguished guests and emphasizing the importance of Sino-French academic exchanges.

                      Speech by Vice President Xu Yong

At the conference, Professor Wu Si from the School of Computer Science and Engineering of our university delivered a speech entitled High-fidelity face retouching with limited paired data. He introduced his latest research achievements in the field of artificial intelligence, proposing a language-guided defect removal transformer model that can effectively reduce the reliance of automatic face restoration on paired training samples, while improving the accuracy of defect detection and the quality of image synthesis.

              Professor Wu Si delivering a keynote speech

Associate Professor Ma Biyun from the School of Electronics and Information delivered a speech entitled Wireless Embedded Technologies. She shared the applications and research progress of wireless embedded technologies in fields such as healthcare, smart environments, and the Internet of Things (IoT), and the research achievements have provided strong support for the development of wireless communication and signal estimation.

          Associate Professor Ma Biyun delivering a keynote speech

Associate Professor Hoel Le CAPITAINE from the University of Nantes delivered a speech on Complex Data Representation Learning: Two Recent Approaches with Metric Learning and Graph Neural Networks, presenting the latest methods for complex data representation learning based on metric learning and graph neural networks.

      Associate Professor Hoel Le CAPITAINE delivering a keynote speech

Associate Professor Matthieu PERREIRA DA SILVA from the University of Nantes delivered a speech entitled Eyetracking and Visual Attention as Key Factors for the Study of User Experience. He discussed researchers’ understanding of visual attention over the past decade, as well as how it can help research and improve user experience in multimedia applications and broader fields.

      Associate Professor Matthieu PERREIRA DA SILVA delivering a keynote speech

Professor Guillaume ANDRIEUX from the University of Nantes delivered a speech entitled Signal and Telecommunications Research Activities in Nantes: Focus on the Energy Optimization of a Sensor Node, which focused on the field of signal and telecommunications and discussed the research progress in the energy optimization of sensor nodes.

          Professor Guillaume ANDRIEUX delivering a keynote speech

The successful holding of this academic exchange conference marks remarkable achievements in scientific research cooperation, talent training, and other aspects between our university and the University of Nantes. Both parties will continue to deepen cooperation, promote technological innovation, and contribute to the development of global science and technology.