Cloud practice has become a new normal in the post-pandemic erafor the School of Civil Engineering and Transportation by the summer of 2021. Industrialexperts are invited to deliver industry-leading online lectures and practical courses for students.
From August 23rd to 27th 2021, the School of Civil Engineering and Transportation of South China University of Technology held a series of cutting-edge lectures in the civil engineering industry - domestic and foreign practice activity for the students of 2019 and 2020 grade civil engineering excellent English Taught classes. The college invited three internationally famous consulting companies Arup, WSP, and Jacobs/Halcrow China to give online lectures, covering the design, construction, management, and operation and maintenance of large public buildings and infrastructure, digitization of construction engineering, and civil career planning. The event was hosted by associate dean Ji Jing and participated by Li Jing, the associate head of the Department of Civil Engineering, Professor Chen Guangming, and Associate Professor Ma Hongwei. The lecture was not only for the students of South China University of Technology, but also attracted more than 190 teachers and students from schools at home and abroad (University of Sheffield, University of New South Wales, National University of Singapore, Cornell University, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Hong Kong University of science and technology, Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Tongji University, Sun Yat-sen University, China University of Mining and Technology, etc.).
Lectures by industry experts of international companies
In this lecture, Ms. He Xuemei, manager of Arup innovation and Research Institute, introduced the development status and business of the company. Then Mr. Zhu Ligang, deputy director of Arup, introduced the design and construction scheme of the Chongqing Raffles project. The crystal corridor of the project is known as the first horizontal skyscraper in China. Innovative technical schemes are adopted in the design and construction, especially the design and R&D of friction pendulum support and damper. To make the students appreciate the development direction of the industry frontier, the experts explained the operation of the digital technology center under Arup, such as personnel composition, workflow, and relevant case analysis. The digital technology center prospectively opened up a new direction of engineering design in concept design. In addition, experts from Arup introduced key projects such as Qianhai Shimao Building which is the highest torsion structure in China, Lhasa Gongga Airport, and Guangzhou Window. These projects, from innovative structural systems to avant-garde design concepts, represent the cutting-edge level of the industry.
Introduction of Chongqing Raffles project by Arup experts
Mr. Tan Bang, director from Jacobs/Halcrow China, shared the risk control of large bridges and tunnels in Hong Kong. Through the introduction of the Liantang bridge tunnel project and Hong Kong Bay Bridge Project, he described how the enterprise successfully minimized all aspects of risks through comprehensive measures such as design innovation, optimization of construction sequence and construction methods, and increasing human investment in the face of complex construction conditions and urgent construction period.
Experts from Jacobs/Halcrow China introduced the Hong Kong Bay Bridge Project
The engineers of WSP introduced the design and construction of geotechnical engineering in Hong Kong, and shared the technical achievements in deep foundation pit support and building underground structures through engineering examples. In addition, WSP engineers introduced in detail the modular integrated construction (MIC) actively promoted all over the world. This method greatly saves construction time and cost and has a wide application space in the construction of infrastructure for epidemic prevention and control.
Introduction of MIC method by WSP experts
Through a week-long online practice, the students of the civil engineering excellent full Englishclass got the opportunity to communicate with the top engineers in the industry and had a deeper understanding of the professional prospect and future work content. After listening to the lecture, the students expressed their feelings about participating in the activity and responded that they benefited a lot.
Students' response from cloud practice
(Pictures and text / Yin Yiwei of 2019 grade civil engineering full English class , etc.)