On the afternoon of March 26th, the signing ceremony of the Fraunhofer Project Center for Smart Manufacturing (hereinafter referred to as the "Project Center") at Shanghai Jiao Tong University was held in Shanghai Lin-gang. This signing marks the completion of the preparation and the official establishment of the first research institution of Fraunhofer in China. Fraunhofer Project Center for Smart Manufacturing at Shanghai Jiao tong University is the first Fraunhofer Project Center in China officially approved by Fraunhofer Association in Germany and the 10th Fraunhofer Project Center in the world.

Prof. Lin Zhongqin, Academician, President and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Prof. Thomas BAUERNHANSL, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation, Director of the Institute of Industrial Manufacturing and Management, University of Stuttgart, Mr. Michael LICKEFETT, Project Manager of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation, Prof. Marco HUBER, Deputy Director of the Institute of Industrial Manufacturing and Management, University of Stuttgart, Mr. Zhang Quan, Director of the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, Mr. Shi Wenjun, Deputy Inspector of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, Mr. Chen Jie, Member of the Standing Committee of the Pudong New District Party Committee, Secretary of the Party Group and Executive Deputy Director of the Shanghai Lin-gang Special Area Administration, Mr. Wu Xiaohua, Member of the Party Group and Deputy Director of the Shanghai Lin-gang Area Administration, Mr. Huang Ou, President of Shanghai Electric Group Co., Ltd., Mr. Shen Weiguo, Executive Director and General Manager of Shanghai Technology Venture Capital (Group) Co., Ltd., Mr. Xu Honghai, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Shanghai Institute of Industrial Automation Instrumentation Co., Ltd., Mr. Zhu Weiqiang, Vice President of Lin-gang Group, Prof. Xi Lifeng, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Mr. Luo Peng, Director of International Cooperation and Communication Office, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Mrs. Sun Lizhen and Mr. Jin Sun, Deputy Dean of Office of Research Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Prof. Du Chaohui, Secretary of the Party Committee and Dean of School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Prof. Peng Zhike, Executive Vice Dean of School of Mechanical Engineering, and Prof. Wang Hao, Vice Dean of School of Mechanical Engineering, these experts from China and Germany in the field of smart manufacturing and more than 100 institutional leaders, corporate guests, teachers and students attended the signing ceremony. The signing ceremony was presided over by Prof. Xi Lifeng, Vice President of Shanghai Jiaotong University.

Mr. Zhang Quan delivered a speech on behalf of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, congratulating the official establishment of the first Fraunhofer Project Center in China. He pointed out that smart manufacturing is the symbol of the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial change, and this strong alliance between Fraunhofer Society, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Shanghai Lin-gang area is a milestone for the development of smart manufacturing in China and Shanghai. Shanghai Science and Technology Commission will focus on the key aspects of industry-university-research cooperation, create a number of functional platforms for R&D and transformation, promote the sharing and gathering of high-quality innovation resources, accelerate the specialization of industrial structure, continuously explore new models of industry-university-research, promote domestic and international industry-university innovation, and form various types of complementary advantages. He believes that this contract opens a new journey of intelligent manufacturing in Shanghai and hopes that it can produce a number of major scientific and technological and industrialization achievements, become an international-level R&D institution in the field of intelligent manufacturing, and make new contributions to the construction of Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center and industrial upgrading.

On behalf of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, Mr. Shi Wenjun pointed out in his speech that Shanghai's smart manufacturing industry system is becoming more and more complete, and the strong combination of Fraunhofer Society and Shanghai Jiao Tong University will help the development of Shanghai's smart manufacturing industry in terms of integrating resources, key technology research and development, and achievement transformation and incubation. Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization will adhere to market orientation and government guidance, continue to create a good business environment for the smart manufacturing industry, and give full support to the subsequent construction of the project center. He hoped that both parties would take the signing as an opportunity to make the research institution a benchmark demonstration project for applied technology research and industrial cooperation, and jointly promote the development of smart manufacturing in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta, to play a role in promoting the construction of Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center and the brand of "Made in Shanghai".

Mr. Chen Jie expressed the support of Lin-gang Administrative Committee for the construction of the project center. He hoped that the project center would carry out more in-depth cooperation and research in the field of smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 frontier technology, gain more achievement transformation, empower advanced industrial development, promote scientific and technological innovation progress, and help the construction of Lin-gang Smart Manufacturing Center. He expressed that Lin-gang Administrative Committee will as always support the high-level operation and development of the project center in Lin-gang Special Area, integrate resources, build a platform, create a better business environment, and jointly promote high-quality economic development and high-level urban construction.

Mr. Shen Weiguo delivered a speech on behalf of Shanghai Technology Venture Capital (STVC Group) Co., Ltd., pointed out that the mode of the Fraunhofer Society and Shanghai Jiao Tong University joining hands to build the Smart Manufacturing Project Center has created a new cooperation between international top non-profit research institutions and domestic top universities, providing a new option for the cooperation and development of science and technology innovation institutions. Shanghai STVC Group will focus on the national strategy, play the role of "demonstration" of state-owned venture capital, promote the transformation and application of scientific and technological achievements of the project center, and help the project center to reach a new level.

Prof. Fritz KLOCKE, former President of the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP) and senior professor of the Fraunhofer Society, delivered a video message on behalf of Fraunhofer, expressed his gratitude to all those who supported and contributed to the official establishment of the project center. He hoped that the two sides would cooperate more extensively and fruitfully in the field of smart manufacturing, and they would continue to promote this cooperation mode to promote the in-depth development of Sino-German cooperation and the progress of smart manufacturing industry.

Prof. Thomas BAUERNHANSL pointed out in his speech that Fraunhofer Society was founded on March 26, 1949, and today is the 70th anniversary of Fraunhofer. Coincidently, the first Fraunhofer Project Center in China was born exactly on the same date as the General Society, which is of great significance to both sides. Both sides have made great efforts to build a bridge between Chinese and German research cooperation institutions and cultures during the preparation process of the past two years, including solving the legal problems of Fraunhofer in establishing research institutions in China and laying a stable foundation for future cooperation between the two sides. He hoped that both sides would promote the digital transformation of industrial value creation, develop cyber-physical systems, and cultivate talents to jointly promote the fourth industrial revolution.

Prof. Lin Zhongqin delivered a speech on behalf of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and extended a warm welcome to the guests attending the signing ceremony. In his speech, Prof. Lin pointed out that in 2017, under the active promotion of Lin-gang Administrative Committee and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University signed a memorandum of cooperation with Fraunhofer. From the memorandum to the formal contract, the two sides have worked out a new route of cooperation through many detailed negotiations and consultations, innovated the mechanism of industry-university-research cooperation, rationalized the legal norms for the in-depth cooperation between famous foreign non-profit scientific research institutions and our nation, and created a precedent for domestic and foreign non-profit scientific research institutions to build scientific research bases in China. He said that the completion of the first Fraunhofer Project Center in China at Shanghai Jiao Tong University is not only an important milestone in the construction of a functional platform for R&D and transformation of smart manufacturing in Shanghai, but also a major progress in the construction of Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center, and hoped that the Project Center would become an smart manufacturing research and transformation base with global influence and make a new contribution to our nation’s construction of a manufacturing power.

Prof. Xi Lifeng, Prof. Thomas BAUERNHANSL and Mr. Wu Xiaohua signed the official contract of Fraunhofer Project Center for Smart Manufacturing at Shanghai Jiao Tong University on behalf of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Fraunhofer Society and Shanghai Lin-gang District Development and Construction Administrative Committee. Prof. Lin Zhongqin, Mr. Zhang Quan, Mr. Shi Wenjun, Mr. Chen Jie, Mr. Wu Xiaohua, Prof. Thomas BAUERNHANSL, Mr. Shen Weiguo, Mr. Michael LICKEFETT, Mr. Huang Ou, Prof. Marco HUBER, Mr. Xu Honghai, Mr. Joerg SIEGERT and Mr. Zhu Weiqiang inaugurated the project center together.

The members of the Strategic Committee and Steering Committee of the project center were announced at the ceremony. Prof. Lin Zhongqin was appointed as the Chairman of the Strategic Committee and Prof. Fritz KLOCKE as the Deputy Chairman of the Strategic Committee. Prof. Xi Lifeng was appointed as the Chairman of the Steering Committee, Prof. Thomas BAUERNHANSL and Mr. Chen Jie as the Deputy Chairman of the Steering Committee, and Prof. Marco HUBER, Mr. Cao Zhaomin and Mr. Christoph MITTERER as the members of the Steering Committee. Mr. Michael LICKEFETT was appointed as the Director from German side and Prof. Wang Hao as the Director from Chinese side of the Fraunhofer Project Center for Smart Manufacturing at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

The establishment of Fraunhofer Project Center for Smart Manufacturing at Shanghai Jiao Tong University not only promotes the process of building an international smart manufacturing center in Lin-gang Special Area and helps Shanghai build a science and technology innovation center with global influence, but also serves as a reference for building non-profit generic technology research and development institutions in China. The project center is officially authorized by the Fraunhofer Society and legally positioned as a cost center subordinate to Shanghai Jiao Tong University. On October 14th, 2017, Fraunhofer signed a memorandum of cooperation with Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Shanghai Lin-gang District Development and Construction Administrative Committee to start the preparation of the project center. After that, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Fraunhofer carried out detailed negotiations lasting more than a year, and the two sides worked together to solve a series of legal issues for international non-profit institutions to enter China, including the issue of non-profit attributes of Fraunhofer after entering China, the taxation and labor attributes of Fraunhofer's personnel working in China for a long period of time, and explored a new route of cooperation between China and international non-profit institutions, which provides a good institutional mechanism for the construction of a non-profit intermediate R&D transformation platform to learn from.

As a joint research platform of German Industry 4.0 and Chinese smart manufacturing, the project center will gather advantageous science and technology innovation resources, play the role of smart manufacturing demonstration and leadership, continuously promote the construction of Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center and Lin-gang International Smart Manufacturing Center, provide strong talent, technology and institutional support to accelerate the development of advanced manufacturing and boost the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

Attachment: Fraunhofer Society

The Fraunhofer Society (German: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V., "Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research") was founded on March 26th, 1949, named after the German scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur Joseph von Fraunhofer, and is headquartered in Munich and dedicated to industry-oriented applied technology research. Fraunhofer is a top level applied scientific research association in the world. It is also the most successful non-profit generic technology research and development institution and the most efficient technology transfer organization in the world. Fraunhofer provides a strong innovation force for German industry and it is an important member of the German national innovation system. According to the 2016 Thomson Reuters' ranking of the world's most innovative research institutions, the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), the Fraunhofer Society of Germany and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) were the top three research institutions on the list.

Fraunhofer Institute for Production Engineering and Automation IPA

Fraunhofer Institute for Production Engineering and Automation IPA is a Fraunhofer affiliated research institute in Stuttgart. It has leader position in the field of Industry 4.0, with strong advantages in cyber physical system, next-generation industrial service buses, digital twin technology, and advanced sensing technology. IPA located in Stuttgart and supported by the University of Stuttgart. The Institute's main research direction is manufacturing automation, information technology and intelligent technology related to Industry 4.0. With an average annual research funding of more than 80 million Euros, ranking third among Fraunhofer’s institutes in research funding and first among all Fraunhofer Production Group, IPA is the most authoritative institute in the direction of Industry 4.0 and has an important position in the research and application transformation of Industry 4.0 in Germany.

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