Activities

Tsinghua University hosted the ASPIRE Forum 2013 on July 11-12, 2013. The ASPIRE Forum 2013 was composed of the ASPIRE Symposium, the Vice Presidents and Senior Staff Meeting, and the Student Week/Workshop. The theme of the ASPIRE Forum 2013 was “The Development and Utilization of New Energy.” Participants from ASPIRE League member universities exchanged ideas about activities and collaboration under the framework of the ASPIRE League.

Venues: Dezhou City, Shandong Province Baoding City, Hebei Province Beijing

The Student Week began with an orientation session on July 7 in preparation for the week-long program to come. Between July 8 – 10, twenty-nine students from ASPIRE League member universities and two students from IDEA League member universities (Delft University of Technology and RWTH Aachen University) went on a study trip and visited new energy development areas, such as the Dezhou Economic-Technological Development Area in Dezhou City, Shandong Province. They also visited the Yingli Group in Baoding City, Hebei Province; the Tsinghua Solar Company in Beijing; and the Sino-Italian Tsinghua Environment and Energy-efficient Building at Tsinghua University.

Students attended the ASPIRE Symposium in the morning of July 11. The Student Workshop took place in the afternoon of July 11. Students were divided into three groups and held discussions on the following three subthemes: The Status Quo and Future of New Energy Development, The Role of Education in New Energy Development and Utilization, and The Transformation of Lifestyle with New Energy Utilization. Each group made presentations in front of the vice presidents and senior staff on the morning of July 12. Following the student presentations, Professor Joseph H W Lee, Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies of HKUST, made some general remarks on the three student group presentations.

Venue: Tsinghua University

Opening remarks were made by Professor Si Yuan, Vice President of Tsinghua University, and Chairperson of the ASPIRE League for the two-year period beginning in January 2013 and ending in December 2014. The Symposium’s theme was “The Development and Utilization of New Energy.” Symposium speakers from member universities noted the necessity for new and renewable energy research and outlined their own universities’ research activities and/or projects in the fields of new energy.
Three Tokyo Tech Principal Researchers outlined their joint research projects, which are conducted in collaboration with co-researchers from ASPIRE League member universities, under the ASPIRE League Research Grant supported by Tokyo Tech.

Venue: Tsinghua University

The Vice Presidents and Senior Staff Meeting began with Chairperson Professor Si Yuan’s opening remarks, in which he welcomed all participants. Following the opening remarks of the Chairperson, Professor Hisakazu Mihara of Tokyo Tech gave the annual report on ASPIRE League activities.

The Vice Presidents then made presentations on their current activities as well as on possible collaborative activities, which could be implemented under the umbrella of the ASPIRE League.
In the discussion session, the Vice Presidents and Senior Staff discussed collaborative activities which could be implemented under the umbrella of the ASPIRE League in order to promote research and educational collaboration amongst member universities. They also discussed the ASPIRE League organizational structure. As a result of the discussion, the Vice Presidents and Senior Staff agreed that NTU will host the ASPIRE Undergraduate Research Academy in the summer of 2014. They also supported the new structure of the ASPIRE League Secretariat and accepted Tsinghua University’s proposal to host the ASPIRE Forum 2014.

Venue: Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology at Tsinghua University, Changping District, Beijing

The ASPIRE Forum 2013 concluded with a study visit with all participants to the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology at Tsinghua University.