On December 19th, Vice president Chen Yiyi received Prof. Ali Haghani, Dean of Civil and Environmental Engineering Department of the University of Maryland, on Siping Campus of Tongji University. They discussed student exchange, double-degree program, faculty exchange and joint research in the fields of engineering between Tongji University and the University of Maryland. The two sides agreed on inviting professors of the University of Maryland to offer short-term courses in Tongji University as the starting point. Also present at the meeting were Prof. Gu Xianglin, Dean of School of Civil Engineering, Wu Bing, Assistant Dean of School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Prof. Guan Xiaohong from School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Lin Jianping, Deputy Dean of School of Mechanical Engineering, Li Yan, Assistant Dean of the School of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics, Xue Lei, Assistant Dean of School of Life Science and Technology, Prof. Tong Meisong from the School of Electronics and Information Engineering, Prof. Ren Tianbin from School of Materials Science and Engineering, and Dong Xiu, Deputy Director of International Cooperation and Exchange Office.