On June 1-2, ZHANG Liangang, senior expert of Shandong Port Group (SPG) and leader of the "Liangang Innovation Team" of SPG Qingdao Port, introduced his "Liangang Innovation Team", members of which are hailed as Role Models of the Times to teachers and students at Tongji University. He shared with them how they achieved technological self-reliance and self-sufficiency through indigenous innovation. He also had discussions with colleges concerned and showed an interest in cooperation with them in the future.
Mr. FANG Shouen, Secretary of the CPC Committee of Tongji University, met with Mr. ZHANG Liangang and thanked him for coming to Tongji University. Mr. FANG said that it is important to have role models help with the ideological and political education of students on campus a, and that the stories told by role models to students face to face can strike a chord with students at large and play a pivotal role in helping students develop proper values. Mr. FANG hoped that Mr. ZHANG and other role models would visit Tongji more to share their expertise with teachers and students.
Mr. ZHANG Liangang delivering a speech
Mr. ZHANG Liangang (left) and Mr. FANG Shouen
Mr. ZHANG gave reports to teachers and students at Jiading Campus and Siping Campus respectively on the afternoon and evening of June 1. The afternoon meeting was convened in Jiren Building by the College of Electronic and Information Engineering as an important part of party history education, with attendees topping 300, while the one held in the evening was convened by the School of Economics & Management and hosted by Mr. PENG Zhenwei, vice secretary of the CPC Committee of Tongji University, with attendees surpassing 200.
The report meeting at Siping Campus
ZHANG Liangang delivering a speech
In hosting the report meeting, Mr. PENG called upon students to follow the example of "Liangang Innovation Team" and to learn from their spirit of patriotism in serving the country with a pure heart and seeking unremitting self-improvement, their spirit of enterprise in making relentless efforts to tackle technological challenges, and their spirit of innovation in daring to be the first.
Long engaged in the technological research on port equipment and port production, Mr. ZHANG Liangang has spearheaded the arduous efforts of his accomplished team to tackle a succession of daunting technological challenges and successfully built Asia's very first fully automated container terminal, which won his team the title of "Role Models of the Times", an honor awarded by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee on December 20, 2020.
When SPG Qingdao Port set out to build a fully automated container terminal in 2013, automated container terminals which emerged first in Europe had been in operation for two long decades, after which there is still no fully automated container terminal in Asia. Led by Mr. ZHANG Liangang, "Liangang Innovation Team" took only three and a half years to complete the research that normally takes 8 to 10 years in western countries and successfully built a world-class automated container terminal which not only went into full operation, reached the target capacity and achieved profitability in the same year, but also brought into existence a string of world-first technologies. By taking down a formidable list of world-class technical barriers, the team has transformed China from a follower to a leader in the construction and operation of automated container terminals, offering proven "Chinese experience" and "Chinese solution" for the construction and operation of smart ports across the globe.
At the report meeting, centering upon the innovative practices of the automated container terminal at SPG Qingdao Port, Mr. ZHANG shared with audience the development history of and the key technological breakthroughs made by the automated container terminal of SPG Qingdao Port from four aspects: basic facts, key innovations, development prospects, and the experience of engineering construction.
"You may still fail even if you work hard, but you are definitely doomed if you don't even try...Every aspect of design and every piece of data must be able to stand up to questioning and challenge and must remain crystal clear...Without indigenous innovation, we will be seized by the throat...We must build our own automated terminals..." Deeply touched by the spirit of "Liangang Innovation Team" who dared to shoulder the daunting task, who braved all the difficulties in pursuit of excellence and who strived to achieve technological self-reliance and to seize the commanding heights of port technology through relentless efforts, the audience broke into thunderous applause repeatedly and vowed to follow the stellar example of role models in order to serve the country and the people well.
The audience at the report meeting
Mr. ZHANG Liangang also held a seminar with the faculty representatives of the College of Electronic and Information Engineering on June 2. The two sides expressed their intent to harness their respective strengths in jointly tackling the key technological challenges on the fronts of smart decision-making, port information management, artificial intelligence and multi-layer stacking, to put more focus on talent fostering, to create original innovations in key and core technologies, and to promote the commercialization of research results.
Discussions at the College of Electronic and Information Engineering
At the seminar, Mr. ZHANG introduced the technological innovations and the future development plan of Qingdao Port, noting that its resolve to upgrade from entry-level and equipment-oriented automation to system-based and intelligent management would give rise to the growing demand for innovative technologies, and that the all-out support from the College of Electronic and Information Engineering would give a much-needed boost to its technology innovation. After briefing on the developments of the College, an official of the College of Electronic and Information Engineering echoed the proposal of Mr. ZHANG, saying that the College is willing to forge a strategic partnership with Qingdao Port and to provide the later with advanced technologies and strong intellectual support. Faculty representatives also shared their insights into platform construction, talent fostering and technology breakthroughs, and discussed the prospects of cooperation between the two sides.
Mr. ZHANG also toured the School History Museum on the same day to learn about the time-honored history of and the remarkable achievements made by Tongji University over the past 114 years, and lauded Tongji's much-admired tradition of "thriving with the country and benefiting the society with science and education".
https://news.tongji.edu.cn/info/1003/77793.htm
