On the morning of November 12th, the 2025 Sino-European International Workshop on Advanced Timber Structures officially opened at the School of Civil Engineering. The workshop, themed "Large Geometric Deformation Timber Structures – Practical Workshops," brings together over 50 faculty and students from Southeast University, Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands), and the Royal Danish Academy, as well as renowned scholars from China, Japan, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and South Korea. They will conduct 10 days of academic workshops and research activities in Nanjing, jointly exploring innovative applications of wood in structural and geometric forms.
Guests attending the opening ceremony included Professor Kenichi Kawaguchi, Vice President of the International Society for Space and Thin Shell Engineering, former Vice President of the Architectural Institute of Japan, and former Head of the Department of Architecture at the University of Tokyo; Professor Han Qinghua, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Tianjin University; Professor Tom Hay from the University of Glasgow, UK; Professor Tae-Goo Lee from Semyung University, South Korea; Professor Sung-Jun Pang from Chonnam National University, South Korea; Professor Daniel Sang-hoon Lee and Dr. Xan Browne from the Royal Danish Academy; Professor Marta Gil Perez from Eindhoven University of Technology; Associate Professor Wang Zhongxing from Tianjin University; and Wang Chen, Director of the Office of International Cooperation of Southeast University; Guo Tong, Dean of the School of Civil Engineering; Xie Tianyu, Assistant Dean; SeungDeog Kim, Yangtze River Chair Professor; and Professor Cai Jianguo.
The opening ceremony was hosted by Xie Tianyu, Assistant Dean of the School of Civil Engineering. Wang Chen, Director of the International Cooperation Office, delivered a welcome speech, highlighting Southeast University's achievements in cooperation with top overseas universities, and expressing his hope that this event would serve as an opportunity to further deepen inter-university cooperation. He specifically mentioned that Southeast University is located in the historical and cultural city of Nanjing, and hoped that the participants would not only gain new academic knowledge but also experience the unique charm of Chinese culture, making this study tour a perfect blend of academic exploration and cultural experience.
Guo Tong, Dean of the School of Civil Engineering, stated that since its founding in 1923, the school has been committed to excellence in education and scientific research innovation in the field of civil engineering, and has cultivated a large number of outstanding talents with a global perspective. He emphasized that this workshop has built a high-level exchange platform on the theme of "Geometric Deformation-Driven Timber Structure Design," which is of great value in promoting the research and application of deployable timber structures in emergency scenarios.
Professors Daniel Sang-hoon Lee from the Royal Danish Academy and Marta Gil Perez from Eindhoven University of Technology, representing the faculty, expressed their sincere gratitude to Southeast University, the organizer, and shared their experiences. They unanimously stated that they would further deepen and expand cooperation and exchanges between their respective schools and Southeast University in the future. Two student representatives also expressed their appreciation for this valuable opportunity for practical exchange.
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This workshop was hosted by the School of Civil Engineering (initiated and organized by Yangtze River Chair Professor SeungDeog Kim and Professor Cai Jianguo), and co-organized by the Southeast University National University Science Park. The workshop was meticulously planned into three main sections: academic courses, practical workshops, and field trips. The academic courses focused on sustainable development strategies for building timber and how to prevent catastrophic failures in large public space structures; the practical workshops explored the geometric deformation of timber, conducting creative applications from deformation principles to parametric design and manufacturing; and the field trip section organized participants to visit landmarks with profound cultural significance, such as the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, Laomendong, and Niushou Mountain, for on-site learning.
The hosting of this workshop demonstrates Southeast University's continuous efforts in cultivating international talent and promoting scientific research cooperation, and has built a high-level exchange platform for scholars in the field of global timber structure research.
