First preparatory meeting for IKCEST International Symposium 2015 held in Beijing

The first preparatory meeting for the 2015 International Knowledge Centre for Engineering Sciences and Technology (IKCEST) Symposium was held in Beijing Conference Centre on the evening of June 9, 2015.

Chaired by Prof. Chen Zuoning, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), the meeting was attended by CAE Members Pan Yunhe, Li Guojie and Wu Jiangxing, and Yi Jian,Director of CKCEST's project management office, Xu Jin, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation, CAE, as well as staff from relevant departments of the CAE and IKCEST secretariat.

On behalf of IKCEST Secretariat, Mr. Yi Jian introduced the preliminary proposal for the symposium and made a detailed account of its theme, topics and the audience list. Participants of the meeting engaged in extensive and exhaustive discussions and reached the following consensuses:

1.The conference is initially named as IKCEST International Symposium 2015, whcih was scheduled to be held on November 18. The first session of the first Governing Board of IKCEST and the first session of the first Advisory Committee of IKCEST are planned to be held on the afternoon of November 17.

2.The symposium is themed on "Digital Knowledge for Science and Engineering", and the two sub-themes will be "Digital Knowledge for Science" and "Digital Knowledge for Engineering" respectively.

3.Prof. Raj Reddy recommended five expatriate experts as foreign members of the symposium's program committee. Vice President Chen Zuoning and the three CAE members analyzed the five experts' research areas and unanimously concluded that they are qualified to join the program committee, since their expertise is related to the practical application of digital knowledge and matches the theme of the symposium. Chinese members of the program committee were also determined.

4.The symposium will invite some foreign members from the program committee to make keynote speeches on the practical applications of digital knowledge. CAE Members and experts from sub-systems of IKCEST would also be invited as speakers. Each speaker will have 25 minutes for their own speech. Panel discussions will follow.

1. Participants of the meeting plan to invite Prof. Zhou Ji, President of the CAE, to make the opening speech and Vice President Chen Zuoning to address the closing session.