Diary of Dr Songsong Liu at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China
East Gate of Tsinghua University
Dr Songsong Liu of University College London was the 2014 recipient of the RSC-CSCST-UK Emerging Talent Prize, whereby he was given a travel grant to go to China in 2015 to seek further research collaboration.
Dr Liu recorded a trip diary during his travels to China.
Accounts from Dr Songsong Liu trip diary:
I made a five-day visit to Tsinghua University in Beijing, China on 3-7 March 2015, thanks to the funding from the RSC-CSCST travel grant. Invited by Prof Dexian Huang at the Department of Automation, during this visit, I had thorough research discussions with the staff and students in the group, and a potential research collaboration project was established. Meanwhile, I also had chance to catch up on my friends and previous supervisor from other departments at Tsinghua.
3rd March
I arrived at the Qinghuayuan Hotel, where I was to stay during the visit, at around 11:30 am. At the hotel which is only 5-minute walk away from the East Gate of Tsinghua University, I was welcomed by Dr Xiaoyong Gao, a postdoc in Prof Dexian Huang’s group. After a nice lunch with Dr Gao, I met Prof Dexian Huang and Prof Yongheng Jiang, the hosts of my visit. Then, I went back to the hotel to get prepared for my talk on the next day.
Motto of Tsinghua University: Self-Discipline and Social Commitment
4th March
At 9:30 in the morning, I started a research seminar to the staff and students in the group of Prof Huang and Prof Jiang about my research work on the mathematical programming applications in the process industry. In the talk, I covered four application areas of mathematical programming: production planning and scheduling, supply chain management, water resource management, and biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Then, I was invited to a lunch with some group members and staff in the department. After a short rest in the afternoon, I visited the Department of Mathematical Sciences, where I pursued my bachelor and master degrees. I caught up on my previous supervisor, Prof Wenxun Xing, and had a nice dinner and talk about my career plan.
5th March
In the morning, I visited the Department of the Thermal Engineering, and met by Prof Pei Liu, whom I have known for years. We talked about our recent development and research work. In the afternoon, I walked around the campus and enjoyed the rapid change and development of the university, reflected by many fashionable new buildings. After a dinner with one of my high school classmates, I saw beautiful firework displays for the celebration of Chinese Lantern Festival. It was an enjoyable surprise.
Hall of New Tsinghua School and Concert Hall
6th March
I joined the group seminar of the Prof Huang and Prof Jiang’s group in the morning. Two PhD students, Ms Miaomiao Tian and Mr Lei Shi, presented their latest research outcomes, on the scheduling optimisation problems for oil refinery and PVC production, followed by questions and discussion. After a lunch with students, I had detailed and thorough research meetings with both two PhD students in the afternoon. During the meetings, I was introduced to further details of the research problems and models, and future research directions were discussed. Also, a further collaboration research project with Dr Gao was discussed and confirmed.
7th March
After saying farewell to Dr Gao, I left the hotel in the morning to the capital airport. I was back to London by 6 pm local time after an 11 hour long flight.
Posted by
Kathleen Too on Mar 17, 2015 4:08 PM Europe/London
