On October 15th, the “277th Engineering Science and Technology Forum of the Chinese Academy of Engineering: The 2nd Advanced Innovation Center for Material Genetic Engineering” was held at the China National Convention Center. The forum was hosted by the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and the Chinese Materials Research Society, and jointly organized by the University of Science and Technology Beijing; Chemical, Metallurgy and Materials Division of CAE; Industrial Development and Promotion Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; and the Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Material Genetic Engineering. Academician Gan Yong, the former deputy director of the CAE; academician Chen Jianfeng, Secretary General of the Party Committee at the CAE; Yang Renshu, President of the University of Science and Technology Beijing; Cao Guoying, Deputy Director of the Department of High and New Technology Development and Industrialization of the Ministry of Science and Technology; Li Jinzhong, Deputy Director of the Industrial Development and Promotion Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; and academician Wei Bingbo, Chairman of the Chinese Materials Research Society attended the forum, together with approximately 900 experts, scholars, and business representatives from the new materials field at home and abroad. Forty of the 60+ academicians in the materials engineering field in China attended the forum, and more than 140 well-known domestic and foreign scholars delivered speeches. 

The forum’s opening ceremony was presided over by the chairman of the forum, academician Xie Jianxin. Yang Renshu, President of the University of Science and Technology Beijing gave the welcome speech; Li Jinzhong, Deputy Director of the Industrial Development and Promotion Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; Cao Guoying, Deputy Director of the Department of High and New Technology Development and Industrialization of the Ministry of Science and Technology; and academician Chen Jianfeng, Secretary General of the Party Committee at the CAE also gave speeches. 

Academician Xie Jianxin from the University of Science and Technology Beijing; academician Wang Haizhou from the Central Iron and Steel Research Institute; academician Wang Weihua from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Professor Xu Yibin from the National Institute for Materials Science (Japan); and Professor Du Qiang from Stiftelsen for Industriell og Teknisk Forskning (SINTEF) delivered keynote speeches, shared the most cutting-edge research achievements in the field of new materials, and discussed new trends, technologies, and materials developed in the field of materials and genetic engineering as well as new trends in industrial development models.

The annually held Materials and Genetic Engineering Forum is one of the top academic forums in the field of new materials. The first forum was held in Guangzhou. Material genetic engineering is a disruptive frontier technology in the field of materials science. It is key in accelerating the development and application of new materials as well as establishing a competitive edge in the next global manufacturing revolution. The field’s essential premise of materials and genetic engineering is based on the innovation of materials research and development models. Specifically, the new models integrate rational design, efficient experiments, and big data technologies alongside collaborative innovation methods, rather than utilizing traditional trial and error methods, to accelerate the development of new materials. By developing key technologies, such as high-throughput computing, high-throughput experiments, and big data, the scholars and practitioners in the field intend to shorten the development cycle for new materials and reduce the research and development costs by half. Applications of materials and genetic engineering can effectively solve the bottleneck problem of new materials development and promote the revolutionary development of materials science and technology. The second forum focused on topics such as computing and design of high-throughput materials, preparation and characterization of high-throughput materials, efficient evaluation of material service and failure, materials databases and big data technologies, and application of materials and genetic engineering technologies. In addition to stimulating academic exchange in the field of genetic engineering, the forum promoted the innovative development of the new materials industry.