Belt and Road Aerospace Innovation Alliance 2020 Council Meeting and General Assembly was successfully held online on the evening of October 20, 2020 by Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU), China and National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Pakistan. Mr. Wang Yiran, Vice President and Secretary General of Chinese Society of Astronautics (CSA), on behalf of the co-initiator of Belt and Road Aerospace Innovation Alliance (BRAIA), Ms. Zhang Hailan, VP of NPU, on behalf of the co-initiator and Permanent Secretariat of BRAIA and Mr. Rizwan Riaz, leader of NUST, on behalf of BRAIA Regional Development Center-South Asia delivered welcome speeches respectively.
Over 130 representatives from 61 universities, enterprises, research institutes and international organizations of 19 countries participated in the meeting. Duringthe meeting, BRAIA new memberships and new regional development center were announced, joint research cooperation projects were approved, and BRAIA annual work report and future work plan were presented.
China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, Zhengzhou University, Yanshan University, Beijing FutureSpace Research Institute, East China University of Technology and Global Centre for Compliance, Hazards and Disaster Management Cameroon were approved and announced to be BRAIA members in the meeting. Till now, BRAIA has 69 members from 22 countries of 6 continents. Military Technical College, Egypt became BRAIA Regional Development Center-Africa, following the BRAIA’s first Regional Development Center-South Asia. Prof. Zhang Fuli, Director of NPU Office of International Cooperation and Dean of International College presented certificates to new members and Regional Development Center-Africa.
To further promote substantial joint research cooperation among BRAIA members and generate more fruitful scientific research output, NPU, as BRAIA Permanent Secretariat, initiated BRAIA Joint Research Seed Fund Program this year. 5 international scientific teams consisting of 13 BRAIA member universities from 7 countries had applied for projects in the domain of composite materials, microsatellite and aerodynamics.These projects were approved by BRAIA Academic Committee.
Since its establishment in 2017, BRAIA has organized a series of student activities, academic exchanges and managerial meetings, which has improved the international reputation and global impact of both NPU and BRAIA members. BRAIA thus has become an important platform for multilateral international cooperation and exchange. BRAIA is making continuous efforts on exploringbetter ways of strengthening international cooperation and benefiting to all members,in spite of the global impact of COVID-19.
(Writer: Zhang Tong, Yuan Yun; Source: Office of International Cooperation)
