" Seeking truth in the past seven decades, pursuing innovation towards our centenary goals.". On the 70th anniversary of the University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), President XI Jinping wrote back to the senior professors of USTB. President XI Jinping put forward ardent expectations for cultivating high-quality talents who contribute to the country, promoting innovation in the iron and steel industry, and green and low-carbon development. Inspired by the spirit of President XI's important reply, the International University Metallurgy Council 2022, jointly sponsored by the School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering and State Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallurgy, was held on May 14.

With the theme of "Innovation, Green, and Low Carbon", the council invited 12 famous scholars in the field of metallurgical engineering from 8 countries including China, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Austria, and Australia to discuss the development of international metallurgical engineering disciplines. Exchange and discuss the history, current key research areas, the latest research progress, and personnel training in metallurgical engineering. Prof. YANG Renshu, President of USTB, and Prof. WANG Luning, Vice President of USTB attended the opening ceremony of the council. The opening ceremony of the council was presided over by Prof. FENG Qiang, Director of the Office of International Affairs.

FENG Qiang presided over the opening ceremony

President YANG Renshu delivered a welcome speech

Prof. YANG Renshu firstly expressed his warm welcome and sincere thanks to all the guests who attended the council and then briefly introduced the history and current situation of USTB and the development trend of Metallurgical Engineering. Prof. YANG pointed out that Metallurgical Engineering is one of the disciplines with the longest history, the most profound accumulation, and the most outstanding disciplines in USTB. Known as the "Cradle of Iron and Steel Engineers", USTB has the responsibility to build a platform for exchanges and cooperation among international universities, research institutes, and industrial enterprises, and actively respond to the opportunities and challenges brought by the new round of scientific and technological revolution and the industrial revolution to the field of Metallurgical Engineering. He hoped that all experts and scholars discuss new ideas of scientific research, technological development, and personnel training in the field of Metallurgical Engineering through this council, and jointly draw a beautiful blueprint for the development of the metallurgical industry.

Vice President WANG Luning made an invited presentation on the Special Issue for IJMMM

Prof. WANG Luning, vice president of USTB and deputy editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Mineral, Metallurgy and Materials (IJMMM), made an invited presentation at the opening ceremony. He announced the release of the IJMMM special issue for USTB's 70th anniversary. The special issue was prefaced by Prof. XU Guanhua, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The special issue invited 28 academicians and high-level scholars in the fields of Mining Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Materials Science, and Engineering from all over the world to review and discuss the development frontiers, research status, technical challenges, and innovative achievements, and prospects of the related fields. The invited guests, teachers, and students of USTB, journal readers, and authors witnessed the glorious course of the USTB's 70 years of growth.

Plenary lectures of the Council

In the Council, 12 domestic and foreign experts, including GUO Zhancheng, Aibing Yu, Hongmin Zhu, Tadashi Furuhara, Joohyun Park, Yu-ichi Komizo, Seshadri Seetharaman, Dieter Senk, Christian Bernhard, R. Vasant Kumar, Rongshan Qin, and Zushu Li, delivered splendid plenary lectures on topics of high efficiency, low consumption, cutting-edge technologies in green metallurgy, the development status of metallurgical engineering in various Universities, and talent training in metallurgical disciplines. The council was co-chaired by Prof. ZHANG Jianliang, Prof. JIAO Shuqiang, Prof. GUO Zhancheng, and Prof. ZHANG Yanling.

Prof. JIAO Shuqiang made the concluding speech

Finally, Prof. Jiao Shuqiang made a concluding speech. He expressed his heartfelt thanks to the wonderful lectures of the participating experts and the active participation of the online audience. He said that the international council discussed the future development trend of metallurgical engineering in depth. It is hoped that this council will be held as an opportunity to further broaden the communication channels of metallurgical scientists at home and abroad, increase the frequency of exchanges, and deepen the connotation of cooperation. The Metallurgical Engineering discipline of USTB is willing to actively promote the normalization and institutionalization of the International University Metallurgy Council, and work hand in hand with metallurgical scientists from all over the world in scientific research, education and teaching, and personnel training in the metallurgical field, creating a bright future for Metallurgical Engineering discipline together.