Speech by Nigel Brandon, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College London

Hello, Tsinghua! My name is Nigel Brandon. And I'm Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College London. I'm also a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the Royal Society here in the UK. On behalf of the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to your faculty members and students on the 90thanniversary of the Department of Electrical Engineering at Tsinghua University.

There has been a long history of collaboration between our two universities. And in March 2019,a Tsinghua delegation visited us at Imperial College to witness the launch of the Imperial Tsinghua Joint Research Centre on Intelligent Power and Energy Systems. During the past 3 years ,the Joint Research Centre has been going very well indeed. I'm delighted to know that the Joint Research Centre has been extended for another 3 years and I believe that will lead to continued success.

My own first trip to China as a researcher in the engineering sector dates back to March in 2010.So, 12 years ago to give a lecture on Alternative Energy: Looking into the Future. I have to say that when I look back at what we were saying then the future has indeed arrived. The energy system is transforming both in China and elsewhere in the world. I certainly believe that mutual understanding and corporation is the only solution to the challenges we face whether this is combating China’s climate change or establishing a smarter power system towards that ambition. So this is exactly where the Imperial Tsinghua Research Centre on Intelligent Power and Energy Systems works.

I hope and wish to contribute to all I could ensuring that the cooperation is not only limited to education and research but also attuned to ensure the translation of the research into industry and into practice only when the techniques that you and your colleagues are developing are applied can we really make a difference. So, to finish, a happy birthday to the Department of Electrical Engineering at Tsinghua from here in London .And I hope to see you all as soon as that is possible.