On April 13, the appointment ceremony for Distinguished Visiting Professors of Tsinghua University and the academic symposium of the Jingde Forum were held at Lecture Hall 217, Area 3, West Main Building, Tsinghua University. Professor Stephen McArthur, President of the University of Strathclyde (UK), was invited to visit Tsinghua University, was appointed Distinguished Visiting Professor of Tsinghua University, and delivered an invited academic report on artificial intelligence and the future development of electric power systems. Vice President Campbell Booth of the University of Strathclyde and Executive Dean of its Faculty of Engineering; Professor Shu Wenming, Dean of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde; Professor Kang Chongqing, Dean of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University; Professor Wang Xiongfei; and more than 40 faculty members and student representatives from China and the UK attended the event. The symposium was chaired by Vice Director Sun Kai of the Department of Electrical Engineering.

At the appointment ceremony, Sun Kai introduced Professor McArthur’s academic achievements and his important contributions to promoting academic exchanges and talent cultivation between China and the UK. Subsequently, Professor Kang Chongqing presented the Letter of Appointment for Distinguished Visiting Professor of Tsinghua University, as well as the Jingde Forum Certificate and commemorative plaque to Professor McArthur. As an important academic activity of the Jingde Forum, this lecture inherits the academic spirit of distinguished predecessors represented by Professor Gao Jingde, focuses on the cutting edge of electrical engineering, and promotes in-depth academic exchanges between China and abroad.

Professor Kang Chongqing presented the Letter of Appointment for Distinguished Visiting Professor to Professor McArthur.

Professor Kang Chongqing presented the Jingde Forum Certificate to Professor McArthur.

In his keynote report, Professor McArthur delivered a lecture titled “Future Electricity Systems: Resilient, Digital and Autonomous.” He systematically elaborated on the profound impact of artificial intelligence on future power systems. He noted that AI has already been applied at scale in equipment condition monitoring, grid planning optimization, and operational efficiency improvement, but still faces key challenges such as data integration, model validation, and system trustworthiness.

He argued that future power grids will evolve from traditional automated operation toward highly autonomous intelligent systems, where AI undertakes complex real-time decision-making while human experts perform global monitoring and strategic guidance via mobile terminals. Next-generation energy AI must deeply integrate the physical mechanisms and domain expertise of power systems, enhance interpretability and reliability through methods such as knowledge graphs, and adopt multi-agent coordination to address the complexity brought by high renewable penetration.

In discussing the mission of universities, he proposed that universities should shift from technology providers to innovation vision leaders and knowledge integrators, strengthen interdisciplinary research between AI and electrical engineering, explore human–machine collaboration and trustworthy mechanisms, and cultivate new-type electrical engineering talents who understand both power system fundamentals and artificial intelligence.

Professor McArthur delivered the Jingde Forum invited report.

After the lecture, faculty and students engaged in enthusiastic discussions on topics such as AI deployment challenges, talent training pathways, division of roles between universities and industry, and future grid architectures. Professor McArthur responded to questions one by one, and the discussion atmosphere was lively.

Q&A session.

This appointment and academic exchange further strengthened cooperation between Tsinghua University and the University of Strathclyde in electric power, energy, and artificial intelligence, providing an important platform for future joint research, talent cultivation, and international academic exchange, and contributing positively to innovation in carbon neutrality and smart energy development.

Group photo of attendees

About Jingde Forum

Professor Gao Jingde was a renowned electrical engineering expert in China, an outstanding educator, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, former President of Tsinghua University, founder of the State Key Laboratory of Control and Simulation of Large Power Systems and Equipment, and IEEE Fellow.

The Jingde Forum aims to carry forward the fine traditions of the Department of Electrical Engineering and commemorate distinguished predecessors represented by President Gao Jingde, inheriting their spirit of rigorous scholarship and innovation. Invited guests are high-level experts and scholars from China and abroad in electrical engineering, energy, and higher education. Lecture topics include frontier scientific and technological developments, major strategic planning, talent cultivation models, and innovation in educational philosophy.

Guest Profile

Professor Stephen McArthur is currently President of the University of Strathclyde. He also serves as Professor of Intelligent Energy Systems at the university. His core expertise lies in the application of artificial intelligence in power and energy systems. Over many years, he has worked on challenges in smart grids, asset management, and data analytics, delivering numerous effective solutions. His research focuses on integrating AI with distributed intelligence and multi-agent architectures to provide decision support and autonomous solutions for energy and broader industrial applications. Due to his pioneering contributions to intelligent systems in electrical engineering, Professor McArthur received the IEEE Richard Harold Kaufmann Award in 2021 for outstanding achievements in industrial systems engineering.

Professor McArthur is an active advocate of China–UK strategic cooperation and has established extensive and deep collaborations with senior Chinese government officials and leading academic institutions. He has participated in high-level strategic dialogues with China’s Minister of Education, Minister of Science and Technology, and the presidents of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, jointly discussing and promoting cooperation between China and the UK in higher education, scientific research innovation, and technological development.