Prof. Tianyou Chai

Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, IEEE Life Fellow, IFAC Fellow

Northeastern University, China

Professor Tianyou Chai, born in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, is an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, IEEE Life Fellow, IFAC Fellow, Distinguished Professor, and Doctoral Supervisor at Northeastern University. A renowned expert in control theory and control engineering, he previously served as a member of the Technical Board of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) and Chair of the IFAC Coordinating Committee on Manufacturing and Instrumentation (1996-1999), Director of the Department of Information Sciences at the National Natural Science Foundation of China (2010-2018), and Editor-in-Chief of Acta Automatica Sinica. He currently holds the positions of Director of the Academic Committee of Northeastern University (2011-present), Director of the State Key Laboratory of Synthetical Automation for Process Industries, and Director of the National Engineering Research Center for Metallurgical Automation.

Professor Chai has published over 210 papers in IFAC and IEEE journals and has delivered more than 30 plenary invited presentations at IFAC and IEEE international conferences held in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and other countries. His groundbreaking contributions have earned him numerous accolades, including five National Awards (Second Prize of the National Natural Science Award, Second Prize of the National Technology Invention Award, and Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award), 13 provincial/ministerial-level Special and First Prizes, two National May Day Labor Medals, the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress (2002), the Liaoning Provincial Award for Scientific and Technological Merit (2003), the National Model Worker Honor (2005), and the First-Class Yang Jiachi Science and Technology Award (2010). He was honored with the IEEE Control Systems Society Award for Distinguished Industrial Achievement at the IEEE Joint Conference on Control and Systems in 2007 and received the Asian Control Association Wook Hyun Kwon Education Award in 2017.

Prof. Jianrong Tan

Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering

Zhejiang University, China

Academician Jianrong Tan, born in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, is a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), Qiushi Distinguished Professor and PhD Supervisor at Zhejiang University, and a recipient of the State Council Special Government Allowance. He currently serves as Honorary Chairman of the China Society of Graphics, Chairman of the National Alliance for Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Innovation in Higher Education Institutions, and Director of the Engineering Graphics Teaching Steering Committee under China’s Ministry of Education. He has been recognized as a "Cross-Century Talent in Graphics Technology for Middle-aged and Young Scholars," "Leading Scholar of Zhejiang Provincial Key Disciplines," "First-Tier Scholar in Zhejiang’s 151 Talent Program," "Key Cultivated Talent of Zhejiang’s New Century Initiative," "National Top-Tier Talent in the Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Talent Project," and an "Outstanding Contributor to the Ministry of Science and Technology’s 10th Five-Year 863 Program." He has led major research initiatives, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Distinguished Young Scholars Program. His research achievements include five National Technology Invention Awards (Second Class) and National Science and Technology Progress Awards (Second Class), along with seven provincial/ministerial-level Science and Technology Progress Awards (First Class). His pedagogical contributions have earned him three National Teaching Excellence Awards (one First Class and two Second Class).

Prof. Jun Yang

Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering

University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, China

Jun Yang, Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, is a Professor and Doctoral Advisor at the Shenzhen Institute for Advanced Study, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. From 2005 to 2021, he served as a Professor in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering at Western University (Canada), where he established and directed Canada’s first Industry 4.0 R&D initiative, the WIN 4.0 – Western’s Industry 4.0 Network. He concurrently holds key positions including Member of the Expert Committee of the International Intelligent Manufacturing Alliance, Director of the China-Canada Innovation Centre under the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Member of the Standards Council of Canada, Vice-Chair of the Expert Committee of the Belt and Road Green Development Research Institute at the China International Culture Exchange Centre, Vice President and Chair of the Expert Committee of the Overseas Chinese Science and Technology Association, as well as Executive Editor-in-Chief or Associate Editor for multiple top-tier journals in his field. Prof. Yang has been honored with numerous prestigious awards, such as the Outstanding Achievement Award from the UNIDO Global Innovation Centre, AI Golden Swallow Special Contribution Award, Vanguard Award for Technology Transfer, Academic Achievement Award from Western University’s Faculty of Engineering, NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement Award, Xerox UAC Award, Second Prize in the Advanced Manufacturing Category at the 3rd National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition (China), Western University Innovation Award, Ontario Early Researcher Award (ERA) for Young Scholars, PetroCanada Young Innovator Award, CFI-LOF Hope Award for Leading Talents, and UWO-ADF Award for Academic Innovation.