On the morning of September 16, the School of Civil Engineering at Southeast University held the opening ceremony of the 2025 China-Greece Joint Workshop, during which Professor Charalampos Gantes from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) was appointed as a Guest Professor.
Distinguished guests attending the event included Ms. Jian Xu, Deputy Director of the SEU International Cooperation Office; Professor Tong Guo, Dean of the School of Civil Engineering; and Professor Jianguo Cai, Assistant Dean. From the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) were Professor Charalampos Gantes, Professor Pavlos Thanopoulos, Dr. Xenofon Lignos, Dr. Andreas Spiliopoulos, Dr. Stylianos Katsatsidis, and Dr. Spyridon Papavieros. Also present were Professor Qiusheng Li from City University of Hong Kong; Professor Yang Lu and Professor Xiaowei Deng from the University of Hong Kong; Professor Kai Zhou from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University; and Dr. Yue Yang from Shanghai Tongzheng Aluminum Structure Construction Technology Co., Ltd.
Over fifty faculty and student representatives from Southeast University and NTUA participated in the ceremony. The ceremony was chaired by Professor Jianguo Cai.
At the outset, Deputy Director Jian Xu delivered an address. She first congratulated the opening of the China-Greece Joint Workshop and extended a warm welcome to Professor Gantes and the Greek faculty and students who traveled from Greece to attend the event. She emphasized that SEU consistently regards attracting high-level international talent as a key measure in advancing its internationalization strategy. She expressed confidence that Professor Gantes' appointment as a Guest Professor would further promote academic exchanges between the two universities, broaden research horizons, and strongly propel the development of civil engineering and related disciplines at SEU.
Subsequently, Dean Tong Guo delivered a welcome speech on behalf of the school. He noted that the workshop focuses on engineering solutions for deployable structures in extreme environments, providing a valuable platform for exchange for faculty and students from both countries. He encouraged all participants to engage deeply, interact actively, and gain fruitful insights. Dean Guo specifically highlighted that Professor Gantes' affiliation would significantly enhance the school's research capabilities in fields such as smart structures and emergency engineering, promote interdisciplinary innovation, and further expand the international influence of SEU's civil engineering discipline.
Following this, faculty and student representatives from the workshop delivered speeches, expressing their anticipation for the event. They unanimously agreed that the workshop was not only an excellent opportunity for academic exchange but also a bridge for cultural mutual learning between China and Greece, believing that every participant would benefit greatly.
A formal Guest Professor appointment ceremony followed. Professor Gantes, Director of the Steel Structures Research Center at NTUA and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS), possesses extensive academic influence in the field of deployable and spatial structures. Deputy Director Jian Xu and Dean Tong Guo jointly presented him with the appointment certificate and pinned the university badge, officially appointing him as a Guest Professor of Southeast University.
In his subsequent remarks, Professor Gantes expressed sincere gratitude for SEU's invitation and appointment. He mentioned that SEU and NTUA are in the process of signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which will lay the foundation for a long-term, stable strategic partnership between the two universities. He expressed hope that this appointment would serve as a starting point to promote deep collaboration in cutting-edge fields of structural engineering and continuously expand new horizons for joint talent cultivation and research cooperation.
Following the appointment ceremony, Professor Gantes delivered an academic report titled "Overview of Research Activities at NTUA-ISS," systematically introducing the research progress in steel structures and spatial structures at NTUA, which sparked keen interest and lively discussion among the attending faculty and students.
