Despite the currently tense situation in Shanghai due to Corona, the 6th Shanghai-Stuttgart Symposium "Automotive and Powertrain Technology" started this morning at 9 am Shanghai time (2 am in Stuttgart).
Since it became clear in advance that the current travel restrictions would not allow visitors to enter China without further ado, the conference was again set up in a hybrid format. While visitors from Shanghai are able to attend the conference in person at the Crown Plaza Hotel Shanghai Anting, the conference is broadcast digitally at the same time. Furthermore, in addition to the on-site presentations, speakers from Germany give their presentations online. This format allows FKFS, IFS and Tongji University, in cooperation with Messe Nanjing, to maintain their long-standing scientific relationships and the high-quality format of the joint Shanghai-Stuttgart Symposium.
The conference first began with welcoming remarks from Lei Xinghui, Vice President of Tongji University; Wolfgang Holtkamp, Senior Adviser for Foreign Affairs in the President's Office; Zheng Guanghong, Second Inspector, Director of Social Development Division, Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality; and Michael Kleiner, Ministerial Director of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism of the state of Baden-Württemberg.
This was followed by the first keynote address by Prof. Ming Pingwen, Tongji University on "Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cell Activities in China", in which he predicted that hydrogen will become as important as lithium for the automobile in China. Afterwards Zhou Wei, Executive Director of Vehicle Develpoment, SAIC Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd. held his keynote address "Transformation of SAIC Volkswagen". He highlighted this topic in various dimensions such as the new customer needs, especially in the field of electronics, the development of new powerful solid-state batteries and their mass production, as well as new driving functions ("ADAS").
After the morning program, the afternoon session continued with three parallel sessions focusing on "Fuel Cell", "Dynamics and Control of Intelligent Vehicle System" and "Wind Tunnel and Measurement Technology" with technical presentations from China and Germany.
Finally, a third keynote by Prof. Pang Jiabin, Tongji University, Head of Shanghai Automotive Wind Tunnel Center, entitled "Experience and Visions of Vehicle Aerodynamics Development in China" followed. Prof. Pang gave an outline of vehicle aerodynamics in China from 1980 until today highlighting current challenges and trends.
The conference will continue tomorrow and conclude with a panel discussion on "Future Development and Application of Toolkits for the Automotive Industry".