Students and faculty members from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Macau (UM) visited the School of Civil Engineering and Transportation at the South China University of Technology (SCUT) for a 4-day training camp in Guangzhou. The purpose of the visit was to broaden their professional horizons and understand recent development of Greater Bay Area.

The training camp was an important outcome of the cooperation agreement signed by UM and SCUT. Since the first training camp in 2023, it aimed to enhance exchanges and cooperation in civil engineering education, research, and talent development, and to strengthen links between higher education institutions in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Students and faculty members from UM visited university history museum in Wushan campus and Guangzhou international campus for understanding the history and development of SCUT. They also learned about the facilities and research innovation about the State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Building Science, 3D printing hub and wind tunnel laboratory in Wushan campus. Moreover, they visited the Memorial Hall of the Third National Congress of the Communist Party of China to gain a deeper understanding of the history of the Chinese Revolution and strengthen their patriotism. They also visited the Bai’etan Greater Bay Area Art Center to explore Guangzhou’s beauty of cultural hub.

In addition, participants from both universities traveled to Nansha and visited the Nansha Cultural and Sports Complex Stadium which will be the main Arena for 15^th National Games held in cities in Guangdong province as well as Hong Kong and Macao. The main contractor, China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co., Ltd , is responsible for construction of sports complex, swimming and diving hall and warmup facilities. The project will be finished by end of 2024. Students walked into construction site and visited the swimming and diving hall site as well as smart construction demonstration room for understanding the new technology. Afterwards, the students and faculty members visited Baidu Apollo Park, which is one of China’s most comprehensive and visually appealing intelligent connected vehicle testing base to learn more about autonomous vehicles technology development in Greater Bay Area.

Since the launch of UM and SCUT 2+2 joint programme in 2019, the training camp is a platform for UM students to experience the university life and professional activities in SCUT personally for further understanding the 2+2 joint undergraduate programme and it plays positive role in strengthening ties and fostering future cooperation between the two universities. The training camp was led by Associate Professor Lok Man Hoi, Assistant Professor Pan Mi, and Senior Instructor Wan Iat Meng, from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.