From May 29 to 30, on the occasion of the third anniversary of the inauguration of Beihang's Hangzhou International Campus, the 2026 INSA DAY events officially kicked off. President Wang Yunpeng led a delegation to Hangzhou, met with the French delegation led by Mourad Boukhalfa, President of the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA Group), attended a series of events, presided over a meeting of the Beihang (Hangzhou) Management Committee, and had cordial exchanges with faculty and students on campus. Vice President Zhao Weisheng also participated in the events.

On May 30, Wang Yunpeng met with Mourad Boukhalfa. Also attending were Bertrand Raquet, Executive President of the INSA Group; Marie-Christine Baietto, Vice President for Research; Damien Fabregue, Vice President of INSA Lyon; and Walter Escoffier, Vice President of INSA Toulouse.

Both sides agreed that Beihang and the INSA share a solid and stable foundation for cooperation. Looking ahead, they expect to further deepen strategic cooperation in the future, continue to focus on cutting-edge and interdisciplinary fields and jointly innovate mechanisms and models for cultivating international excellent engineers, building bridges for people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and France, and providing smart solutions to common challenges facing human society.

Witnessed by both sides, the 2026 INSA DAY and the International "Technological and Industrial Innovation" Deep Integration Roundtable officially opened.

In his speech, Wang Yunpeng extended a warm welcome to the distinguished guests. He noted that in recent years, Beihang has deeply implemented its "UPS International Strategy." Taking the campuses as platforms, scholars as bridges, and students as the focus, the university has built an international exchange and cooperation system featuring diversity, inclusiveness, mutual benefit, vibrancy and resilience, achieving fruitful outcomes in its cooperation with France.

Regarding the international university-enterprise partnership initiative for the deep integration of technological and industrial innovation, Wang put forward several requirements. First, deepen collaborative education to consolidate the talent pool for integrated innovation, and fully leverage the strengths of both sides, innovating and upgrading engineering education models. Second, carry out joint research to fuel innovation-driven development, and build a full-value chain connecting basic research, applied research and industrial transformation. Third, uphold openness and inclusiveness to expand cooperation, and engage in regular strategic collaboration with global partners, building the Hangzhou International Campus into a benchmark for Sino-foreign education and research cooperation, a demonstration zone for integrated technological and industrial innovation, and a new hub for talent gathering. Beihang is willing to work together with all partners to explore new pathways for the integrated development of education, science & technology, and talent, contributing more wisdom and strength to global educational and technological development as well as cultural exchange.

Bertrand Raquet highly praised the cooperation achievements between INSA and Beihang. He expressed delight in holding the 2026 INSA DAY events on the third anniversary of the Hangzhou International Campus's inauguration. He stated that INSA would continue to work alongside Beihang to promote the deep integration of technological and industrial innovation, and focus on jointly cultivating outstanding engineers. The two sides will further advance discipline co-construction, talent co-development, research collaboration, and resource sharing, elevating bilateral relations to new heights, and striving to create a "golden card" for Sino-French cooperation in science, technology, education, and culture.

Li Nan, Vice President of Thales China delivered a speech as the enterprise representative. She expressed anticipation for strengthening university-enterprise collaboration with Beihang in areas such as intelligent aviation, low-altitude economy, artificial intelligence, and quantum technology, building an open innovation ecosystem for the future, and jointly promoting the coordinated development of talent, research, and industry.

Focusing on deepening international cooperation and university-enterprise collaboration, the second meeting of the Beihang-INSA Collaboration Committee was held at the Hangzhou International Campus Conference Center. The two sides heard a report on the development of the Beihang INSA Institute for Applied Sustainable Sciences and Technology (BIFAST) and engaged in in-depth discussions on upgrading bilateral cooperation.

Wang stated that Beihang and INSA Group share a long-standing history of cooperation, with fruitful achievements in joint academic programs, scientific research, and faculty/student exchanges. Looking ahead, he called for deepening the essence of collaborative education, and continuously optimizing the training system of BIFAST. He emphasized strengthening the integration of industry and education, and ensuring precise alignment of talent cultivation with industrial demands. He also urged improving cooperation mechanisms, and enhancing team exchanges and mutual trust to ensure the stable and long-term development of Beihang-INSA cooperation, making greater contributions to deepening Sino-French cooperation in education and technology and promoting high-quality development of global engineering education.

Bertrand Raquet noted that the INSA Group and Beihang have always shared identical goals in cultivating international excellent engineers. Over the past three years, mutual trust between the two sides has been continuously strengthened, and cooperation mechanisms have been steadily deepened. He expressed hope that both sides would use this meeting as an opportunity to further expand cooperation areas, deepen collaborative content, jointly drive social progress in science and technology, and create a broader platform for Sino-French scientific and educational exchanges.

At the meeting, representatives from both sides signed agreements for joint academic programs, including a master's dual-degree program.

During the first 2026 meeting of the Beihang (Hangzhou) Management Committee, Wang heard reports on key work from the Hangzhou International Innovation Institute (H3I), Tianmushan Laboratory, Hangzhou Innovation Institute, Zhongfa Aviation Institute, and BIFAST, covering faculty development, transformation of scientific research achievements, institutional mechanism innovation, and international talent cultivation. Relevant work arrangements were made at the meeting.

Wang pointed out that talent is the core support for the university's high-quality development. He emphasized the need to continuously deepen the reform of faculty development mechanisms, combining high-standard talent recruitment, high-quality talent cultivation, and whole-process evaluation, striving to build a more open, efficient, and sustainable talent development system and continuously enhancing the university's capacity to attract high-level talent and core competitiveness. He emphasized that high-level science and innovation platforms should give full play to their role as innovation sources. Facing global technological competition and trends in engineering education reform, Wang stated that the university should further improve its international collaborative education system, deepen innovation in international cooperative education mechanisms, explore more open and diverse talent cultivation paths, continuously enhance students' international competitiveness and the university's global education standards, and strive to cultivate top-tier talent with a global perspective, patriotism, and innovation capabilities.

During his stay in Hangzhou, Wang held a forum with nine newly recruited faculty members from H3I and Tianmushan Laboratory. They had in-depth exchanges on the university's development plans, technological innovation and teaching capacity building. The faculty members expressed gratitude for the university's support and put forward suggestions on platform construction, teaching and research. Wang encouraged them to pool wisdom in an open and inclusive environment, hone professional skills through collaborative research, pursue excellence in innovation and practice, and grow into outstanding talents and academic backbones who can serve national strategic needs, making greater contributions to the university's high-quality development and the country's self-reliance in core science and technology.

Wang Yunpeng and Bertrand Raquet listened to presentations at the BIFAST freshman innovation project exhibition

Wang Yunpeng and Bertrand Raquet toured the BIFAST freshman innovation project exhibition

Wang Yunpeng and Bertrand Raquet toured the innovation project exhibition by BIFAST freshmen and watched the flight demonstration of the "Tianmushan No. 11" Vortex-F1 intelligent ultra-light single-person aircraft. They carefully viewed the student innovation projects and test flights, listened to project development briefings, and inquired in detail about key technical challenges, practical application scenarios, market transformation prospects, and iteration progress. They also had cordial conversations with the faculty and student representatives participating in the exhibitions. Wang encouraged everyone to delve deeper into their professional fields and strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, leverage the resource advantages and conditions of the experimental platforms at Hangzhou International Campus, broaden their global vision, strive for breakthroughs in key core technologies, and drive the continuous iteration and upgrading of scientific and technological innovations for broader applications.

Attendees watched the flight demonstration of the "Tianmushan No. 11" Vortex-F1 intelligent ultra-light single-person aircraft

Wang Yunpeng took a group photo with foreign guests and faculty representatives

Editor: Liu Tingting