The 471st Doctoral Forum of Tsinghua University, organized by IE Department, was held in Huairou District, Beijing on December 10-11, 2016. Target to PhD students and senior master students majored in industrial engineering in colleges and universities in China, the forum was held annually, aiming to enhance academic exchange among students, strengthen innovative awareness and abilities, and improve research and education level of the field. One hundred and fifty students and young scholars from 12 universities, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Zhejiang University and Sun Yat-sen University and others, attended the Conference.

 
Industrial Engineering Doctoral Forum Held in 2016

Prof. Max Zuojun Shen, Head of the IE Department, delivered an opening speech at the forum. Prof. Shen reviewed the history of the Doctoral Forum, and encouraged students take the opportunity to learn research methodologies and methods from other talks. He also suggested that students should do research from real problems and make their outcomes more useful to the society. 

Prof. Shen delivered a speech at the opening ceremony

 
Students at the forum

The forum has both plenary and parallel sessions. In the plenary session, Professors Yanfu Li and Fang He from the IE Department presented their research achievement and future directions. In 13 parallel sessions, reports on supply chain management, manufacturing and production, human factors and human-computer interaction, reliability and health care were presented. The speakers shared their research outcomes and interact with the audience.

 
Speakers in parallel sessions 

 
Academic discussion

Faculty members of the IE Department also held a teaching and researching session to discuss cultivation issues related to PhD candidates, such as the employment orientation and design of curriculum system, after listening to the suggestions of the students.

Faculty discussion session 

The forum also had a paper competition. Six papers from 79 submissions were selected to enter the finalist, and three PhD students, Rui Chen, Yinghao Jia and Hao Wang, finally won the Outstanding Paper Award. Their research covers subjects of operations, decision-making, and health care.

Winners of Outstanding Paper Award

At the forum, a new story-sharing session was organized. Prof. Xiaobo Zhao and four outstanding senior PhD candidates shared their stories about research and daily life.

 
Outstanding PhD candidates shared their academic stories

In conclusion, students commented that the forum enhanced their research enthusiasm, and improved their knowledge and understanding of research topics from diverse IE area.