On May 12, Mr. Blaine Herra Rakena, Dean of the School of Information Technology of the Waikato Institute of Technology, together with Mr. Liu Tan Fong, Director of the International Office, visited our university and held in-depth discussions with the School of Information Science and Technology and the Office of Information Technology Development. Hu Fengjun, Dean of the School of Information Science and Technology, Dai Guoyong, Vice Dean of the School, and Zhang Tianrong, Deputy Director of the Office of Information Technology Development, attended the meeting.

Dean Hu Fengjun extended a warm welcome to the visiting delegation. Vice Dean Dai Guoyong introduced the educational orientation, disciplinary structure, and talent cultivation overview of the school. Dean Rakena highly recognized the academic strengths of our school and presented New Zealand’s achievements in talent cultivation, program offerings, and international cooperation. Both parties expressed a strong willingness to further deepen future collaboration.

Following the meeting, Dean Rakena and his delegation visited the Office of Information Technology Development, where Deputy Director Zhang Tianrong provided a detailed introduction to our university’s smart campus development, comprehensive data governance system, digital twin campus platform, and the construction of its integrated “cloud-network-computing” digital infrastructure.

The delegation then toured the Artificial Intelligence Institute, visiting several specialized laboratories and exploring cutting-edge research directions such as the virtual-real integrated robotics training platform, intelligent image computing, and service robotics. Dean Rakena and his delegation showed great interest in experiencing application scenarios such as robotic object retrieval and digital human technologies. They also held discussions with the research teams on technological innovation and the development of the research institute.

Dean Rakena remarked that our university’s investment in educational informatization and its achievements in artificial intelligence research were highly impressive. In particular, he noted that our experience in intelligent services and AI applications provided valuable reference for future cooperation and development. He expressed hope that both institutions would maintain close communication and further deepen cooperation in internationalized education and academic collaboration.