On November 24th, the inaugural ceremony of Mathematical Center of Intelligent Computing and Application of Tongji University was held in Zhiyuan Building of the School of Mathematical Sciences. Many distinguished guests attended the ceremony, including SHI Zhongci (Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences), CUI Junzhi (Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering), ZHANG Pingwen (Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences), FANG Shouen (Secretary of the Party Committee of Tongji), LI Renjie (Deputy Director of Fundamental Research Section of the Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education), TONG Xiaohua (Assistant to President of Tongji), officials from Ministry of Education (MOE) and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, and experts and scholars from Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Nanjin University. More than one hundred teacher and student representatives from the School of Mathematical Sciences of Tongji University were present. The ceremony was presided over by GU Xianglin, Vice President of Tongji University.

On behalf of Tongji University, FANG Shouen warmly welcomed every expert and guest present at the ceremony, offered congratulations to the establishment of Mathematical Center of Intelligent Computing and Application, and expressed his sincere thanks to the Ministry of Education, Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Natural Science Foundation Commission and other universities for their long-term guidance, help and support to Tongji University. He noted that A.I. had offered the new field in which vibrant global technology competition took place and became a strategic technology to lead a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. In recent years, the School of Mathematical Sciences has launched a number of major initiatives to support the innovation and development of A.I., such as the construction of the Shanghai Autonomous Intelligent Unmanned System Science Center (SAIUSSC) on Zhangjiang AIsland supported by high-level disciplines of Tongji, the addition of A.I.-related undergraduate programs like "Intelligent Building", "Intelligent Manufacturing Engineering" and "Data Science and Big Data Technology". Besides, Tongji and Shanghai Pudong New Area Government signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement to help Pudong build a center for science and innovation with global influence. Tongji University will strive to make the most of the advantages and contribute "Tongji Proposal" and "Tongji Wisdom" to the development of artificial intelligence. Absolutely, the establishment of the Mathematical Center of Intelligent Computing and Application is a significant step for the school to closely follow the instructions of the central government, focus on the world frontier of science and technology, lead the way of development in A.I., and make efforts to play a leading role in innovation of fundamental research on mathematics. He hoped that the Center could gather a large team, build a big platform, undertake a great task, produce outstanding achievements with the spirit of working together for the same goal. The Center would continue to develop, strive to be the top, and contribute to the realization of the national strategy to be a high-tech powerhouse.

In his message, ZHANG Pingwen pointed out that in recent years, mathematics, as one of the Basic Sciences, has been playing an increasingly important role in the construction of innovative countries, and the central government, academia and industry all attach great importance to the development of mathematical disciplines. As a result, it is at the right time for Tongji University to establish the Mathematical Center of Intelligent Computing and Application. He hoped that Tongji University would effectively integrate its resources to strengthen and support mathematical disciplines, and expected the Center to play a greater role in developing mathematical disciplines, and meeting the national needs.

On behalf of the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education, LI Renjie extended her warm congratulations on the establishment of the Centre. She introduced the Ministry of Education 's planning and arrangement for the construction of the mathematics center to the guests, hoping that by building the Mathematics Center of Tongji University, branding impact will be created and the disciplines of mathematics will be comprehensively developed, so as to better promote the advancement of technology in the region.

Mathematical Center of Intelligent Computing and Application was inaugurated by FANG Shouen and ZHANG Pingwen.

Subsequently, the participating experts discussed the development proposal of the Mathematical Center of Intelligent Computing and Application of Tongji University from multiple aspects and made valuable suggestions for the construction of the Center.

At the "Interdisciplinary Seminar on Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics" held in the afternoon, CUI Junzhi and ZHANG Pingwen delivered two lectures on "Intelligent Engineering Based on Big Data and Computational Mathematics" and "Big Data’s Opportunities and Challenges to Applied Mathematics" respectively.

It is noted that the Mathematical Center of Intelligent Computing and Application of Tongji is supported by Pure Mathematics which was granted as the national key discipline to develop, featuring Algebra and Number Theory, Geometry and Topology, and Scientific Computing. Through a wide range of disciplinary crossing and integration, the Center builds a team of young and middle-aged scholars with broad horizons and developed research capability. They have made many internationally leading achievements in the field of research on basic theory, Intelligent Control and Scientific Computing on large scales, and are expected to make a breakthrough in areas including basic mathematical theory of Artificial Intelligence, and Algorithm and its engineering applications.