On September 13, the initial orientation ceremony for freshmen of our university’s Wisconsin Institute was held in Qizhi Hall, Shenxing Building, at the Donghu Campus. President Jiang Jianming; Vice President Xu Huigang, Member of the Standing Committee of the University Party Committee and Vice President; Catherine Frank, President of the University of Wisconsin-Stott (via video link); and Li Sophie, Director of Joint Education Programs, attended the ceremony. Heads of relevant functional departments and colleges—including the Wisconsin Institute, the International Office, the School of Materials Engineering, the School of Electrical and Automation Engineering, and the School of Biological and Food Engineering—as well as program directors, homeroom teachers, counselors, and international faculty members from the Wisconsin College, along with all incoming freshmen of the Class of 2026 and their parents, attended the ceremony. The ceremony was presided over by Xu Huigang.
Jiang Jianming extended a warm welcome to the first 300 incoming freshmen. He noted that 2026 is not only a pivotal year marking the beginning of the nation’s 15th Five-Year Plan but also a year of rapid progress in the university’s development. The Wisconsin Institute was officially inaugurated and welcomed its first class of students, and the university achieved breakthroughs in multiple areas, including discipline development, industry-education integration, and open education. As pioneers of the college’s educational mission, witnesses to this historic moment, and innovators for its future development, you—students—have boundless opportunities for growth and vast scope for exploration, supported by the cutting-edge disciplinary framework jointly designed by our Chinese and American partner institutions and the industry-education integration platform they have built together.
Jiang Jianming encouraged the first cohort of freshmen to keep in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping’s earnest exhortations to the youth of the new era and to integrate their personal youthful ideals into the great cause of national rejuvenation. He also offered three pieces of advice: First, they should cultivate moral character, stand firm in the face of diverse ideological currents, fasten the “first button” of their lives correctly, consciously integrate their personal youthful ideals into the great cause of national rejuvenation, and strive to become a new generation capable of shouldering the heavy responsibility of national rejuvenation; Second, they should uphold an open and inquisitive approach to learning, break free from the shackles of single-discipline thinking, make full use of the high-quality resources offered by both Chinese and American universities, and build a comprehensive set of skills suited to future development; third, they should hone practical abilities that integrate knowledge with action, delve into the front lines of industry, participate in research projects, and engage in innovation and entrepreneurship, thereby grasping industry trends and pinpointing their developmental direction through practical exploration. He wished the students to remain true to their principles, act with dedication, make the most of their youth, and discover the best versions of themselves at the Wisconsin Institute of Suzhou University of Technology.
Catherine Frank noted that the University of Wisconsin-Stott and Suzhou University of Technology have built a bridge for Sino-U.S. educational exchange. The two institutions share a solid foundation for cooperation, with aligned philosophies and complementary strengths in engineering education and the cultivation of applied talent. The first cohort of freshmen at the Wisconsin Institute are not only beneficiaries of the partnership between the two universities but also active participants and promoters of Sino-U.S. cultural exchange and educational cooperation.
At the ceremony, faculty members from both the U.S. and Chinese universities took the stage one by one to briefly introduce their professional backgrounds, research interests, and teaching areas, drawing enthusiastic applause from the audience. The gathering of faculty members from diverse disciplines and cultural backgrounds highlighted the Wisconsin Institute’s distinctive approach to integrating high-quality educational resources from both China and the U.S. and fostering collaborative education, while also filling the first cohort of freshmen with anticipation for the international learning experience that lay ahead.
During the Academic Honor Pledge ceremony, a representative from the incoming class took the stage to recite the pledge, making a solemn commitment to academic integrity and scholarly rigor. The ceremony also featured a segment titled “Chinese and American Faculty and Students Read Together to Embark on a New Journey,” in which Li Suifei and Cai Wei read alongside three representatives from the incoming class. Following this, Pro. Xu Jingjing, Pro. Liu Jicheng, Pro. Yang Gang, and Pro. Chen Mengling presented commemorative growth albums to 12 representatives from the incoming class.
The Wisconsin Institute at Suzhou University of Technology is a joint program established by Suzhou University of Technology and the University of Wisconsin. It received formal approval from the China Ministry of Education in 2025 and will admit its first class of students in 2026. As the university’s first approved Sino-foreign cooperative educational institution, the Wisconsin College marks a significant upgrade in the university’s model for Sino-foreign cooperative education and represents a major breakthrough in deepening the university’s openness and advancing the internationalization of talent development in the new engineering disciplines.
