On the morning of May 17, 2024, Professor Wang Lan, Dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University, led a delegation to the College of Design at Georgia Institute of Technology (GT) for a meeting with Professor Ellen Bassett, Dean of the College, to discuss potential collaborations between the two institutions.

GT is renowned as one of the top three engineering and technology institutions in the United States alongside the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Tongji University enjoys a long-standing and robust partnership with GT, with frequent exchanges between the leadership of both universities and colleges. Notably, Professor Alan Balfour, a renowned international architectural theorist and former Dean of GT, serves as an advisory professor at Tongji University. Former department chairs Ellen Dunham-Jones, Richard Dagenhart, and Professor Yang Peiru have also delivered lectures at Tongji through the university's modular talent introduction program.

Building on their longstanding cooperation through joint design projects and student exchanges, Tongji-GT dual-degree programs were launched in 2011. In 2014, the Sino-US Joint Eco-city Design Laboratory, co-founded by the two universities, was inaugurated, with Professor Yang Peiru and Wang Yi serving as joint directors. The laboratory has conducted collaborative research in the development and application of ecological performance simulation techniques for urban forms, nurturing numerous promising young scholars in the academic world and serving as a significant pillar in the construction of the International Joint Eco-city Design Laboratory by the Ministry of Education.

Professor Javier Iribarry, the Associate Dean of Academic Development at the College of Design, Georgia Institute of Technology, Professor Yang Peiru, Assistant Professor He Yiyi, and Associate Professor Qian Feng from the Architecture Department of Tongji University attended the meeting as well.

The meeting proceeded in a cordial and friendly atmosphere, with participants reflecting on past work and successes and offering comprehensive insights into future prospects. Extensive discussions were held on the continuation and expansion of dual-degree cooperation, as well as innovative joint master's and doctoral programs focused on cutting-edge research, resulting in favorable consensus. Both sides will efficiently advance the implementation of key collaborative projects in the coming phase.