On May 20, 2025, coinciding with Tongji University's 118th anniversary, a delegation from Thomas Jefferson University (TJU), USA, comprising Barbara Klinkhammer, Dean, College of Architecture and the Built Environment; Edgar Stach, Director, Institute for Smart and Healthy Cities; and Peng Du, Director, Master of Urban Design, visited our college for academic exchanges and cooperation negotiations. Dean Wang Lan and Associate Dean Philip F. Yuan warmly received the guests in the college office conference room. Shen Yao, Director of the International Cooperation Department; Tan Zheng, Foreign Affairs Supervisor of the Architecture Department; Shan Lu from the Planning Department; Wang Fangyi from the Landscape Architecture Department; and Wang Yan from the college's international cooperation Office also participated in the discussions.

TJU is renowned for its research in smart and healthy cities, integrating architectural, engineering, and public health resources through its School of Architecture and the Built Environment. Leveraging the UNESCO platform, it has established unique strengths in healthcare architecture design and urban health data analysis. During the exchange, both sides engaged in in-depth discussions on architecture, urban planning, and health design, reaching preliminary consensus on various international cooperation possibilities.

The talks centered on academic program collaboration, exploring possibilities for joint doctoral training, dual master's degrees, and undergraduate exchanges to foster interdisciplinary and cross-regional talent development, as well as potential trilateral cooperation with European universities; they also addressed research and academic exchanges, focusing on smart and healthy cities, sustainable design, and AI applications, with plans for joint research, data sharing, and international academic platforms; additionally, industry practice collaboration was discussed, including internships, joint design competitions, and corporate partnerships to deepen industry-academia-research integration. Both sides agreed to take the signing of a memorandum of understanding as an opportunity to further refine the cooperation framework and prioritize the implementation of interdisciplinary research dialogues and student exchange programs. Our college expressed anticipation that this collaboration would provide students with a broader international perspective and enhance their academic and practical capabilities. The TJU delegation highly praised the complementary strengths of both universities in health design and looked forward to jointly addressing the dual challenges of global urban development and public health.

Marking Tongji University's anniversary, both sides expressed their commitment to using this meeting as a new starting point to drive cooperation and inject new momentum into international collaborations in architecture and urban planning.