On April 28, 2026, Professor Elena Manferdini from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) visited the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University. 

During the visit, Professor Manferdini held discussions with Professor Philip F. Yuan, Dean of the College, and Associate Professor Liu Kan, Deputy Director of the Department of Architecture. They explored the possibilities of conducting interdisciplinary research, collaborative teaching, and academic exchanges between the two universities, focusing on emerging and cutting-edge fields such as virtual metaverse design, game design, and film design. The two sides also communicated regarding student recommendation and mutual visit mechanisms within the undergraduate-to-master's express program. It was clarified that taking the 'Mixed Reality Space Design' course of the Intelligent Space Design Experimental Class as an opportunity, the two universities will promote teaching and research collaboration in related areas.

Subsequently, Professor Manferdini visited the college and the design institute, accompanied by Yan Chao, an assistant professor at the college, and Wang Daren, an architect from Li Zhenyu's studio at Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd..