From April 24 to 29, 2026, a delegation of the Belarusian National Technical University consisting of Yahor M. Zhukouski, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Transport Communications, and Vadim V. Bondar, Head of the Department "Building Structures named after Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor T.M. Petzold" of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, completed an internship at one of the world's leading technical universities – Tongji University (Shanghai, People's Republic of China).
For reference. Tongji University is one of the oldest and most prestigious technical universities in China. It was founded in 1907 by German doctor Erich Paulun as the German Medical School. In 1912, the school was renamed Tongji German Medical School, and in 1917 – Tongji Medical and Engineering College. Its current name, Tongji University, was adopted in 1923.
Today, Tongji is part of the elite group of Chinese universities supported by the state programs “Project 211” and “Project 985”. In global rankings, the university holds 177th place in the QS World University Rankings 2026 and 141st place in the THE World University Rankings 2026.
The history of transport engineering at Tongji began in November 1914, when 30 students majoring in civil engineering from the Qingdao Special Higher College were transferred to Tongji after the establishment of the discipline “Road and Railway Construction”. Thus began the century‑long history of transport science at the university.
The foundation for the development of the discipline was laid by outstanding scholars of the older generation: Tong Daxun, Zhu Zhaohong, Lin Xiuxian, Yang Peikun, Yao Zukang, and others. It was at Tongji that new ideas, theories and methodologies in the field of transport engineering in China originated.
Today, the College of Transportation Engineering has a comprehensive portfolio of land transport disciplines and is one of the key bases for personnel training and scientific research in this field.
The university possesses 17 national and provincial research platforms, including the National Engineering Research Center for Maglev Transport Technology and the under‑construction National Key Laboratory Center for High‑Speed Maglev Technology. Since 2017, the discipline “Civil Engineering” at Tongji has consistently been recognised as the best in the world according to the Shanghai Ranking (ARWU).
The internship was organised by Professor Zeng Mengyuan (Department of Transportation Infrastructure). The visit was a logical continuation of the cooperation between the Faculty of Transport Communications of BNTU and Tongji University, which includes joint research projects, experience exchange, and recent lectures by Professor Zeng in Minsk. The aim of the internship was not only professional development but also laying the foundation for new joint initiatives – from educational publications to major research programmes.
On 27 April, a meeting took place between the BNTU delegation and Professor Zhu Xingyi, Vice Dean of the College of Transportation Engineering of Tongji University. The discussion was also attended by Professor Zeng Mengyuan and Professor Mohsen Alae. The parties discussed promising areas of cooperation: intelligent transport systems, digital modelling of road pavements, the use of artificial intelligence for infrastructure diagnostics, as well as opportunities for organising internships for young researchers.
During negotiations with the college leadership, steps for participating in the joint Belarusian‑Chinese competition for research and technology projects were discussed, and topics for joint publications in Q1–Q2 journals were outlined. The culmination of the visit was the handover of a memorandum of understanding, signed on behalf of BNTU, between the Faculty of Transport Communications of BNTU and the College of Transportation Engineering of Tongji University. The document formalises intentions for 2026–2031: student and teacher exchanges, joint summer and winter schools, development of educational publications, harmonisation of curricula, and participation in grant programmes.
“We greatly appreciate the trust and openness of our Chinese colleagues,” stressed Yegor Zhukouski, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Transport Communications. “Professor Zeng Mengyuan, Vice Dean Professor Zhu Xingyi, Professor Wu Difei and Professor Mohsen Alae created an atmosphere of true creative partnership. I am confident that this internship will be followed by new joint achievements – from successful grants to the publication of manuals and textbooks that will be in demand both in Belarus and in China.”
The BNTU delegation was particularly impressed by the visit to the Research Laboratory of Road and Transport Engineering at Tongji University – one of the oldest in China (established in 1959). In 2000, it became the first key laboratory of the Ministry of Education of China in this field. Today, the laboratory occupies an area of 9,792 m², with fixed assets valued at 342.8 million yuan (≈ 48 million US dollars). Its staff includes 67 leading scientists, among them two academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
The tour was conducted by Professor Mohsen Alae. The guests examined the equipment, including unique installations:
Accelerated Pavement Testing (APT) system: allows simulating many years of operation in just a few months (load up to 75 kN per axle);
8‑degree‑of‑freedom driver behaviour and traffic safety simulator;
Natural traffic flow simulation;
Walk‑in climate test chamber with an extended temperature range (from –80°C to +250°C).
The delegation also visited the Shanghai Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center for Transport Engineering. In 2018, the center received the official status of a municipal demonstration center. It brings together 7 specialised laboratories (roads and airfields, urban rail transport, transport planning, intelligent connected vehicles, etc.), covers an area of 7,528 m², and houses more than 6,200 pieces of equipment, including the aforementioned 8‑degree‑of‑freedom simulator.
An important part of the negotiations was the agreement to prepare a joint textbook on the discipline "Airfields". The textbook will be intended for a new specialisation, the enrolment for which at BNTU will begin as early as 2026. Thus, the first students of the new specialisation will receive an educational publication created with the participation of leading Chinese experts – an example of promptly integrating international experience into the educational process.
During the internship, the BNTU delegation got acquainted with iconic construction and transport infrastructure facilities in Shanghai. Particular attention was paid to the Pudong district, where world‑famous skyscrapers rise: the Shanghai Tower (632 m – the second tallest building in the world), the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Jin Mao Tower. These architectural dominants are inextricably linked with multi‑level transport interchanges and bridges, which have become a symbol of the combination of engineering art and urban aesthetics. Such complexes, combining highways, metro lines and pedestrian spaces, ensure the movement of millions of residents and guests of the metropolis and serve as a vivid example of the integration of urban planning and transport design. Members of the delegation noted that acquaintance with these facilities supplemented the theoretical part of the internship with vivid practical examples of complex engineering solutions.
An important point of the programme was a visit to Shanghai Tonglu Cloud Transportation Technology Co., LTD – one of China's leading companies in the field of road pavement diagnostics and digital management of transport infrastructure.
The company was founded in 2020 and is the result of a successful transformation of Tongji University's scientific developments into a commercial product. This is a classic example of an effective "university‑startup" model: the technological core was formed in a research laboratory, and commercialisation was undertaken by a team of graduates and postgraduates who built a business on their own innovations. The headquarters is located in the Tongji University Science Park in the Jiading district.
Key technologies of the company:
lightweight road survey technology that allows compact equipment to be installed on ordinary cars;
high‑frequency multi‑dimensional digital management technology for road infrastructure;
use of microelectromechanical systems and AI algorithms to recognise types of damage.
Major projects: cloud platform for the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge, digital road operation in the Xiong'an New Area, road diagnostics in more than 200 counties across China (total length of surveyed network – 700,000 km).
The Belarusian guests were received by Professor Wu Difei, who presented the equipment and AI‑based software platforms (using the DeepSeek AI agent). The BNTU delegation expressed interest in the possible implementation of similar solutions in Belarus.
The central event of the internship was an open lecture by Yahor Zhukouski. The audience of students, postgraduates and lecturers gathered to hear a talk about road construction in the Republic of Belarus: from historical traditions (the famous Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of 1588, which became the first road code in Europe) to modern achievements.
The audience was particularly interested in examples of “green” technologies – the use of secondary resources (fly ash from thermal power plants, rubber crumb, asphalt granulate) and the cold recycling method, which allows up to 95% of old pavement to be reused. Belarusian experience in designing roads on swampy soils and under changeable climate conditions unexpectedly proved close to Chinese colleagues.
After the lecture, a lively discussion ensued.
“Your approach to sustainable development of road infrastructure is very inspiring,” noted one of the master’s students of Tongji University. “It was especially interesting to learn how you use secondary resources.”
The Faculty of Transport Communications and the Faculty of Civil Engineering of BNTU express their gratitude to all their Chinese colleagues for their warm welcome and fruitful cooperation, and remain open to new partnerships.
