The International Conference on AI for Engineering, a sideline event of the 2025 World Laureates Forum, was held in Shanghai's Lin-gang Special Area on Oct 24.

The WLF International Conference on AI for Engineering is held in the Lin-gang Special Area on Oct 24. [Photo/World Laureates Forum]

Organized by the Shanghai Lingang Laboratory and Technology Innovation Development Foundation and Tongji University, and hosted by the university's Institute of AI for Engineering, the event gathered global experts to discuss pivotal topics such as basic research, technological breakthroughs, integration and innovation, global cooperation, and sci-tech ethics to explore the role of AI for engineering in the next-generation industrial systems.

The event, featuring the theme "AI for Engineering: From Advanced Technologies to New Quality Productive Forces", aimed to promote AI-driven transformations in the global engineering sector.

At the conference, Tongji University unveiled the world's first white paper on AI for engineering. The document offers strategic insights and systematic solutions for the future development of AI for engineering, introducing a technological framework centered on an operating system of AI for engineering with a forward-looking approach to transforming AI from advanced technology into new quality productive forces that truly drive industrial transformation.

Tongji University unveils the AI for Engineering White Paper. [Photo/World Laureates Forum]

In addition, the university launched the International Alliance of AI for Engineering, advocating for the creation of a global community revolving around open-source cooperation and joint innovation in the engineering sector. It invites government departments, universities, research institutions, and enterprises worldwide to join forces and collaborate in harnessing AI to create new quality productive forces in the engineering sector.

Addressing the conference, Zheng Qinghua, Party secretary of Tongji University and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, highlighted AI for engineering as a burgeoning interdisciplinary field born from the fusion of engineering expertise and cutting-edge AI technology to reshape the design and construction of smart cities, the transformation and upgrading of intelligent manufacturing, and the exploration of sustainable development.

Tongji University has established the Institute of AI for Engineering to build a cross-disciplinary, international innovation platform and contribute to the development of the sector, Zheng said.