On the afternoon of July 23, 2021 BUCEA Virtual Summer School on Smart City successfully came to an end. The closing ceremony was attended by all the students, teacher representatives, and delegates from International Development Research Institute (School of International Education) and Department of Academic Affairs of BUCEA. HUANG Xing, Deputy Director of International Education Center of the International Development Research Institute, presided over the ceremony.

Four student representatives from Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering in Russia, University of Lagos in Nigeria, Jilin Jianzhu University, and BUCEA shared their outcomes in the field of intelligent building, advanced robotics, industrialized building and urban development in the context of “smart cities”. They also mentioned the teachers and courses that impressed them and expressed their appreciation to the host and teachers for their hard work.

Centering on relevant academic focuses of “smart cities” and popular topics among students, 12 high-level lectures were given within a week. The lectures covered frontier topics including “Application of remote sensing technology in disaster risk management”, “Building a safe and livable city based on digital twin technology”, “Geosocial media-based situational awareness in smart cities”, and “Nanofluids - inception and development”. In addition, innovative academic discussion on “Innovation in construction stormwater management”, “Dynamics in engineering”, “Challenges for infrastructure development projects”, “Advanced robotics and industrialized building systems”, and “Application of data in city awareness networks” were included. “Introduction about the ISPRS Student Consortium” and “Support for International Students in BUCEA” were also presented. These lectures were warmly welcomed by students, benefiting them a lot. Besides, they expressed their thanks to the host and teachers by e-mail and showed their desire to participate in the next Summer School.

On behalf of the teachers, Prof. Muhammad Ramzan of Bahria University in Islamabad, Pakistan reviewed his special bond with BUCEA. In the speech, he extended his gratitude to the host for their preparation and warm invitation. He expressed that it was his honor to share the research results with the students and scholars around the world.

In the closing ceremony, CHEN Tao, Deputy Dean of International Development Research Institute, summarized the international and professional achievements of this virtual summer school on “Smart Cities”. In addition, her thanks went to the teachers, staff, volunteers, and each student involved for their hard work in the Summer School. She also recognized students’ impressive performance at the Summer School, especially their hard-working and collaborative spirit. Besides, she expressed gratitude and respect to the ISPRS and ISPRS Student Consortium which co-organized the Summer School. At last, she expected that all the students could learn from each other to make up their deficiencies and continue to communicate and exchange ideas on the basis of the Summer School, forging the Summer School into a platform for students to broaden global vision and enhance cross-cultural communication skills.