Exploring the Universe, Engineering the Future: Physics at NUAA

6 May 2026 (Wed) – Delegates from the College of Physics, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA), China have visited the School of Physics, USM to give a talk entitled “Exploring the Universe, Engineering the Future: Physics at NUAA”. The talk started at 2 pm the conference room, moderated by Dr. John Soo Yue Han, attended by 15 academic staff and about 10 students.

The main speaker was Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lyu Mengjiao, assistant dean of the College of Physics at NUAA, and leader of its Scientific Artificial Intelligence (AI) Team. Dr. Lyu briefly introduced the background of NUAA, its location, history, demographics and ranking in the academic world. He also introduced the College of Physics, established in 2022, where it provides undergraduate and postgraduate programmes for Chinese and international students specialising in applied physics, optoelectronic information materials and electronic information. Dr. Lyu discussed on how their research in photoelectric information sensing devices and systems becomes an interdisciplinary integration with research in aerospace information material devices and physics. He also introduced his research work in nuclear physics, where he showcased his application of deep reinforcement learning, AI agents and swarm intelligence in multidisciplinary fields. At the end, Dr. Lyu also made a call to invite completing PhD students from the School of Physics to join as postdoctoral researchers or lecturers at their institution under the NSFC Research Fund for International Scientists (RFIS).

Another delegate present was Prof. Dr. Ong Yen Chin, a Terengganu-born astrophysicist who has established an academic presence across Singapore, Taiwan, Sweden and Germany. Prof. Ong was listed among the top 2% most-cited scientists since 2020, with his excellent research record in black hole thermodynamics and quantum gravity, he currently serves as the vice director the newly established Centre for the Cross-disciplinary Research of Space Science and Quantum-technologies (CROSS-Q). Prof. Ong share a little about his work at CROSS-Q, which focuses mainly on quantum-enabled space exploration technologies and quantum phenomena in extreme cosmic environments. He also invites undergraduate students who are interested in the field to apply for masters or PhDs at his centre as well. He also answered several questions from the floor by several enthusiastic PhD students, who are interested to know the kind of preparation needed to pursue a career in such a visionary field.

After the academic talk and the souvenir presentation ceremony, Prof. Ong and Dr. Lyu stayed back for a business meeting with a team of academic staff from the School of Physics, representing each of the relevant undergraduate programmes and research groups, led by our deputy dean for research, innovation & industry-community engagement, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Fairuz Omar. The NUAA delegates shared how they could collaborate with the School of Physics especially in research fields like cosmology, nuclear physics, stellar physics, ionospheric space weather and material fabrication. This NUAA-USM session also explored possibilities of visitations, summer programme teaching exchange programmes as well as recruitment. The delegates also expressed their interest in establishing a joint multidisciplinary research centre to increase visibility and funding applicability, and wishes for a future joint undergraduate programme between NUAA and USM as well.
                                      

The NUAA delegates ended their day with a tour to the Engineering Lab and the Nano-Optoelectronics Research (NOR) Lab, which were led by Dr. Afiq Arif Aminuddin Jafry and Dr. Siti Azrah Mohamad Samsuri. Overall, the event was a success, and both parties are looking forward to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to be signed in the future to further bridge the relationship between USM and NUAA, excelling research collaboration and performance between the two institutions.