On October 30, Helmut List, Chairman of the Board and CEO of AVL List GmbH of Austria, accompanied by Helmut Rakowitsch, Consul General of the Austrian Consulate General in Shanghai, visited Tongji University. Zheng Qinghua, President of Tongji University and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, met with the delegation. Representatives from the University President’s Office, Foreign Affairs Office, College of Excellence in Engineering, Sino-German College, and College of Automotive Engineering participated in the discussions.
Zheng Qinghua extended a warm welcome to Helmut List and his delegation. He emphasized that Tongji University and AVL List GmbH share a century-long history of fruitful collaboration, and the university deeply cherishes its enduring friendship with the List family. Looking ahead, Tongji aims to comprehensively deepen cooperation with AVL List GmbH, building on their century-old partnership to jointly cultivate outstanding engineering talent, drive academic innovation, address common challenges faced by China and Austria, and establish a model for university-industry collaboration.
Helmut List highly commended Tongji University’s tradition of cooperation with Austrian and European partners, as well as its remarkable high-quality development in recent years. He affirmed that AVL List GmbH will continue and deepen its collaborative tradition with Tongji, exploring new models for international industry-academia-research integration, forging innovative pathways for nurturing top-tier engineering professionals, and establishing a new banner of mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Austria.
During the visit, the delegation toured the College of Automotive Engineering, inaugurated the "AVL List Smart Classroom," and delivered a keynote speech titled AVL’s Solutions to Future Challenges in Energy and Transportation Sectors at the Tongchexing Lecture Series. Subsequently, in a roundtable discussion presided over by Tongji University Vice President Lou Yongqi, List and automotive faculty representatives reaffirmed their commitment to sustained collaboration. Both parties reached a consensus to deepen cooperation through initiatives such as corporate-funded chairs, joint master’s and doctoral programs, and faculty exchange programs. They pledged to expand collaborative fields, elevate partnership levels, integrate international research with talent development, strive for groundbreaking academic achievements, and cultivate world-class engineering professionals.
AVL List GmbH of Austria is a globally renowned high-tech company with exceptional prestige in the automotive industry. Tongji University has maintained close collaboration with AVL List GmbH over the decades. The company’s founder, Professor Hans List, taught at Tongji University from 1926 to 1932. During this period, he established the university’s Power Machinery and Engineering program, cultivating China’s first generation of internal combustion engine specialists. In 2003, Wan Gang, then Executive Vice President of Tongji University, signed an agreement with Helmut List to establish a corporate-funded chair within the Sino-German College. Both Hans List and Helmut List were awarded the title of Honorary Professor by Tongji University in 1985 and 1997, respectively.
