Global Outreach: HIT Mechatronics at ICRA 2026 and in Europe

The 2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2026) was held from June 1 to 5 in Vienna, Austria, under the theme "Robots for All". ICRA is one of the world’s leading and largest conferences in robotics and automation, bringing together over 8,000 researchers and industry practitioners across 86 countries and regions to share advances in AI, autonomous systems, human-robot interaction and emerging robotics technologies. Faculty and students from the School of Mechatronics Engineering, HIT, attended the event. After the conference, the school leaders embarked on overseas talent recruitment seminars in Switzerland and Sweden, achieving fruitful outcomes.

The school set up a featured booth in the core exhibition area of ICRA 2026, showcasing its disciplinary advantages, cutting-edge research achievements and comprehensive talent training system, which attracted extensive attention and in-depth exchanges from numerous domestic and international scholars. Special spotlight was cast on SmartBot, an international academic journal supported by School of Mechatronics Engineering and the State Key Laboratory of Robotics and Systems, and launched by Harbin Institute of Technology and Wiley.

A student delegation from the school took full part in the conference agenda and attended a series of high-level keynote lectures and thematic forums, learning about the latest research progress and frontier development trends in the global robotics industry. By actively communicating and discussing with experts and scholars from all over the globe, the students broadened their international academic horizons and deepened their professional understanding of cutting-edge disciplinary research.

Upon the completion of ICRA 2026, Profs. Pan Yunlu and Cheng Jian, Vice Deans of the School of Mechatronics Engineering, held overseas talent recruitment seminars in Zurich, Gothenburg and Stockholm. During the seminars, they presented the school’s development vision, disciplinary construction plans and competitive talent recruitment policies, and conducted in-depth communications with participating researchers. The seminars drew wide attention from overseas young talents, effectively improving the school’s popularity and global appeal in the international academic community.