The national foreign aid training program “Training Course on Road Maintenance and Repair Capacity Building for Jordan”, hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and undertaken by the Fujian Provincial Foreign Economic Cooperation Center, was held in China from August 8 to August 28, 2025. To tell China’s stories well, share Fujian’s experience, and promote exchanges and cooperation between universities and Jordan in the field of infrastructure, 27 officials and technical personnel from Jordan engaged in road maintenance and repair work visited the College of Civil Engineering, Fuzhou University for an exchange on the afternoon of August 15, accompanied by leaders and staff of the Fujian Provincial Foreign Economic Cooperation Center.
Professor Li Xu, Vice Dean of the College, Researcher Huihui Yuan, Assistant to the Dean, as well as teachers and students from related majors, warmly welcomed the visiting participants. Researcher Huihui Yuan first gave a brief introduction to the college’s historical development, faculty strength, talent cultivation system, as well as its international cooperation and exchange initiatives and laboratory construction. During this exchange activity, Providence Habumuremyi, a postdoctoral fellow from Rwanda currently working at Fuzhou University, served as a core guide and receptionist, participating in explanations and interactions throughout the process. With his profound professional accumulation, cross-cultural communication skills and rich international engineering experience, he became an important link connecting Fuzhou University and the Jordanian participants.
In the first stop, the participants visited the Road Engineering Materials Laboratory, with a focus on the asphalt material preparation and performance testing area. Researcher Song Xu systematically introduced the overall layout and research directions of the laboratory, then showcased a complete set of asphalt material R&D equipment one by one—ranging from basic asphalt sampling devices to high-precision testing instruments, including dynamic shear rheometers, bending beam rheometers, pressure aging vessels, gel permeation chromatographs, and multiple sets of valuable equipment such as the 30kN universal testing machine (UTM). These devices form a complete testing chain, capable of comprehensively evaluating key indicators of asphalt materials such as high-temperature stability, low-temperature crack resistance, and anti-aging performance in accordance with both Chinese national standards and the American SHRP (Strategic Highway Research Program) system. Subsequently, the two parties conducted in-depth discussions on topics such as the optimization of road modified asphalt components (e.g., the dosage ratio of SBS modifiers), testing methods under special climatic conditions, and performance evaluation standards. The participants shared practical challenges encountered in road material design and construction in Jordan, while the laboratory team shared existing solutions. The on-site exchange atmosphere was lively and pragmatic.
Subsequently, the participants visited the Traffic Safety Laboratory. Since its establishment in 2011, the laboratory team, led by core members including Professor Yanqun Yang and Dr. Xinyi Zheng, has focused on key research directions such as optimization of traffic safety facilities and driving behavior research, monitoring of driver fatigue and psychological states, and integration of intelligent transportation systems with multidisciplinary fields. At the laboratory, Dr. Xinyi Zheng highlighted two independently developed achievements of the team, which attracted great attention from the participants. Among them, the driver fatigue monitoring and intervention system integrates multimodal technologies such as face detection, facial feature point recognition, and voice interaction, and can accurately determine fatigue states by combining electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring data. The other system, a displacement and angle monitoring system, focuses on the long-term operation and maintenance safety of transportation infrastructure. By using low-cost, high-precision MPU6050 sensors combined with advanced sensing technologies, server and terminal modules, this system realizes real-time monitoring of displacement and angle changes of transportation facilities and issues alarms when abnormalities occur. The participants from Jordan engaged in lively discussions on technical details, with on-site exchanges extending from technical principles to practical applications, creating a highly dynamic atmosphere.
At the Smart Construction Center for Civil Engineering, the laboratory director showcased on-site modeling works of structures such as buildings, bridges, tunnels, and municipal engineering completed using BIM technology, as well as simulation results of structural design, construction, and management based on these models. Taking the 5th-generation Pinming Tower Crane Safety Monitoring and Management System as an example, the participants conducted hands-on operations and expressed appreciation for the in-depth integration of information technology and civil engineering, believing that it provides valuable references for the digital management of road maintenance and repair.
Subsequently, led by Director Haode Cheng of the Experimental Center, the participants of the training program also visited the National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center for Civil Engineering. Established in 1998, the center currently covers a total laboratory area of over 17,000 square meters and is equipped with advanced large-scale instruments and equipment, including a three-array seismic simulation shaking table (SVT) system, MTS electro-hydraulic servo loading system, and light gas gun system. With a total value of experimental instruments and equipment reaching 90 million yuan, it stands as a comprehensive civil engineering experimental teaching center in Fujian Province and even the surrounding regions, boasting the widest disciplinary coverage, the most complete and advanced equipment, and the strongest technical capacity. Director Haode Cheng and Dr. Yanbo Wen provided the participants with detailed introductions to the performance, technical parameters, and some typical scientific research experiments of equipment such as the light gas gun system, testing machine system, SVT system, and MTS system. At the experiment site, the participants engaged in in-depth discussions on topics including advanced experimental technologies, structural mechanical properties, and practical promotion and application.
This exchange not only deepened the friendship and cooperation between the College of Civil Engineering of Fuzhou University and the members from the visiting developing countries, but also enabled technical experts and officials from various countries to gain a better understanding of the latest scientific research progress and cutting-edge experimental technologies in China’s civil engineering field. National foreign aid training serves as a window for Sino-foreign technical dialogue and, more importantly, a bond for win-win cooperation.
