On the morning of April 1st, 2014, Strategic Cooperation Agreement Signing Ceremony and Equipment Donation Ceremony between Beijing Jiaotong University and Rockwell Automation Company, U.S. was held in Science Hall. Mr. Michael Cook, Global Business Director of Rockwell Automation Company and Professor ZHANG Xingchen, Vice President of Beijing Jiaotong University attended the ceremony and delivered speeches on behalf of both parties, respectively.

Vice President ZHANG Xingchen and Mr. Michael Cook signed the strategic cooperation agreement on behalf of both sides. According to this agreement, the automation lab will be jointly established by Beijing Jiaotong University and Rockwell Automation Company, and Rockwell Automation will donate equipment worth 10 million RMB to the laboratory. The donation and inauguration ceremony was held at the same time.

Vice President ZHANG Xingchen in his speech extended the gratitude to Rockwell Automation's strong support to Beijing Jiaotong University. The automation laboratory, he said, would be an important base for research and development, automation talents training and automation engineering application of Beijing Jiaotong University, as well as a platform to provide supports for publicity, promotion and application of Rockwell’s automation technology.

Michael Cook said in his address that the University Partnership Program would help Chinese university students learn and use the state-of-the-art automation products. The program aimed at training automation talents cooperated with Chinese universities and promoting further development of China’s education.

Professor JIANG Jiuchun, Dean of School of Electrical Engineering and Acting Director of the Automation Lab, gave a brief introduction on the development of School of Electrical Engineering
The delegation also visited teaching and research laboratories of School of Electrical Engineering.

The ceremony was hosted by Wang Jianjiang, Vice Dean of School of Electrical Engineering. Mr. Patrick Powers, Director of Government Affairs, Ms. DING Huijun, Manager of Global University Relations and Cooperation, Mr. LI Lei, Manager of Asia Pacific Business Development of Rockwell Automation Company; related directors from Office of Educational Administration and Office of Laboratories and Equipment Management of BJTU, and teachers and students from School of Electrical Engineering also attended the ceremony.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK) is one of the world's top 500 companies and the largest company focusing on industrial automation and information technology. Its University Partnership Program started in 1998, and has cooperated with 58 key universities in China.