On the evening of October 16, 2025, the inaugural lecture of the “Introduction to Civil Engineering” course was grandly delivered in Lecture Hall A431 of Zhi Gong Building at Shenzhen University's School of Civil and Transportation Engineering. The lecture was presented by Professor Chen Xiangsheng, Dean of the School and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Over 200 faculty members and students attended, including Vice Dean Yang Lei, representatives of young faculty, and freshmen from the Class of 2025. Vice Dean Yang Lei presided over the lecture.

Academician Chen Xiangsheng's lecture began with the origins of civil engineering, comprehensively reviewing its developmental history and highlighting three major leaps in its evolution over the past millennia. Starting with iconic ancient structures and connecting them to the modern world—particularly China's monumental civil engineering achievements in recent years—he guided students through a captivating journey that fully revealed the grandeur of civil engineering within just a few dozen minutes.

Academician Chen, in light of the unprecedented changes the world is undergoing today, outlined China's comprehensive implementation of its ecological and environmental strategy and the nation's integration of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality into the overall framework of ecological civilization development. He emphasized that civil engineering must adhere to natural laws and advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Academician Chen pointed out that traditional civil engineering is undergoing its fourth leap forward—a cross-disciplinary convergence of “digitalization + artificial intelligence + diverse sensing technologies + related disciplines.” This convergence will give rise to a new generation of civil engineering with flesh and blood, perception, early warning capabilities, and immunity—digital-intelligent civil engineering.

Finally, Academician Chen Xiangsheng emphasized that the School of Civil and Transportation Engineering at Shenzhen University strives to foster a cultural atmosphere characterized by “inclusivity and mutual support, embracing diverse perspectives, freedom of exploration, respect for teachers and education, and dedication to one's profession.” Amidst a century of unprecedented transformation, the school is empowering traditional civil engineering disciplines with modern knowledge through digitalization and intelligent technologies, driving disciplinary innovation and ushering in a new era of digital-intelligent civil engineering that underpins human existence!

The lecture concluded successfully to the enthusiastic applause of the entire audience.