Recently, the Shandong Provincial Development and Reform Commission issued the "Notice on Announcing the List of Newly Accredited and All Existing Shandong Provincial Engineering Research Centers for 2025." The "Shandong Provincial Engineering Research Center for Whole-Chain Intelligent Equipment and Unmanned Technology in Grain Industry," jointly applied for by our university’s School of Intelligent Manufacturing, Shandong Painmon Mechanical & Electrical Technology Co., Ltd., and Shandong Yima Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., was successfully approved. This achievement marks a historic breakthrough for the university, as it is the third consecutive year we have received such accreditation. It signifies that our university has reached a new level in research areas encompassing deep processing technology for grain and oil, artificial intelligence technology in the grain industry, intelligent storage equipment, unmanned technology, and other aspects of the whole grain chain. This provides robust scientific research support for the transformation and upgrading of Shandong’s grain industry.
Food security is vital to the national economy and people’s livelihoods, with technological support being the core force safeguarding it. The engineering research center will focus on the national food security strategy and Shandong’s "Smart Granary" construction layout. It will address the practical needs of deep integration between digitalization and intelligent equipment in the grain industry, as well as high-quality development in modern agriculture. The center will concentrate on engineering applications such as unmanned intelligent plant protection in farmland, full-life-cycle management of smart granaries, and automated production in deep grain processing, carrying out research and development on whole-chain intelligent equipment and unmanned technology in the grain industry.
With technological innovation as the core driving force, the research center will focus on independent intellectual property layout and the output of industry benchmark achievements, accelerating the transformation of scientific research results into practical scenarios within the grain industry. Relying on this platform, the School of Intelligent Manufacturing will further refine the training system for high-quality composite technical talents in grain equipment and intelligent manufacturing, bridging the entire chain from "scientific research—teaching practice—industrial application." This will build an innovative education ecosystem deeply integrated with industry, academia, and research, providing powerful talent support for the high-quality development of the grain industry.
Next, the university will precisely align with national strategic needs, focus on key areas of regional industrial upgrading, and adhere to a demand-oriented approach based on the deep integration of industry, academia, research, and application. We will continue to strengthen the construction and management of scientific research platforms by optimizing resource allocation, improving platform operational mechanisms, and developing more targeted incentive systems for research platforms and achievements to stimulate the innovative vitality of faculty and students. We will continuously enhance the connotative development level of the platforms. The university will further leverage the leading role of its grain feature, strengthen interdisciplinary penetration and technological convergence, and prioritize the establishment of innovative technology platforms deeply integrated with industry, academia, research, and application in collaboration with leading enterprises in the grain industry. Focusing on technological breakthroughs and Technology Transfer, we will solidly promote the integrated development of the university with local regions and achieve win-win outcomes through industry-university cooperation, actively contributing "Business Wisdom and Strength" to Shandong’s strategy of strengthening the province through grain and the high-quality development of the regional economy.
