The 2025 Annual Joint Conference of Deans from Characteristic Demonstration Software Schools recently took place at Zhejiang University. During the event, the “FastCAE Open-Source Infrastructure Framework Platform,” developed by the Characteristic Demonstration Software School of our university, was honored as one of the Top 10 Key Software Technology Innovations of 2025.

The conference was guided by the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education, hosted by the Alliance of Demonstration Software Schools, and organized by the School of Software at Zhejiang University. Over 100 experts participated, including deans, party secretaries, and provincial leaders from the first group of 33 national Characteristic Demonstration Software Schools. Attendees engaged in extensive discussions on the development and high-quality advancement of these schools, as well as on emerging strategies for cultivating software talent with distinct Chinese characteristics.

The “FastCAE” project has secured more than 20 invention patents and serves as a cornerstone technology for the White Paper on Open-Source Industrial Software CAE Integration Framework, as well as the national standard for the Classification and Grading Evaluation of Industrial Software. The platform has been successfully implemented in several major national projects, such as digital towing tanks, digital wind tunnels, and digital engines. Additionally, the platform has fostered an innovative ecosystem that integrates industry, academia, research, and application. With the involvement of over 100 universities and enterprises, it addresses the issue of redundant development in domestic CAE software and leads the way in establishing a new model for open-source collaborative innovation within China’s industrial software sector.