The 2026 Academic Conference of the Underwater Acoustics Branch of the Acoustical Society of China (ASC) opened at the Qihang Theatre of Harbin Engineering University (HEU) on 8 August.
Nearly 1,000 experts and scholars were in attendance at the opening ceremony, including YANG Desen, LIU Qingyu and DA Lianglong, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; WANG Haibin and YANG Kunde, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; YANG Yixin, President of Nanjing University of Science and Technology; YIN Jingwei, President of HEU; XU Wei, Vice Chairman of the Hainan Association for Science and Technology; and LIU Wenshuai, Deputy Director of Hanjiang National Laboratory. YIN Hang, Vice President of HEU, presided over the opening proceedings.
YIN Jingwei stated that HEU has consistently cultivated high-calibre top-tier talent and delivered a portfolio of core technological achievements for the industry. He described the conference as a high-level platform for integrated industry-university-research-application exchange and collaboration, and expressed the hope that participating experts would fully share their cutting-edge research outcomes, focus on industrial bottlenecks to carry out joint research, promote the establishment of long-term and stable cooperation mechanisms, drive more major breakthroughs in basic underwater acoustic theories and innovative technologies, and strengthen public science education in underwater acoustics – all to make new and greater contributions to national development and the progress of the underwater acoustics field.
At the opening ceremony, the compilation of the Modern Underwater Acoustics Science and Education Book Series was officially launched. A representative from HEU’s College of Underwater Acoustic Engineering introduced the background and framework of the series.
The launch ceremony for the “Innovation China” Underwater Acoustics Science and Technology Service Corps was also held, with YIN Jingwei and XU Wei presenting the official flag to the corps.
XU Wei noted that, building on the policy advantages and unique geographical conditions of the Hainan Free Trade Port, Hainan is focused on developing itself as a source of deep-sea scientific and technological innovation and a hub for modern marine industries. He expressed the expectation that the launch of the service corps would build a durable cross-provincial platform for industry-university-research collaboration, align HEU’s research strengths in underwater acoustics with the industrial needs of the free trade port, support the local adoption of advanced underwater acoustic technologies in Hainan, and bolster national development with core technological capabilities.
LIU Wenshuai stated that the service corps is established to address practical development challenges with professional expertise. Going forward, corps members will perform their duties diligently, adopt a pragmatic and evidence-based approach, remain guided by real-world demands, establish long-term operational mechanisms, prioritise tangible outcomes, and advance the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation, to contribute wisdom and strength to national development.
HEU also initiated and hosted the launch ceremony for the “Underwater Acoustics Popularisation Enters 1,000 Classes” campaign at the conference.
During the plenary keynote session, Academician DA Lianglong, Academician WANG Haibin, Academician YANG Kunde, YANG Yixin and YIN Jingwei delivered keynote speeches respectively. Drawing on industry development trends and strategic analysis, they shared insights and conducted academic exchanges on key research areas including marine environment, underwater acoustic communication, deep-sea acoustics, underwater acoustic signal processing, and distributed detection and communication systems.
The two-day academic conference featured ten parallel sub-forums, where academicians, experts, researchers and early-career scholars in China’s underwater acoustics community presented and discussed cutting-edge research outcomes, pooling innovative momentum for the advancement of the sector.
