On the morning of July 3, 2026, the College of Chemistry hosted an academic lecture entitledFrom Lab to Industry: Industrialization-Oriented Scientific Research. The event invited Researcher Zhang Le from Sinopec Research Institute of Petroleum Processing Co., Ltd. to deliver a special keynote report. Guided by industrialization demands, the presentation discussed approaches to research topic selection and technological innovation pathways, and systematically illustrated the reverse thinking paradigm of deducing R&D starting points from ultimate industrial application goals. Real-world industrial implementation was set as the core benchmark for all R&D planning. Taking the development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as a full-scale case study, Researcher Zhang demonstrated the complete industrial development workflow, covering national strategic demand evaluation, technical route screening, catalyst design, process development and full-scale manufacturing. More than one hundred faculty members and graduate students attended this informative academic report that integrated innovative research paradigms with industrial engineering insights.
Lecture Scene
On behalf of the College of Chemistry, Professor Wei Min delivered an opening address. She extended a warm welcome to Researcher Zhang and expressed sincere appreciation for his long-term support to the college in talent training and academic exchange programs. Professor Wei reviewed Researcher Zhang’s remarkable research accomplishments in hydrogenation catalysis, hydrogen energy and sustainable fuel manufacturing. She pointed out that his sustainable aviation fuel research driven by industrial application demands strongly supports China’s carbon peaking and carbon neutrality strategy, and serves as a core driver advancing the green low-carbon transition of the energy and chemical sector.
Interactive Session
During the keynote session, Researcher Zhang elaborated systematically on industrialization-centered research methodologies and technological innovations for sustainable aviation fuels. He emphasized that industry-targeted research must adhere to result-oriented thinking anchored in national strategic requirements and commercialization objectives. He proposed a multi-dimensional assessment framework for research directions, including market prospect analysis, technical feasibility verification, commercial competitiveness evaluation and risk assessment. This framework establishes a closed-loop logical chain: identification of external industrial demands → matching of internal research capacities → comprehensive risk prevention and control. Based on the SAF development case, Researcher Zhang analyzed the greenhouse gas emission reduction challenges facing the aviation industry under the dual-carbon targets, summarized the development status and application prospects of mainstream technical routes such as lipid hydrodeoxygenation and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, and elaborated the full industrialization chain ranging from catalyst design and process optimization to production cost reduction. By closely linking scientific topic formulation, core technology breakthroughs and industrial application requirements, the report deepened the audience’s comprehension of refining core scientific questions, screening viable technical schemes and accelerating the commercial translation of research outputs. The Q&A session was highly interactive. Faculty and students raised numerous questions regarding research orientation planning, technical route layout and the large-scale industrialization of sustainable fuels. Drawing on extensive experience spanning fundamental research and industrial engineering, Researcher Zhang provided thorough and targeted answers to all questions raised.
The keynote featured systematic content, broad industrial vision, seamless integration of industrialization-driven research methodologies and SAF technological innovations, well-organized narrative structure and abundant practical engineering cases. This academic lecture not only helped faculty and students gain thorough understanding of market demands, diversified technical routes and industrialization progress of sustainable aviation fuels, but also offered profound inspirations on selecting research topics, distilling core scientific problems and translating laboratory achievements into industrial products. All participants commented that they would integrate the result-oriented reverse thinking and demand-driven research philosophy learned from the lecture into their subsequent studies and research work. They resolved to strengthen strategic awareness, problem awareness and original innovation capabilities, conduct in-depth research aligned with national dual-carbon strategies and the green low-carbon development demands of energy chemical industry, devote themselves to high-level fundamental research and key technical tackling, pursue independent innovation, and fulfill research responsibilities for national strategic development.
Post-lecture Group Photo