“International Workshop on Frontier of Neural Engineering”, also the very first “International High-End Workshop on Engineering Science and Technology Development Strategy”, co-sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) and Zhejiang University, was held from March 29 to 30, 2011, in Hangzhou. Scholars home and abroad had broad and in-depth discussion and exchanges as to major scientific issues in the field of neural information engineering as well as its potential development trend. 

CAE Executive Vice President Pan Yunhe acted as the Honorary Chairman of the workshop, which was co-chaired by CAE Member Wei Yu, Prof. John Donoghue from Brown University, and Professor Wu Zhaohui, Vice President of Zhejiang University. CAE Member Zheng Nanning, President of Xi’an Jiaotong University, together with Prof. Jose Principe from the University of Florida, acted as the Academic Chairpersons of the workshop, while Prof. Zheng Xiaoxiang from Zhejiang University served as the Executive Chairman. Pan Yunhe addressed the opening of the workshop while CAE Vice President Fan Daiming presided over the opening ceremony. CAS Member Yang Wei, also President of Zhejiang University, Director General Wu Yunru from the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, and officials working with relevant departments of the Information Division of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), among many others, attended the workshop. 

After two days of heated interaction and discussion, Chinese and foreign scientists reached agreements with regard to the development of neural information engineering as follows. First of all, neural information engineering is one of the fastest developing frontier research areas. Brain computer interface, cognitive computing and neural education information engineering are the three major representative research fields that are interwoven and mutually dependable, which require brain signal analyzing, modeling, tapping (exploiting) and utilizing from different levels and different particle sizes. And then in response to different demands, suitable application systems should be built. And once key techniques like neural signal processing, cognitive computing and control, environmental intelligence, brain plasticity, brain-computer adaptation, integration of biological intelligence and machine intelligence are grasped, applicable products are expected to be developed in fields like brain-computer interface, cognitive computing and neural education, so as to better benefit the human society. In addition, as neural information engineering involves multiple disciplines, it demands comprehensive cross-disciplinary cooperation worldwide (other than just the efforts of neuroscientists and information scientists), in order to create and share resources of human knowledge.

Attendees of the workshop said that they would take this workshop as a special opportunity to enhance international cooperation among various teams across the globe, so as to accelerate researches in neural information engineering. On the one hand, Chinese scientists demonstrated pretty high academic standards in the area of neural engineering in this workshop, whose research findings left a deep impression on their foreign counterparts, who then expressed their willingness to strengthen academic exchanges and conduct collaborative researches with Chinese scientists in the future. On the other hand, this workshop also let Chinese scientists recognize the gap in research level between us and those international teams, and helped Chinese scientists to see the direction neural engineering should develop towards as well as the objectives for future efforts more clearly, which, hopefully, will act as guidelines for the future development planning of neural information engineering in China. (By Fan Guimei, May 2011; translated by Liu Chang)