Yongfeng Lu, Lott Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, delivered the keynote address at the CNU Conference of Advanced Technology (CCAT) in October 2026, held at Chungnam National University (CNU) in South Korea. This year’s conference was co-organized with Kongju National University (KNU).
Now in its sixth year, CCAT is an international academic conference that annually brings together participants from 17 countries and more than 75 domestic and international institutions to promote global academic exchange and expand collaborative research on essential global issues.
Lu’s session convened leading researchers to discuss advanced materials, components, and processes for future mobility, noting that it was his first time attending CCAT, and he had not delivered a keynote address at this conference before.
“It was indeed a great honor to be invited as a keynote speaker,” he said.
Additional speakers from the UNL College of Engineering included Bai Cui, professor of mechanical and materials engineering, who gave an online presentation titled “Laser Shock Peening of Ceramic Materials.” Jae Sung Park, Richard L. McNeel Associate Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, led an in-person discussion on “Designing battery slurries from a fluid-mechanics perspective.”
Presentations covered ceramic materials, advanced laser processing, thermal-fluid engineering, and smart manufacturing technologies. Through international academic exchange, the session aimed to strengthen collaboration and identify new research directions for future mobility manufacturing.
While in South Korea, Lu and Park also toured the engineering campus of Kongju National University in Cheonan and met with its faculty. In summer 2026, KNU and the College of Engineering signed an agreement establishing a joint Ph.D. program in mechanical engineering.
