From Dec 13 to 18, 2025, a delegation from the School of Design of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) visited the University of Canterbury (UC) in New Zealand and held high-level meetings with UC’s School of Humanities to establish comprehensive cooperation in the field of advanced digital screen technologies.

The discussion covered digital media art education, research innovation, and industry-education integration, marking the official launch of a strategic partnership in digital creativity between the two universities.

The HUST delegation was led by Dean Cai Xinyuan and Assistant Dean Bai Ge, while UC was represented by Executive Dean Kevin Watson and Digital Screen Academic Director Doctor Benjamin Miller. UC’s Confucius Institute leaders Huang Dong and Zhang Yingjie also participated.

During the visit, Dean Cai presented a detailed overview of the Design School’s development, disciplinary layout, research achievements, and platform construction. He emphasized HUST’s focus on AI-driven design innovation, with two main themes: AI+traditional culture” and “AI+creative entertainment”. The school has built systematic research in AIGC creative design, immersive cultural experiences, digital innovation of intangible cultural heritage, and digital human system development, aiming to cultivate interdisciplinary talents with both technological literacy and humanistic sensibility.

Kevin Watson welcomed the HUST delegation and shared his 20 years of experience in developing Academic Director projects and related technology research. He noted that AI is redefining the boundaries of visual creation and emphasized that education must lead industrial development. He expressed that collaborating with HUST would help both institutions respond effectively to these emerging challenges.

Cai highlighted the strategic importance of advanced digital screen as a frontier of AI and visual art integration, reshaping cultural production, improving efficiency, and creating innovative experiences. With China’s large digital creative industry market and strong talent demand, alongside New Zealand’s leading global position in digital visual effects, the cooperation between the two universities is highly complementary and holds significant potential.

Doctor Benjamin Miller introduced UC’s curriculum, standards, and industry-academia collaboration in advanced visual generation technologies. The two sides also discussed degree recognition and joint enrollment mechanisms. Assistant Dean Bai noted that HUST’s engineering and technology strengths, combined with UC’s expertise in digital creativity, create a unique “technology+art” interdisciplinary training model that meets current industry talent demands.

Both parties exchanged views on teaching philosophy and cross-disciplinary collaboration, acknowledged the importance and potential of the partnership, and set a clear timetable for next steps.

The HUST delegation toured UC’s newly established Kōawa Studios, the South Island’s first commercial-grade creative technology and digital screen center. The facility is equipped with a 200-square-meter virtual production and green screen studio, a motion capture studio, a stop-motion animation studio, a Dolby-certified recording studio, an audio editing room, and a 165-seat multifunctional theater. A 1,400-square-meter production and post-production facility is scheduled to open in 2026.

Huang Dong emphasized the Confucius Institute’s role in promoting academic and cultural exchanges between China and New Zealand, while Zhang Yingjie highlighted the broad prospects for collaboration in digital creativity, which will advance both universities’ disciplines, talent cultivation, and bilateral cultural industry development.

Source: School of Design of HUST