The Anhui Science and Technology Innovation Conference was grandly held in Hefei on May 12. The project "Key Technologies and Applications of Cross-Domain Optical Transmission Systems Between Data Centers", jointly declared by our school as the first completing unit, won the Second Prize of Anhui Science and Technology Progress Award 2023, marking an important progress made by the school in industry-university-research collaborative innovation and the implementation and application of key technologies.

As the highest-level scientific and technological award approved and established by the People's Government of Anhui Province, the Anhui Science and Technology Award focuses on the goal of "contributing to the country's high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement, and adding impetus to Anhui's high-quality leapfrog development", and commends major landmark achievements made in scientific research, R&D and tackling key problems, and achievement transformation.

The project was led by Associate Professor Chen Bin and Associate Professor Lei Yi of our school, and jointly completed by Wuhan Source Photonics Technology Co., Ltd., Anhui Telecom Planning and Design Co., Ltd., Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications and other units. Aiming at the urgent demand for large-capacity and long-distance optical transmission between data centers, the project has overcome core technologies such as joint modulation assisted by precise optical link modeling, ultra-long-distance and high-reliability transmission, and cross-domain resource collaborative management and control. The achievements of the project have remarkable economic and social benefits, and have strongly promoted the transformation and upgrading of the data center optical interconnection industry and the high-quality development of the information industry.

The project team said: "The rapid transformation of achievements from the laboratory to industrialization benefits from the in-depth cooperation between universities and enterprises. In the future, the team will focus on the frontier of 'intelligent computing network', promote the expansion of technology to fields such as optical network digital twin and optical switching, and accelerate the deep integration of digital technology and the real economy."

This award is a vivid embodiment of the school's practice of the concept of "scientific research taking root in industry and achievements serving society". The school will continue to deepen the integration of industry and education, create a new paradigm for the coordinated development of the innovation chain and industrial chain, and inject strong impetus into the high-quality development of the regional digital economy.