Container Supply Chain Technology Engineering Research Center of the Ministry of Education in Shanghai Maritime University (hereinafter to be referred as the Engineering Center) was approved for project determination by the Ministry of Education in October 2007, and was passed acceptance by experts of Ministry of Education in August 2011, and was approved for normal operation by the Ministry of Education on January 11, 2012. There are 12 staffs in Engineering Center, including 5 professors, 1 associate professor, and 6 staffs with doctorate. Engineering Center consists of information processing laboratory, sensor monitoring and control laboratory, ergonomicsand environment laboratory, the general office, and some other agencies. There are one post doctorate, 4 PhD candidates and 18 master students. Engineering Center is the most important supporting institution for industrial engineering doctoral and master degree program, key academic subject for logistics engineering and management of Shanghai municipal education commission. Furthermore, Engineering Center also is the key development agency of Shanghai first-class academic subject (class B) for management science and engineering (logistics engineering and management). It has been constructed about 1800 square meters of bases and 10000 square meters of container terminal comprehensive test base. Engineering Center already has formed three R&D and engineering directions for container supply chain technology, which respectively are decisions and services, monitoring and control, ergonomicsand environment. Engineering Center aims at expanding in the area of R&D and engineering directions for container supply chain technology at home and abroad, and promoting the impact and academic subject level of Shanghai Maritime University in the area of logistics engineering and management.
Engineering Center has completed 15 projects for academic research such as national 863 key projects, National Natural Science Foundation projects, Ministry of Transport research projects, Shanghai science and technology commission Projects, Shanghai Municipal Education Commission Projects, Pujiang Projects and Shuguang plan Projects. Engineering Center also bear more than 30 projects for enterprises technology requirements such as Zhenhua heavy industry, Tianjin Port, Shanghai Port, and other enterprises entrust projects, and the total funding is more than 2000 ten thousand RMB. 13 papers indexed in SCI Compendex and 40 papers indexed in EI Compendex have been published in international journals. 15 invention patents (3 of them have been authorized), 1 utility model patent (authorized) and 11 software copyrights (nine of them have been accredited) have been applied, and have been applied in a number of enterprises successfully. Moreover, the second prize for national scientific and technological progress was awarded. Engineering Center has edited the special issue (Computer Applications in Logistics Engineering and Management) of International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, and is editing the special issue (Engineering Informatics in Port Operations and Logistics) of Advanced Engineering Informatics. Engineering Center has a high reputation and a high level of science and technology in the domestic and international field of port, shipping and logistics.
The development goal of Engineering Center is to form a more perfect organizational structure and operating mechanism, develop stable and sustainable discipline and R&D directions, build a high-level and cohesive scientific research team, become a platform of technology development, engineering and industry consultation with a certain reputation at home and abroad referred to the latest technology in this field and targeted at national and enterprise demands by the end of 2015.