On October 17, 2023, the kickoff meeting for ICHEI-KMAX VR software cooperation was successfully held in Shenzhen. Mr. Lyu Feng, Programme Expert of the IIOE Management Centre, UNESCO-ICHEI, Mr. Huafeng Yang, Chairman of KMAX, Ms. Shirley Zheng, Sales Director of KMAX, Mr. Usman Ghani, Chairman of the Department of Computer Science at University of Engineering and Technology Lahore (UET), Mr. Zaharuddeen Haruna, Head, SCR & Team Lead of VR Project at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria (ABU), and Mr. Danaa Ganbat, Director of Open Education Center at Mongolia University of Science and Technology (MUST), Coordinator of IIOE National Centre attended the meeting and delivered speeches. The meeting aims to discuss the application of VR technology in higher education and provide free VR courses for partner universities, extending teaching from theory to practice.

 Mr. Lyu Feng gave an opening remark, stating that the KMAX VR software cooperation is the continuous upgradation of one of ICHEI’s flagship projects——Smart Classroom. VR has increasingly integrated into educators' pedagogical approaches, bringing better experiences to teaching. Through student-centered teaching methods, VR brings benefits such as active learning, in-depth learning, and enhanced understanding. Moreover, VR technology can also play an important role in avoiding experimental risks and saving costs on facility construction.

Mr. Huafeng Yang expressed that through this donation, KMAX has the opportunity to play a vital role in the teaching practice and research application of VR technology in education, so that VR practical training and professional application can become a powerful tool to promote digital transformation, and truly realize the goal of empowering education with VR. Furthermore, this will lay a solid foundation for expanding VR function in the Smart Classroom of ICHEI’s partner universities with the support of KMAX.

Ms. Shirley Zheng gave a detailed introduction to KAMX's VR software and hardware products and course resources, and proposed further cooperation in assisting partner universities to carry out skill training, jointly building localized courses, talent cultivation, skill certification, and VR training classroom construction.

Mr. Usman Ghani introduced the current VR/AR projects in UET, including the established VR chemistry lab, electronics lab, virtual simulation courses, AR furniture, etc. In the future, Usman Ghanni hopes to collaborate in areas such as VR software certification and training, VR/AR hardware construction, etc.

Mr. Zaharuddeen Haruna proposed to integrate the VR courses provided by KAMX with the curriculum of ABU, and provided the software usage plan which involved 4 departments.

Mr. Danaa Ganbat introduced the current state of VR development and emphasized the majors and subjects that would benefit most from VR technology in Mongolia and MUST. He stated that MUST will collaborate in the field of teacher capacity building, minor degree programs, VR lab, content development, research and innovation.

To carry out VR teaching and applications, ICHEI and KMAX will provide 150 sets of VR courses for each of the three universities mentioned above. In the future, ICHEI and KMAX will provide VR software usage training, empower teachers and provide strong support for partner universities' digital transformation.