From September 3 to 4, the 2026 · 8th Young Designers 50 Forum was successfully held in Shijiazhuang, China. Hosted by TIANS Group and co-organized by the China Pharmaceutical Engineering Design Association, the forum — themed "If You Were the Owner, Whom Would You Choose?" — brought together more than 50 design experts and young designers from 34 renowned design institutes, including Wuhuan, Huayi, Tianchen, Hualu, Huanqiu, Sinopharm, EDRI, and CAPDI. Centering on core topics such as professional integration from a "Master General Layout" perspective, the reconstruction of design value, and owner requirements, the forum facilitated in-depth exchanges and explored innovative pathways for engineering design to evolve from "technical delivery" to "value creation."

 

 

01 Reverse Thinking: From "Technical Contractor" to "Owner's Perspective"

 

The forum was moderated by Wu Shaohua, Director and Chief Designer of TIANS Group.

 

Photo | Wu Shaohua moderating the forum

 

Ma Zhimin, Co-founder, Vice Chairman, and President of TIANS Group, also General Manager of the Design Center, delivered the opening remarks. He stated that as the engineering construction industry transitions toward "integrated value creation," designers must combine solid professional expertise, a broad industrial perspective, systematic engineering thinking, and a keen sense of value. Over the past eight years, the Young Designers 50 Forum has remained grounded in industry transformation, dedicating itself to building an open and forward-looking exchange platform that empowers talent growth through the passing down of experience and cross-disciplinary exchange, injecting the vitality of youth into engineering design innovation and the high-quality development of the industry.

 

Photo | Ma Zhimin delivering the opening remarks

 

Song Yanjiang, Executive Vice President and Secretary-General of the China Pharmaceutical Engineering Design Association, said in his address that, against the backdrop of continuously strengthened industry regulation, the fact that the Young Designers 50 Forum has been held consistently and deepened year after year demonstrates the platform's professional value and industry significance. Under the new requirements of engineering construction, design can no longer stop at single-discipline delivery; instead, it should create greater value for owners and provide better technical solutions across dimensions such as meeting functional needs, elevating design quality, reinforcing compliance, and accommodating future development.

 

Photo | Song Yanjiang delivering his address

 

02 Expert Sharing Insight into New Industry Trends

 

During the keynote sharing session, Yu Liming, Deputy General Manager of Sinopharm Engineering (Wuhan) Co., Ltd. and Head of the Chemical Pharmaceutical Business Division, delivered a presentation titled "Perceiving Change, Adapting to Change, Seeking Change: Breakthroughs and Momentum for Design Institutes in the New Normal." He pointed out that, amid simultaneous shifts in policy, technology, and market demand, design institutes should take the initiative to perceive, adapt to, and pursue change. He also shared Sinopharm Engineering's latest achievements in smart manufacturing scenario development, MES & SCADA system implementation, and end-to-end smart O&M outsourcing. He further noted that design institutes should reshape their capabilities through optimizing traditional business, strategically laying out new-quality business, and pursuing outward expansion, so as to identify new avenues for growth.

 

Photo | Yu Liming delivering his keynote presentation

 

Zhang Shuling, Member of the General Layout Professional Committee of the China Petroleum and Chemical Engineering Survey and Design Association, delivered a keynote presentation titled "Analysis of Pain Points and Difficulties in General Layout Design for Fine Chemical Enterprises." Drawing on her engineering design practice in fine chemicals and focusing on standard systems and safety management requirements, she noted that engineering design should not focus on any single standard alone; rather, designers must accurately grasp each standard's scope of application, hierarchy of authority, and execution boundaries. Addressing the overlapping standards and implementation difficulties encountered in real-world design, she stressed that only by genuinely embedding standard requirements into general layout design and engineering practice can the bottom line of project safety and compliance be safeguarded.

 

Photo | Zhang Shuling delivering her keynote presentation

 

03 Think Tank Expansion | Wisdom Leading the Industry's Future

 

The Young Designers 50 Forum is backed by a powerful think tank — the Expert Committee of the Young Designers 50 Forum. Concurrent with the forum, a new-member induction ceremony for the Expert Committee was held. Zhang Shuling, Member of the General Layout Professional Committee of the China Petroleum and Chemical Engineering Survey and Design Association; Chen Ping, General Layout Expert of Shanghai Huayi Engineering Co., Ltd.; and Wang Liang, General Manager of the General Layout Center of TIANS Group, were appointed as committee experts. Liu Yuan, Senior Expert of China Sinopharm United Engineering Co., Ltd., presented the letters of appointment. These new appointments further pool the industry's professional strength, injecting stronger think-tank support into the growth of young designers.

 

Photo | Liu Yuan presenting letters of appointment to the three experts (from left to right: Chen Ping, Zhang Shuling, Wang Liang, Liu Yuan)

 

04 Elite Exchange | Redefining Design Value Through Real-World Challenges

 

Centered on the forum's core proposition, this year's forum featured a special "Elite Dialogue" session. Breaking with the traditional one-way lecture format, the session adopted a hands-on model combining "group discussions, topic debates, and simulated bidding," guiding young designers to think from the owner's perspective and engage in spirited debate over real pain points such as general layout, cost control, low-carbon and intelligent solutions. The on-site collision of different disciplines and design philosophies made the question of "what design is truly valuable" all the more concrete. From "what can I design" to "what does the owner really need," and from focusing on the technical solution itself to weighing project investment, implementation risks, and long-term operational value, the young designers completed a role shift from designer to "owner."

 

Photo | The forum in session

 

The "owner group" experts, in turn, provided in-depth commentary across multiple dimensions, including investment logic, risk control, and long-term operational value. None of the discussions offered a standard answer, yet every clash of ideas gave the young designers a clearer understanding of "the value of design."

 

Photo | Expert commentary

 

After a full day of in-depth exchange and hands-on competition, Group 2 secured the honor of "Elite Group of the 2026 · 8th Young Designers 50 Forum" through outstanding teamwork and innovative solutions.

 

Photo | Elite Design Team Award ceremony group photo

 

05 Experts Convene | Exploring the Value Reconstruction of the "Master General Layout"

 

On September 3, the inaugural Annual Meeting of General Layout Experts, held alongside the forum, focused on professional integration and value reconstruction from the "Master General Layout" perspective. More than 20 industry experts took part in closed-door discussions on topics such as general layout planning, interdisciplinary coordination, and engineering value. Grounded in industry practice, the experts exchanged views on professional integration, solution optimization, and value enhancement in general layout design. From single-discipline design to multi-disciplinary collaboration, and from piecemeal technical optimization to project-level value enhancement, the "Master General Layout" is not merely a re-examination of spatial arrangement — it is a fundamental rethinking of the planning logic and design value of industrial projects.

 

Photo | At the General Layout Experts Annual Meeting

 

06 Toward the Future | Driving the Industry Toward Value Creation with the Power of Youth

 

At the closing ceremony, Zhou Lanxia, Vice President of TIANS Group and Deputy General Manager of the Design Center, said in her address that the Young Designers 50 Forum is designed to deepen exchange and collaboration across disciplines and across design institutes. She expressed her hope that the platform would continue to strengthen connections and cooperation among people, enabling all parties to join hands and work together to drive the industry's sustained development.

 

Photo | Zhou Lanxia delivering her address

 

From the systemic perspective of the "Master General Layout" to the reverse thinking of "If You Were the Owner, Whom Would You Choose?", this year's forum was both a deep discussion among industry experts and a collision of ideas among young design talents. Design has never been merely a technical expression on drawings — it also concerns investment, efficiency, risk, and the value realized across the entire project life cycle. Looking ahead, the Young Designers 50 Forum will continue to focus on industry development and design innovation, provide a high-quality exchange platform for young designers, spark fresh design thinking through professional exchange, and drive industrial engineering design steadily toward value creation with the power of youth.

 

Photo | Highlights of the event