The 9th International Conference on Reliability Engineering and Risk Management, co-organized by Hefei University of Technology and Tongji University, was held in Hefei on October 19-20. The conference was attended by academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and conference chair Li Jie, member of the University Party Committee and Vice President Ji Yihong, Professor Jin Weiliang from Zhejiang University, President Su Cheng of Guangzhou City University of Technology, and Professor Michael Beer from Leibniz University Hannover, Germany, who is also the chairman of the conference's executive committee. Over 400 scholars from 103 universities and research institutions across 11 countries and regions participated in the conference, where they discussed the latest research developments in structural and system reliability engineering and risk management.

In his opening address, Ji Yihong warmly welcomed the attending leaders and experts, thanked all sectors for their long-standing support of the university, and introduced major breakthroughs achieved by Hefei University of Technology in earthquake risk assessment in the Tanlu Fault Zone, earthquake disaster prevention technologies, and seismic resilience of major infrastructure in the Yangtze River city cluster. Li Jie emphasized that, at a critical time when the world faces significant risks and challenges in major engineering systems, this conference would play an active role in advancing the quantitative, management, and control aspects of extreme disaster risks to major engineering systems, focusing on both basic research and engineering applications in structural and system reliability engineering and risk management. Michael Beer expressed his gratitude to Hefei University of Technology for its meticulous preparation and support, which made this conference an important platform for exchange in the fields of engineering reliability and risk management. He noted that the conference brought together world-class scholars and experts to share research findings and experiences, contributing to the development of this field.

The conference featured 9 keynote presentations and 150 specialized talks, covering in-depth discussions on reliability analysis, risk management, optimization design, and physical modeling of engineering infrastructure. Experts shared experiences and offered future perspectives on these topics.

The conference was organized by the School of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering at Hefei University of Technology. The opening ceremony was chaired by Wang Jingfeng, Dean of the School of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering, and the closing ceremony was led by Professor Kong Fan. It was announced that the 10th International Conference on Reliability Engineering and Risk Management would be hosted by Hokkaido University. Professor Yasunori Miyamori from Hokkaido University, representing the host institution, gave a speech.

The International Conference on Reliability Engineering and Risk Management was initiated in 2008 by Academician Li Jie of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Professor Zhao Yangan, Foreign Member of the Japan Academy of Engineering, from Kanagawa University. Held every two years, it is a major event in the fields of reliability engineering and risk management. Over the past decade, this academic conference has been successfully held in China (2008, 2010, 2014, 2020), Japan (2012), South Korea (2016), Singapore (2018), and Germany (2022), significantly advancing the development of this field and enhancing the international influence of Chinese scholars. The successful hosting of this conference has played an active role in promoting research and application in the field of civil engineering at Hefei University of Technology, as well as raising the academic standing of research in this field on the international stage.