Recently, XJTU professor Jia Shenli from the School of Electrical Engineering was elected the 8th chairman of the Permanent International Scientific Committee (PISC) on the 28th International Symposium on Discharges and Electrical Insulation in Vacuum (ISDEIV 2018) held at Greifswald, Germany, becoming the first Asian chairman of PISC.

Professor Jia Shenli has been involved in studying vacuum arc discharge and vacuum switching technology, with leading research achievements in the fields of magnetic arc control, modelling and simulation of arc plasma, and DC interruption technology. Professor Jia also works for international academic organizations, including the Current Zero Club, the CIGRE working groups for "Technical requirements and field experiences with MV DC switching equipment" and "Interrupting and switching performance with SF6 free switching equipment", and the IEC teams for DC switch gear and switching equipment.