On June 9, 2023, the 18th International Conference on Electroheological Fluid and Magnetorheological Suspensions (referred to as ERMR2023) grandly opened at the Junhao Grand Hotel in Chongqing. This marks the first time that a domestic magnetorheology research team has gained the hosting rights for this international conference, and it is also the first time in twenty years that the conference is held in China again.

The conference is hosted by Chongqing University, co-organized by the University of Science and Technology of China and the Chinese Society of Mechanics, and co-sponsored by the School of Optoelectronic Engineering of Chongqing University, the Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Technology and Systems of the Ministry of Education, and the Rheology Committee of the Chinese Society of Mechanics.

Professor Ye Junyong, Vice Dean of the School of Optoelectronic Engineering at Chongqing University, a member of the International Committee on Electrorheology, and 223 representatives from nearly 20 countries and regions around the world participated in the conference. The conference was chaired by Professor Yu Miao, Executive Chairman of the conference and Director of the Magnetorheology Research Center at Chongqing University.

Ye Junyong delivered a welcome speech, warmly welcoming all the guests, professors, and scholars in attendance, and introduced the basic situation of Chongqing University and the School of Optoelectronic Engineering, as well as the development history and research achievements in the "Smart Structures" direction. Ye Junyong concluded by stating that the college would actively support faculty and students in participating in academic activities and strengthen interdisciplinary integration and international cooperation, wishing for the conference to achieve great success.

The conference specially invited 10 renowned experts from home and abroad to give keynote/invited speeches, including Professor Seung-Bok Choi from State University of New York (Korea), Professor Masami Nakano from Tohoku University, Professor Lu Kunquan from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Li Weihua from Wollongong University Australia, Professor Norman M. Wereley from the University of Maryland, Professor Tao Rongjia from Temple University, Professor Juan de Vicente from the University of Granada, Professor Gong Xinglong from the University of Science and Technology of China, and Professor Yu Miao from Chongqing University.

This conference lasts four days and includes 10 keynote/invited talks by top scholars from home and abroad, 16 parallel session presentations, and 1 poster session. A total of 185 abstracts were collected for this conference, which encourages all participants to submit papers for publication to the Journal of Intelligent Material Systems, Structures, or Smart Materials and Structures, and Modern Physics Letter B after the conference.

The successful convening of this International Electrorheology Conference will provide an important platform for experts and scholars in the field of electrorheology to exchange academic ideas and collide insights, which has significant implications for promoting the development and innovation of electrorheological technology in our country.