Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), located in Beijing and under the administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, is a leading public university with a traditional focus on science and technology. Founded in 1940s, BIT has been a first-tier top research university in China.It is one of the first of 15 Chinese universities to run a graduate school, one of the first 15 universities to join 211 Project (Plan for the Revitalization of Education in the 21st Century in 1995), the 10th university to enter the 985 Project (Plan for Achieving the World-class Universities in 2000), and one of the 36 “Double First-class” Chinese Universities in 2017, classified in Category A.
The School of Mechanical Engineering (SME), as one of the longest history, largest scale, and highest admission scores at BIT, is a national leader in mechanical engineering in China. With the motto of “virtue for scientific truth discovery and diligence for innovative engineering advancement”, the school is devoted to train professional talents of mechanical engineering for industrial constructions of China, having cultivated many outstanding alumni for the development of the Chinese economy and industry. According to the China Discipline Ranking, conducted by China Ministry of Education (MOE), Mechanical Engineering at BIT achieves 2%-5% in the nation.
SME offers 6 undergraduate programs, i.e. mechanical engineering, vehicular engineering, armored vehicular engineering, industrial engineering, energy and power engineering as well as mechanical engineering (full-English teaching), and has developed 2 national key disciplines, i.e. mechanical engineering and power engineering and engineering thermo-physics, both of which are authorized to offer doctoral programs, academic master’s degree programs and professional master’s degree programs. With a high-level faculty of 60 professors, 125 associate professors, 99 technical & administrative staff, SME has currently an enrollment of about 1920 full-time undergraduates and 1460 full-time graduate candidates, among whom 150 are of international students.
SME now consists of the Department of Vehicle Engineering, Thermal Energy and Power Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Electromechanical Science, Engineering Training Center, Experimental Teaching Center of Mechanical Engineering and the School Office. 10 well-equipped labs are available here and 4 of them are national key labs. A variety of research projects are supported by National 973 Plan, National 863 Plan, Key Projects of National Natural Science Foundation, Major National Science and Technology Projects, Major Projects of National Defense Science and Technology and so on, with the annual research expenditures in excess of CYN300,000,000 (about $ 47,000,000).
SME also maintains close co-operations with hundreds of international institutions in setting joint laboratories, academic exchange, research projects and education projects. The school has not only signed cooperation agreements with over 20 institutes abroad and set 5 international collaborative research platforms in the areas of Vehicle, Powertrain, Manufacturing, Mechanical Design, Robotics, as well as Micro/Nano Engineering, but also sent about 590 undergraduates to study aboard as exchanging students and received about 173 international students to study at SME since 2011.