The School of Aerospace Engineering and Applied Mechanics at Tongji University was strategically founded in January 2004, in response to the thriving nationwide Aeronautics and Space Industry, and in support of developing the industry of Aeronautics and Astronautics as Shanghai’s pillar industry. The school succeeds and develops from the former Department of Engineering Mechanics and Technology, gathering multi-disciplinary forces from all across the university.

The school has the National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center, the National Virtual Reality Teaching Center for Mechanics, and the Composite Engineering Experiment Center, whose facilities are available to all university students for mechanical experiments. The school is currently the home of 3 holders of National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, 2 distinguished young professionals supported by the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the CPC, 1 awardee of the New Centuary National Hundred, Thousand and Ten Thousand Talent Project, 2 Eastern Scholars, 2 distinguished researchers (Class A) , 3 distinguished researchers (Class B) at Tongji University, and a group of other distinguished young to mid-aged researchers, who are supported by Shanghai outstanding academic leaders plan, Shanghai leading talents plan, Dawn program, Rising-star program, Pujiang Program, etc. The school has currently 33 professors.

The school provides 2 bachelor programs in Engineering Mechanics and in Aircraft Manufacturing, whose first-level disciplines are Mechanics and Aeronautical and Astronautical Science and Technology, respectively. Engineering Mechanics of the school is selected as the National Key Discipline of China, and Solid Mechanics is recognized as the Key Discipline of Shanghai. The school has 2 master programs in Mechanics and in Aeronautical and Astronautical Science and Technology, a doctor program in Mechanics, and a post-doctoral mobile station in mechanics.

Engineering Mechanics


Overview

Engineering Mechanics has a long history, which is firmly supported by a galaxy of faculty members. The discipline was set up as early as 1958, being the first Mechanics specialty all across China. Students majoring in Engineering Mechanics are supposed to take 7 core courses, i.e., mechanics of materials, theoretical mechanics, elasticity, mechanics of vibration, computational mechanics and experimental mechanics; they are trained for mechanics-related inter-disciplinary areas such as aeronautics & astronautics, civil engineering, car engineering and rail transit. Engineering Mechanics was listed as Characteristic Specialty by the Ministry of Education of China in 2010, and was selected as a National first-class undergraduate specialty construction point in 2021.

Characteristics

Engineering Mechanics has been traditionally taking advantage of its close link with structural engineering, and aiming to foster a group of urgently needed talents in industries of, among other areas, civil engineering, car engineering and aeronautics & astronautics. As the era of information begins, a new course is designed in accordance with the novel technologies, which is the engineering numerical simulation (virtual design and engineering), combing mechanics with computer technologies. The new IT technology has a strong background of mechanics and is also known as Computer Aided Engineering (CAE). Nowadays, CAE engineers are icons of current industries in advanced design and manufacturing, and are also major forces of “Made in China 2025” initiative. Alumni majoring in CAE are currently not only playing important roles in key industry areas such as car engineering, aeronautics & astronautics, civil engineering, advanced materials and rail transit, but also integrating themselves into emerging industries such as financial economy, bond futures, e-sports, virtual reality.

Engineering Mechanics not only focuses on cutting-edge researches, but also lays emphasis on meeting national demand and on serving local economy. On one hand, it offers fundamental trainings of mathematics and physics; it is, on the other hand, targeting to equip the students with practical abilities as “mechanics plus” engineers in key industry areas such as car engineering, aeronautics & astronautics, civil engineering, advanced materials and rail transit.

Career

More than 60% graduates of Engineering Mechanics choose to continue with the studies at universities at home or abroad. Those who go directly to industries end up in key enterprises in fields like aeronautics & astronautics, car engineering, rail transit and ship, in architectural design institutes of all kinds, in state-owned enterprises such as PetroChina, SinoPec and State Grid, in leading companies in internet industries, in international technology companies, etc.

Development

Mechanics is the foundation of most engineering disciplines. Well-trained graduates from mechanics can quickly catch up as qualified engineers in all sort of traditional engineering areas. Moreover, they are competent and have great opportunities in integrating themselves in emerging engineering industries. During the transition of China from a manufacturer of quantity to one of quality, more emphasis will be laid on independent design and the key to it is the ability to design, analysis, verify and optimize based on mechanical principles. To this end, graduates with solid foundation in mechanics will have great chances to embrace broad prospect for development.

Aircraft manufacturing


Overview

Aircraft manufacturing was founded in 2004, selected by Ministry of Education into the Excellent Engineer Training Program and qualified for granting master degrees in the first-level discipline of Aeronautical and Astronautical Science and Technology in 2011. In 2012, the Eurocopter was approved as national center for engineering experiment and education, and a strategic corporation agreement was signed with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd (COMAC). Up to now, a total number of 12 renowned companies have signed talent training agreement with the school including COMAC, Chengdu Aircraft D&R Institute, AVIC helicopter D&R Institute. The year 2018 witnessed the landmark launching of the “Large passenger aircraft class” program, which joined sources from both school and COMAC for the training of professional talents specially for passenger aircraft design. Students majoring in Aircraft Manufacturing can choose from the following four sub-programs: Aircraft composites and structural manufacture, Aircraft structural design, Aircraft overall design, Aerodynamics and flight mechanics. The program includes foundation courses and specialized courses. The former courses prepare the students with basics of aircraft design and manufacturing; the latter are designed based on each sub-program. Graduates are prepared as senior engineering and management talents that undertake work of designing, manufacturing, R&D and management in aircraft-related areas.

Characteristics

Bearing the motto of “building our nation into an aviation power: a dream for us to fulfill”, the school has endeavored for years to build up self-confidence as a major and as a discipline. It lays emphasis on student-centered and outcome-targeted education, realizing the principle of “being human-oriented”. Aircraft manufacturing develops on the bases of the new trend and new characteristics in the development of aerospace engineering, stick to the training principles of “broadening foundation, having distinguished feature, strengthening practice, and widening vision”, actively explore new cultivation models of talents, which is among the earliest successful efforts in fostering a group of “new engineers”. Aircraft engineering has two distinctive features: integration of aircraft design and manufacturing, and integration of (aviation) composite material structure design and manufacturing. Outstanding achievements have been made in the previous years, which include first prize of Shanghai teaching achievements in 2017, nomination and special awards of Bao-Steel outstanding teachers in 2018, special award of the first national contests of aerospace engineering graduation design of higher education (7 awards in total), second prize of Shanghai natural science award, Shanghai Yucai award, innovation award of Shanghai popularization of science education, 10 years’ best performance award of SAMPE Ultra-light Composite Bridge/Wing Student Competition (the only winner in China), top 3 of Shangwei Cup National College Students' Composite Material Design and Manufacture Competition and the only one Best Process Appraisal Award, etc. Aircraft manufacturing lay emphasis on the close combination of theory and practice in cultivating talents. The school has signed university-company cooperation agreements with 12 renowned companies, promoting the mode of “distributed and long-period internship” and the joint guidance of students’ graduation design, the advisors of which include national high-level experts. The cooperation offers a two-way communication between enterprise part-time teachers and university faculty members, and the students can directly take part in industry-oriented research topics. In this way, the university-company cooperation is solid and effective.

Career

More than 55% of the graduates majoring in aircraft manufacturing choose to continue with the graduation courses at universities at home or abroad. Graduates will eventually take up occupations in aircraft-related areas such as aircraft design, manufacturing, R&D, consulting and management, and in other related industry areas such as civil aviation, car engineering, robotics, wind energy, new materials, IT, shipbuilding, finance. They are mainly employed by companies such as COMAC, AECC, Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (Div 8), AVIC, CASIC, CASC, China Shipbuilding Industry Group, NORINCO GROUP, SAIC Volkswagen, etc.

Development

It is the established national strategy to build China into a powerful country in aviation and space. As the crown of modern industry, the aviation industry is a strategic high-tech industry in China, which features strong integration of different technologies, high added value of products, large industrial scale, wide covering range, and broad development perspective. As COMAC and AECC have settled in Shanghai, Shanghai is determined to build a cluster of civil aviation manufacturing industry with international influence. In a broad view of the whole nation, the entire aviation industry has entered the fast lane of development. It is predicted that the domestic civil aviation industry will contribute a production value as high as 10 trillion RBM by 2035, which will greatly promote the development of the whole industrial chain of the national economy. In the next 20 years, hundreds of thousands of high-end talents are needed in the R&D department of commercial aircraft, while currently only an average of less than 10,000 professional talents are trained every year. Among the earliest universities that set up undergraduate course in aerospace and astronautics, Tongji university has formed two distinctive features, i.e., integration of aircraft design and manufacturing, and integration of (aviation) composite material structure design and manufacturing. It has a “dislocated” advantage over other traditional aviation colleges. Graduates from the school are equipped with knowledge that will normally not been taught in traditional aviation colleges but in urgent need by industry. It is believed that the alumni will have a bright future together with the development of China.

Internationality


With the development of economic globalization, to equip the students with a broad international view is the basic idea of the college’s strategy of talents’ training. On the one hand, both specialties of the school have set up several exclusively-taught-in-English courses, invited professors with international reputation to undertake modular curriculum, organized students to take part in international competition. The school has also established domestic and international exchange centers for students to conduct field practices in international enterprises, and to participate in international cooperation projects that are led by their supervisors. Tongji university, which has a strong international atmosphere, also provides students with various seminars about international issues and cultures, scientific lectures given by international high-level experts, etc. On the other hand, the school has launched the Sino-French Double Diploma program with well-renowned French engineering schools, including Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, Arts et Métier, INSA Haut de France, ENSTA Bretagne, Mines Albi. The joint undergraduate program with Polytechnic University of Madrid (Spain) and University of Lille has been awarded as China Scholarship Council sponsored outstanding undergraduate international exchange programs. Tongji University, Osaka Institute of Technology and National Taipei University of Technology organize summer camps for PBL practice training alternately every year. More than 50% of the undergraduates from the school have participated in international exchange activities.

Since 2018, the school, together with COMAC Shanghai Aircraft Design & Research Institute, has launched a new talent training program that join efforts from the school, COMAC and international universities. Graduates enrolled in the program, either from Mechanics or Aircraft manufacturing, will have an opportunity to study masters of aerospace engineering in world renowned universities such as University of Toronto (Canada), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (Australia), Cranfield University (UK) with financial support from CSC. After graduation, the students will join COMAC Shanghai Aircraft D&R Institute to take on the work of large aircraft design.

Summer camps for PBL practice training organized by Tongji University, Osaka Institute of Technology and National Taipei University of Technology

Awarding winning in SAMPE competition in the US    Chinese and foreign students in a discussion of robotics


Contacts


Website : http://aero-mech.tongji.edu.cn/

Tel   : 021-65983267

Email  :lixueli@tongji.edu.cn