Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics

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Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics


Established	1952
Type	Public
President	Li Wei(李未)
Staff	4,000
Students	25,000
Location	Beijing, China
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	Project 211, Project 985
Website	www.buaa.edu.cn

Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Chinese: Běijīng hángkōng hángtiān dàxué 北京航空航天大学, in short: Běiháng 北航; sometimes abbreviated as BUAA or Beihang in English) is a university located in Beijing, China.

Beihang University (formerly Beijing Institute of Aeronautics) or BUAA for short, was founded on October 25, 1952 out of the merger of the aeronautical departments of Tsinghua University, Beiyang University, Amoy (Xiamen) University, Sichuan University, Yunnan University, Northwest Institute of Technology, College of Engineering, North China University, and Southwest Aeronautical Institute. Situated in the capital in the center of Zhongguancun Science Park, next to China' s National Olympic Center, with an area of over 100 hectares, BUAA is China' s first university of aeronautical and astronautical engineering.

Since its establishment, BUAA has been one of the key universities of China and given high priority. Over the past 50 years BUAA has provided over 80000 highly qualified professionals in various disciplines for this country and established its reputation of its prestigious engineering programs.

At present, the university has 17 schools and 6 departments, covering the fields of science, technology, liberal arts, law, economy, management, philosophy, foreign languages and education. Total faculty and staff number more than 3300, including 10 academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences or the Chinese Academy of Engineering Sciences, over 1400 full or associate professors, 290 supervisors of doctorate programs. BUAA is home of over 26,000 students, more than 14,000 of them are undergraduates, and about 300 international students. It has 42 research institutes or interdisciplinary research centers, 11 key disciplines of the national level, and 89 laboratories (including 4 national key laboratories, 5 national specialized laboratories, and 12 provincialor ministrial-level key laboratories.) In recent years BUAA has ranked among the foremost in China in terms of funding for scientific research. The university is equipped with all ancillary facilities. The university library, with an area of over 24,000 m2, has a collection of over 1.2 million.

BUAA's is also famous for its top sports facilities including modern gymnasiums and sports grounds.

BUAA has become one of the China' s most important bases for scientific and technological innovation and quality education of high-level personnel.

1 Name Change of the University
2 History
3 Education and teaching
4 Research
5 Student's life
6 Schools and departments
7 Alumni
8 External links

[edit] Name Change of the University

'Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics' is one of the longest real univeristy name in use of the world.

In 2002, the university board decide to change the English name of the university from 'Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics'(BUAA) to 'Beihang University'(BHU) for short, and the Chinese name as well. However, due to the strong objection from most of the alumni and students, the university board have to cancel this change and return to the old name of 'Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics'(BUAA).

The short period of two different names cause some confusions in China and overseas. Seems that although the old name of 'Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics'(BUAA) is obviously too long, graduates certainly do not want to take any risk for that change.

[edit] History

Beihang was founded in October 1952 as Beijing Aeronautics Institute (Běijīng hángkōng xuéyuàn 北京航空学院) and renamed in April 1988. The current president of Beihang is Lǐ Wèi 李未 (since 2002).

The meeting announcing the founding of the Beijing Institute of Aeronautics (BIA) was held in the auditorium of Beijing Institute of Technology (formerly Zhongfa University ) on October 25, 1952. Faculty and students from the aeronautical departments in eight universities joined to lay the foundations for the new institute, whose chosen site was in Beiyanzhuang Village , Haidian District, in the western suburb of Beijing . Construction started on June 1 and over 60,000m2 of buildings were completed within 6 months. By October some of the faculty and students were able to start normal work and study. In the beginning there were only two departments with 4 majors: aeroplane design and aeroplane technology in the department of aeorplane engineering, and engine design, engine technology in the department of aeroplane engine engineering. In May 1988 the Institute changed to its present name of Beihang University .

BUAA was among the nation' s first 16 key universities back in the 1950' s, and among the top 15 for priority development during China' s 7 th five-year-plan period (1986-1990). During the 8 th five-year-plan it was listed among the top 14 for priority development, and at the start of the 9 th five-year-plan BUAA was among the first batch of 15 universities in “project 211 for Higher Education.”

Thanks to the tireless efforts of several generations of people, BUAA has grown to become an open, multi-disciplined, research-oriented university of engineering science and technology. The university now has 40 undergraduate majors, 65 master programs, and 36 second-level doctorate programs in 2nd level disciplines and 12 post-doctorate stations. In 10 disciplines of the 1st level, BUAA is authorized to confer doctor and master degrees. BUAA, as a center of both higher education and scientific research, has become one of the most important bases for high quality engineering education and scientific research in China .

[edit] Education and teaching

BUAA is well-known for its rigorous pursuit and academic excellence. In more than 50 years since its foundation, over 80,000 students have graduated. At the moment, there are over 31,000 students registered at BUAA, including 11,000 graduate students and 15,000 full-time undergraduate students. Now the university is establishing a structure for education in a research-oriented university with the general objective of Cultivating high-quality specialized personnel, who are adaptable to the needs of the future world, who have the potential for innovation, and who have team spirit, and who are efficient at learning and working." For years, the employment rate of the graduates in BUAA has been ranked at the top of universities and colleges all over the country.

In BUAA, undergraduate education is focused on training creative specialized graduates who have solid basic knowledge, who can study and work independently in the science field, and who have the necessary skills gained from specialized training. Centering on this aim, BUAA has a flexible, dynamic and solid education plan based on the credit system with the distinct feature of diverse personnel cultivating plans so as to gradually establish a research-oriented, wide-ranging specialized cultivating mode on the basis of the perfection of the former general education. BUAA is now trying to establish a first-rate system of undergraduate education as a research-oriented University.

As for graduates education, BUAA puts more emphasis on the specialized personnel who have gained a good grasp of theoretical knowledge and a deep understanding of specialized knowledge through systematic scientific training, who have the ability to innovate, who are self-starters, and who are willing to devote themselves to scientific endeavor and to cooperate with others. BUAA is among the first batch of academic institutes that are officially permitted to establish graduate schools and it is also one of the universities which have the authority to approve supervisors for doctorial candidates. On the training of graduate students, BUAA keeps reforming deeply, developing positively, guiding diversely, enhancing construction, stressing innovation, improving the quality of teaching, emphasizing creativity, constructing a proper environment for the cultivation of specialized personnel and creating highly qualified graduates.

[edit] Research

Following the principle of “based on national defense, aiming at the market, serving society”, BUAA has given full play to the comprehensive advantage of many disciplines working together, making itself one of the most important centers of innovation. In the 50 years since its foundation, the university has had more than 40 projects that were ranked first in the country and has received more than 900 awards for achievements at ministerial level or above, which have made BUAA one of the top-ranked universities in the field of high technology. In addition, the university has filled scientific and technological gaps nationwide by making and launching spacecrafts of different models, such as, “Beijing -1” , the first light aircraft in China; “Beijing -2” , the first sounding rocket in Asia; “Beijing -5” , the first unmanned airplane in China; “BEE” series; co-axial counter-rotating helicopter. BUAA has also invented a flight simulator in the field of automation, a silicon compiler in the field of computer science, a PC Disk （ Phase Change Disk ） in the field of new material and information storage, a Robot of multi-degree freedom in the field of artificial intelligence and assisted in the successful launch of the “Shenzhou” rockets. BUAA has made many significant contributions to the development of the national economy as well as break-throughs in achieving some key techniques in military equipment. As a result of its achievements and contributions, the university has received many plaudits.

The university has worked hard to gain partners in research through technological development, transfer of research findings, manufacture of products and education of personnel. It has also spared no effort to promote collaboration in production, learning and scientific research, and to expand the application of its scientific research by strengthening the cooperation between the government and university, undertaking large-scale construction programs, and building joint R&D centers and laboratories with enterprises. Now the university has established 6 major State Labs, namely “the Lab of Aeronautical Engine Pneumatic Power”, “the State Lab of Calculating Fluid Mechanics”, “the Lab of Software Development Environment” and “the National Base of Mechanics”, and 12 major Labs at provincial levels. For years, the funding for scientific research at BUAA has been increasing at an annual rate of over 20%, which ranks among the best in all the universities in China in terms of its achievements, funding and academic standing.

[edit] Student's life

Students in BUAA come from different provinces of China, so there are plenty of culture diversity and mixture of dialect in the campus. Students have chance to enlarge their network during their study.

There are various of student societies and activities to join. Students can find almost every sport societies after they enrolled. Student scientific and engineering innovation groups can have plenty of sponsorships from different entities. The famous annual competition of student scientific and technology innovation works held by the university called 'Feng-Ru' Cup attracts thousands of students every year.

However, the common concern of engineering universities also raises in BUAA -- the gender balance. In some serious engineering departments like the School of Jet Propulsion, School of Mechanical Engineering and School of Astronautics, famale student are so rare that it usually has the rate of 7 male to 1 famale student in an undergraduate class.

[edit] Schools and departments

List
School of Material Science and Engineering
School of Electronic Information Engineering
School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering
School of Jet Propulsion
School of Aeronautical Science and Engineering
School of Computer Science
School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation
School of Economics and Management
School of Science
Department of Biological Engineering
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department of Foreign Languages
Department of Automobile Engineering
Department of Project Systems Engineering
School of Astronautics
School of Pilot
School of Software
School of Law
School of Continuing Education
School of Instrumentation Science & Opto-electronics Engineering
BUAA-Haidian School of Applied Technology
School of Distant Learning
School of Vocational Techniques
School of Advanced Engineering
Department of Civil Engineering

[edit] Alumni

The chief engineers of the Shenzhou space project, Qī Fārèn 戚发轫 and Wáng Yǒngzhì 王永志, as well as the Shenzhou commander Yuán Jiājūn 袁家军, the former minister of education, Zhū Kāixuān 朱开轩, the former governor of Liaoning and Hubei, Zhāng Guóguāng 张国光, and the former vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Lǐ Pèiyáo 李沛瑶, are graduates of Beihang.