Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics

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Beihang University (BUAA)
北京航空航天大学
Motto: 德才兼备 知行合一 (Having both ability and integrity, seeking and acting for truth.)
Established: Oct 25, 1952
Type: Public
President: Li Wei(李未)
Faculty: 3,359
Undergraduates: 12,523
Postgraduates: 10,282
Location: Beijing, China
Campus: Urban
Affiliations: Project 211, Project 985
Website: www.buaa.edu.cn

Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, now known as Beihang University (simplified Chinese: 北京航空航天大学; traditional Chinese: 北京航空航天大學, abbreviated as BUAA or Beihang) is a public located in Beijing, China.

BUAA was founded on October 25, 1952 with an area of over 100 hectares, BUAA is one of China's leading universities on research and education. It is regarded as one of the best engineering universities in China and has a great influence on China's aero & astro industry.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Initial years

BUAA is from a merge of the aeronautical departments of Tsinghua University, Peiyang University, Xiamen University, Sichuan University, Yunnan University, Northwestern Engineering College, North China University, and Southwest Aeronautical Institute.

The meeting announcing the founding of the Beijing Institute of Aeronautics (BIA) was held in the auditorium of Beijing Institute of Technology on October 25, 1952 in BaiYanZhuang 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 started daily work and study. In the beginning, there were two departments with 4 majors: Aeroplane Design and Aeroplane Technology in the Department of Aeroplane Engineering, and Engine Design, Engine Technology in the Department of Aeroplane Engine Engineering.

BUAA was among China's first 16 key universities back in the 1950's, and among the top 15 for priority development during China's 7th five-year-plan period (1986-1990). During the 8th 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.”

[edit] Name change

On 1952, this university is named as "Beijing Institute of Aeronautics". Since May 1988, the name changed to "Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics". In 2002, the university board decided to change the English name of the university to Beihang University and keep the abbreviation BUAA.

[edit] Nowadays

The university has 48 undergraduate programs, 144 masters' programs, 49 doctoral programs, and 14 postdoc stations. At present, the university has 26 schools and departments. Total number of faculty and staff are over 3300, including 14 academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences or Chinese Academy of Engineering, more than 1700 full or associate professors, 476 supervisors of doctorate programs. BUAA is home of 23,000 undergrad and graduate students. and about 300 international students. It has 89 laboratories including 1 National Lab and 2 State Key Laboratory. 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.[1]

In 2005, French leading Grandes Ecoles of engineering "École Centrale" associated with BUAA to create a top level engineering graduate program called École Centrale de Pékin. This program's intake consist in the very best Chinese students graduating the National College Entrance Examination.

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

[edit] Education and teaching

BUAA is well-known for its rigorous pursuit and academic excellence. Since its foundation, over 80,000 students have graduated. At the moment, there are over 33,000 registered students, including 11,000 graduate students and 12,000 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 talents, 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 all universities over the country.

[edit] Undergraduate

In BUAA, undergraduate education is focused on training creative specialized graduates with solid basic knowledge and can study and work independently in the science field with necessary skills. Centering on this aim, BUAA has a credit-based education plan, which is flexible, dynamic for students. With the distinct feature of diverse talents cultivating plan, students can 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.

[edit] Graduate

As for graduates education, BUAA concentrates on the specialized talents with a good background of theoretical knowledge and a profound understanding of their major knowledge through the academic programs, who have the ability to innovate, who are self-starters, and who are willing to devote themselves to scientific endeavor and team-working. BUAA is among the very first academic institutes established graduate schools in China and it is also one of the universities which have the authority to approve advisors for doctoral programs. 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 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 spacecraft. BUAA has made many significant contributions to the development of Chinese 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 Dynamics”, “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] SRTP

In 2005, BUAA began the Student Research Training Program (SRTP) to enable undergraduates to get involved in research. All granted projects are funded by Student Academic Office. Excellent project holders will be given credits for their achievements. Students often publish papers and file patent applications in the training program.

[edit] Student life

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

[edit] Feng Ru Cup

Feng Ru Cup is an annual competition of student scientific innovation works in BUAA. It is like Senior Project in the United States. This competition attracts thousands of students each year. All first prize winners can continue their graduate studies exempt from entrance examination in BUAA.

[edit] Student societies

There are various of student societies and activities to join, from sport clubs to scientific interest groups. Student scientific and engineering innovation groups can have fund from different entities, e.g. departments, schools and companies. All students activities are organized by Communist Youth League of China, BUAA branch.

[edit] Gender balance

However, the common concern of engineering universities is also shared in BUAA -- the gender balance. In some serious engineering departments like the School of Jet Propulsion, School of Mechanical Engineering and School of Astronautics, female students are so rare that the ratio of male to female students in an undergraduate class can be as low as 5:1.

[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 and Engineering
School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation
School of Economics and Management
School of Science
Department of Biological Engineering
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
School of Foreign Languages
School of Transportation Science and Engineering
Department of Systems Engineering of Engineering Technology
School of Astronautics
School of Pilot
School of Software
School of Law
School of Continuing Education
School of Instrumentation Science & Opto-electronics Engineering
School of New Media Art and Design
School of Distant Learning
School of Vocational Techniques
School of Advanced Engineering
Department of Civil Engineering
École Centrale de Pékin

[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.

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ CCP Affairs Office of BUAA, http://dzb.buaa.edu.cn, 2006