On the morning of 28 June, Harbin Engineering University (HEU) held the Aerospace Science and Technology Discipline Development Conference in the Hall of the Qihang Activity Centre.
Senior guests addressing the conference included ZHAO Rongguo, Deputy Secretary-General of the People’s Government of Heilongjiang Province; ZHAO Baidong, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Personnel and Education at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; Professor LI Yinghong from Air Force Engineering University; and SONG Yingdong, Party Secretary of the HEU. YIN Jingwei, President of HEU, chaired the event.
Also in attendance were QIAN Xuesong, Deputy General Manager of Aero Engine Corporation of China; WANG Yiran, Secretary-General of the Chinese Society of Astronautics; and YANG Liang, Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
In his speech, SONG Yingdong noted that HEU’s aerospace discipline traces its heritage back to the Missile Engineering Department of the historic PLA Military Engineering Institute, with a long and distinguished track record in education and research. He expressed the university’s commitment to working with partners across the sector to pursue a distinctive path of sea-air cross-domain development, advance fundamental research and core technology breakthroughs, nurture leading industry talent, and deliver greater contribution to national progress.
Professor LI commented that the establishment of HEU’s College of Aerospace Engineering will bring fresh momentum to China’s aerospace education and research landscape. He encouraged the university to uphold its founding mission, stay focused on strategic priorities, and cultivate high-calibre talent to underpin the long-term development of the sector.
ZHANG Xinghong, Dean of the School of Astronautics at Harbin Institute of Technology, described HEU as a key player in talent development and scientific innovation for China’s aerospace sector. He expressed his expectation of deeper, more practical collaboration between the two universities in frontier aerospace research, top-tier talent cultivation, and the joint development and sharing of major research facilities, to support high-quality development across Heilongjiang Province.
LI Rongsheng, Deputy Party Secretary, formally announced the official renaming of the former College of Astronautics and Civil Engineering to the College of Aerospace Engineering, alongside corresponding administrative adjustments.
During the conference, Vice-President YAN Rujian signed industry-education integration partnership agreements on behalf of HEU with representatives from 20 organisations, including research institutes, industry enterprises and alumni-led businesses such as China Airport Construction Group Co., Ltd..
In his closing remarks, President YIN stated that the renaming of the College of Aerospace Engineering represents both a new starting point and a call for renewed ambition. He called on the university to build on the momentum of the conference to contribute sustained aerospace expertise to national development and to HEU’s goal of building a world-class university with distinctive strengths.
The development of the Aerospace Science and Technology discipline will support the transformation and upgrading of HEU’s traditional core strengths in the “SMON” fields. Focused on addressing fundamental scientific questions and key technical challenges in the development of new cross-medium systems, the discipline will build a complete innovation chain spanning fundamental research, core technology development and system integration. The aim is to generate original research outcomes, establish a high-calibre Aerospace Science and Technology discipline with unique strengths in sea-air cross-medium vehicles, and develop new areas of disciplinary excellence.
Through its dedicated talent development scheme, the university will implement a joint dual-supervisor system with industry partners, expand interdisciplinary training pathways, integrate resources across multiple disciplines, and focus on frontier research directions to nurture top innovative talent, delivering skilled graduates and intellectual support for the aerospace industry.
