School of Automation

The School of Automation was founded in the year 2014, yet her history can be traced back to 1959, when the Department of Geophysical Prospecting Equipment Design & Manufacture was established at Beijing College of Geology. After three score and ten years’ thriving, the school has been experiencing fast and remarkable development, especially in recent years. Now the school has two undergraduate programs: Automation and Measurement & Control Technology and Instrumentation, with the Automation major elected to the national First-Class Undergraduate Programs. The school has a first-level discipline authorized to offer doctorates in Control Science & Engineering. The school has research centers and teaching facilities including the Overseas Expertise Introduction for Discipline Innovation at Higher Institutions (the 111 Project), an Engineering Research Center of the Ministry of Education, a Hubei Key Laboratory, a Provincial Teaching Demonstration Center, and a College Students’ Innovation Base. The school has established a comprehensive educational system covering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs.

Faculty and research staff are the core strength to the school’s talent cultivation. The school has a postdoctoral program in Control Science & Engineering, with the capacity of researcher training and talent reservation. The core faculty members include an IEEE Fellow，two Cheung Kong Scholar Chair Professors, two National Distinguished Young Scholars, a winner of the national “Ten Thousand Leading Talents Plan”, and other talent projects national winners. Many young faculty members have overseas studying experiences. World-renowned scholars have been invited to be chair professors involving in academic education from Canada, Japan, US, UK, and Singapore. This provides vigorous intellectual support for fostering the students.

The School aims its research objective at “Chinese characteristics, world’s first class”, featuring research in advanced control and intelligent technology in geological exploration & resource exploitation, ferrous metallurgy and equipment manufacturing. It focuses on the fundamental theories, technological innovations and engineering applications, while meeting major national needs in fields of manufacturing, resource and environment, endeavoring to attain state-of-the-art technologies.

From vision to fruition, faculty members and research staff have made remarkable achievements. They have won both national and international prizes and awards including the Second Prize of State Natural Science Award, the Second Prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award, Automatica Most Cited Paper Award, Excellent Paper Award of the International Federation of Automatic Control. They have published hundreds of high-level papers in world’s top journals in control theory & applications, among which some are ranked ESI 1% highly cited paper.

“One should be as inclusive as the vast ocean which admits hundreds of rivers” The School has established a dynamic system for academic communications and exchanges. The school witnesses an annual average of one hundred academic talks given by world renowned experts and scholars, who also mentor graduate students’ research work and teach professional courses. The school supports faculty and students financially for overseas academic exchanges. The school has organized a number of international academic meetings, among which Chin’s Intelligent Geological Equipment Development Forum is held every year in a different city. The school has cooperated with more than twenty renowned overseas universities and research institutions in nurturing graduate students or undertaking collaborative studies.

To equip students with ethical integrity and professional competency is the fundamental task of education. The School has always been implementing advanced educational philosophy, endeavoring to nurture well-rounded professionals integrating automation, informationization and intelligent technologies, for industries of manufacturing, geological prospecting and resource exploitation. The school advocates the concept of “three-wide education”—a holistic system in which every faculty member is responsible for the whole process of undergraduate education. The school designs internationalized programs and attaches importance to nurturing students’ abilities in innovative practices. The school implements the “Automation Science Elite Plan”—a sustaining undergraduate-graduate-doctoral program for selected students. The school also features the undergraduate tutorial system where professors as supervisors provide guidance in academic planning, disciplinary study and innovation & entrepreneurship training. The school has organized a team of advisers who supervise students for a variety of technological innovation contests both at home and abroad. Every year, the school hosts science & technology events including “Access to the School of Automation”, “Magnetoelectric Smart Car Competition” and “Annual Graduate Academic Meeting”, among others.

For the past few years, graduates from the School are favored by enterprises and institutions of higher learning for their solid theoretical fundamentals, global perspectives, and capability to innovate. The school finds an annual admittance rate of 50% of her graduates for further education. The school has 98% undergraduate employment rate and 100% graduate employment rate. Graduates have promising career prospects in research institutions, universities and colleges, as well as industries involving equipment manufacturing, technology development and technical services. The number of graduates employed by established corporations has increased yearly.

“A time will come to ride the wind and cleave the waves, when we will set high sails and cross the sea which raves.” In the grand context of “Made in China 2025” where new technologies and artificial intelligence advance rapidly, all faculty members and students are seizing the moment and forging ahead with determination, to develop the School of Automation into one that “holds an important position in China, and has significant influence in the world!”