In September, Wei Lianfeng, an engineer-turned-doctoral candidate, became the university’s first PhD student to successfully pass his oral defence and obtain his degree based solely on practical results.
His research focuses on developing vacuum laser welding processes and designing and manufacturing associated equipment. To evaluate the practicality of his work, HIT invited several industry experts to serve on the oral defence panel.
Being a scientist in China today is no longer just about publishing in prestigious journals or defending a 100-page thesis. It is about solving real-world problems and building things that work, especially when the future of national technological survival hangs in the balance.
Since 2022, China has been quietly rolling out a nationwide pilot programme to reimagine engineering education from the ground up. Backed by the Ministry of Education and eight other key agencies, the initiative targets several strategically vital fields – from semiconductors to quantum computing – where theoretical knowledge alone will not break through US-led technological blockades.
Instead of writing papers, students collaborate directly with leading enterprises and national labs to develop new equipment, design next-gen systems and innovate under pressure.
Wei completed both his undergraduate and master’s degrees at HIT. Upon graduating in 2008, he joined the Nuclear Power Institute of China, which is headquartered in the southwestern city of Chengdu. In just over a decade, he progressed from an ordinary technician to become a technical expert and a key member of the institute’s management team.
In 2021, Wei, who recognised in his work that resolving certain engineering challenges required the mastery of theoretical principles and analysis, decided to return to his alma mater.
He enrolled in a doctoral engineering programme at the School of Materials Science and Engineering at HIT, studying as a working professional.
The following year, the Ministry of Education, together with eight other departments, launched a pilot programme to reform master’s and doctoral engineering education.
Focusing on 18 critical fields, including electronics and information technology, this scheme aimed to cultivate leading engineers through collaborative training models between universities and industry.
The programme proposed that students could substitute their degree theses with major engineering designs, new product development or the creation of a novel apparatus – a provision that was enshrined in law two years later in 2024.
HIT was among the first participants in the initiative. Zong Yingying, executive vice-dean of the institution’s graduate school, considers the regulation reasonable.
“Many engineering problems are unsuitable for the thesis format or are simply not suitable for publication at all,” she told China Science Daily.
This is particularly true of certain “bottleneck” issues, where the solution lies solely in the technology itself, she added.
State news agency Xinhua reported in June that since its launch over three years ago, the initiative had enrolled over 20,000 engineering students through joint admission by 60 universities and over 100 enterprises.
Of the first cohort of graduates, 67 students have applied for degrees based on practical contributions such as product designs, conceptual proposals and case analysis reports.
HIT has launched joint training programmes with over 60 industry-leading enterprises and national laboratories, involving almost 3,000 doctoral candidates.
“Compared to academic dissertations, practical engineering achievements or reports may be more suitable for them,” Zong said.