From 28 to 29 June, the Second Beihang University International Engineering Education Forum (BUAA-IEEF 2019), sponsored by Beihanag University and co-organized by the School of General Engineering of Beihang University (SGE, International Model School), the Institute of Higher Education (IHE) of Beihang University, and International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES), was held at Ruxin Conference Centre. Over 100 distinguished experts, leaders and students from Purdue University, New York University, University of Puerto Rico, Monash University, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and other famous universities at home and abroad attended the forum.
Opening ceremony of BUAA-IEEF 2019
With the theme of “Developing Engineering Leaders for the 21st Century”, the 2019 BUAA-IEEF invited 10 renowned engineering education experts from various countries to give special speeches. Aimed at cultivating top talents under the background of new engineering, the forum focused on the frontier of international engineering education, and carried out international academic exchanges in engineering education on topics like engineering leadership projects, academic implementation of engineering leadership courses, and the way to evaluate the ability of engineering leadership.
The forum lasts for two days, including workshops, keynote speeches and interactive seminars. On June 28, Professor William Bill Oakes, Director of EPICS Program of Purdue University, chaired a workshop on the theme “Service-Learning in Engineering: Preparing Leaders and Changing the World”.
The opening ceremony of the forum was held on the morning of June 29, and was presided over by Professor Wen Dongsheng, Dean of the School of General Engineering of Beihang University. Wen noted that in such a rapidly changeable international environment, it has become even more critical for engineering talents to expeditiously take on leadership roles. The School of General Engineering is constantly building and improving related courses on engineering leadership by providing students with seminars and lectures on engineering leadership, as well as practical learning and interactions with industry leaders. Besides, the school has deeply considered the connotation of “new engineering” courses, closely followed the international and domestic school-running models, gradually explored the construction of a first-class training demonstration base for general engineering talents cultivation, and trained international engineering leaders with global vision, integration of general and specialized skills, and systematic innovation ability.
Following the ceremony, Professor Wen Dongsheng chaired the keynote speeches. Professor Zhang Dongxiao, Dean of College of Engineering and Executive Vice Dean of Graduate School of Peking University, delivered a speech titled “Educating Leading Engineers to Address the Grand Challenges in the 21st Century”. Then, Professor Wang Sunyu, Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Tsinghua University and Secretary General of the International Centre for Engineering Education under the auspices of UNESCO (ICEE), made an address on “International Engineering Education and Top Talent Cultivation”. After that, Lueny Morell, former President of IFEES and Vice Dean of the School of General Engineering of Beihang University, made a speech entitled “Developing Students’ Engineering Competencies at the School of General Engineering”.
Keynote speeches
The afternoon keynote speeches were chaired by Professor Ma Yonghong, Vice Dean of Institute of Higher Engineering Education of Beihang University. Professor Gary Codner from Monash University, Professor William Bill Oakes from Purdue University and Professor Frédéric Toumazet from SJTU-ParisTech Elite Institute of Technology delivered their speeches, respectively.
Keynote speeches
The following Plenary Panel Discussion was moderated by Harold P Sjursen, Chair of International Advisory Committee of the School of General Engineering, Beihang University. Five experts including Lueny Morell, Gary Codner, William Bill Oakes, Frédéric Toumazet and Zhang Dan shared their views on the topic “Engineering Leadership Programs Academic Implementation Challenges”.
Plenary panel discussion
The forum successfully ended with enthusiastic academic discussions among the participants. It provided the participants with frontier dynamics of engineering education and promoted international exchanges and cooperation by gathering a number of internationally noted engineering education experts and leaders to discuss the latest developments and trends of international engineering education.
At the forum
The School of General Engineering (SGE) is a new school of engineering within Beihang University, started in 2016. It was selected by the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs and the Ministry of Education of China as an “International Model School” with a “Propulsion Project for an International Model School of Higher Education” in 2015. The school began to enroll undergraduates in September 2017, and 50 undergraduates are able to get access to the school each year. Based on the platform of the leading engineering subjects at Beihang University, SGE provides a core curriculum in English, spares no effort in establishing “Beihang Engineering”, which is a model of international teaching, and pushes to bring about a comprehensive reform to Beihang University and higher education in China.
Reported by Dong Lin and Song Chao
Photographed by David Sustach Garcia and Su Li
Edited by Jia Aiping
Reviewed by Wen Dongsheng
Translated by Zhao Yue
