On September 27th, the 1st International Conference for Training Excellent-Engineers (ICTE 2023) was held in Beijing Jianguo International Convention Center. Huai Jinpeng, Secretary of the Party Group and Minister of the Ministry of Education, attended the conference and delivered a speech. Representatives of leaders, educational administrators, experts and scholars from more than 20 countries and regions such as France, Germany, Canada and Japan attended the meeting.

The conference was hosted by China Excellent-Engineers Training Consortium, and was co-organized by Beihang University, Harbin Institute of Technology, Zhejiang University, Chongqing University, Tongji University, etc.. One main meeting and four sub-meetings were held respectively. The theme of the conference is to deepen the integration of production and education, establish a world-level excellent engineer training system with Chinese characteristics, promote the reform of engineering education, and accelerate the formation of an academic, industrial and policy community for the training of excellent engineers.

In his speech, Huai Jinpeng said that countries around the world have generally recognized that education has become an important supporting force in promoting economic development, and improving people's livelihood and civilization progress. China always attaches great importance to education, regards education as a national priority development strategy, and constantly promotes education to serve the all-round development of individuals and the sustainable development of society. He put forward three suggestions for engineering education. The First is to meet the needs of the people for a better life, and take the road of openness and cooperation. The second is to promote the integration of science, engineering and culture, deepen the reform of the evaluation of engineering talents, and build a high-quality engineer training and certification system. The third is to continuously strengthen learning ability, and to establish a lifelong learning society.

Before the main meeting, Huai Jinpeng also met with international expert representatives from the Training Excellent-Engineers Department and had an exchange with them.

The main session was presided over by Wang Yunpeng, President of Beihang University, who, on behalf of the conference organizers, expressed sincere welcome and heartfelt thanks to the participants. Wang Yunpeng said that this conference aims to exchange experience in training excellent engineers, enlighten thinking, and jointly discuss the challenges and problems in integrating production and education in training engineers, so as to further deepen the reform of training excellent engineers, and promote the reform of higher engineering education in the world.

Bertrand Raquet, Director of INSA Toulouse, gave a presentation entitled “Integration of Industry and Education for Cultivating Excellent Engineers”. He shared the experience and practice of INSA engineer training, and noted that the training of excellent engineers is a complex and systematic process.

Sun Jinsheng, president of the Institute of Excellent-Engineers of China National Petroleum Corporation, made a report entitled “Deepening the Integration of Production and Education, Building a Solid Platform to Create a New Paradigm for Training Excellent Engineers with Petroleum Characteristics”. He reviewed the development history of engineering education in China's petroleum industry, and introduced the characteristic practices of building a new paradigm for training excellent-engineers with petroleum characteristics based on the new era.

Hubert Jager, Chairman of the National Lightweight Development Strategy of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate, gave a presentation entitled “University Education VS Industries Expectations in Europe... How to Close the Gap?" The report analyzes the similarities and differences between education and industry on talent training, and provides suggestions for the integration of production and education to train excellent engineers.

Sheng Zhaoning, CEO of Saint-Gobain China, delivered a report entitled "Sustainable Talent", saying that countries around the world are actively promoting sustainable development, and excellent engineers with innovative and interdisciplinary backgrounds are the core talents driving this important transformation.

At the sub-forum of the conference, some universities, industry enterprises, representatives of associations, and contractors of the National Institute of Excellent-Engineers conducted in-depth discussions.

At the International Conference on the Construction of Excellent-Engineer Standards, leaders from universities and related enterprises carried out in-depth exchanges and studies, and participants had in-depth exchanges and discussions. All participants unanimously said that they will further focus on key areas urgently needed by the country, accelerate the formation of academic, industrial and policy communities for the training of excellent engineers, formulate standards for the training of excellent engineers, and ensure the high-quality training of excellent engineers.

At the International Conference for Training Excellent-Engineers in the Field of Artificial Intelligence, the training consortium of excellent engineers in the field of artificial intelligence was unveiled. Heads of departments related to artificial intelligence from universities and scientific research institutions, as well as heads of leading domestic scientific and technological enterprises in the field of artificial intelligence attended the meeting. The conference aims to promote the strategic scientific and technological force of China, promote the reform of artificial intelligence engineering education, provide new momentum for the high-quality development and the training of a large number of excellent engineers, and contribute Chinese solutions to the world's artificial intelligence engineering education.

At the International Conference for Training Excellent-Engineers in the Field of Smart Energy, the training consortium of excellent engineers in the field of smart energy was unveiled.

Written by: Ma Wenting

Photos by: Di Bailu

Reviewed by: Li Jianwei

Edited by: Jia Aiping

Translated by: Yao Zipeng