Five departments in our school are involved in education
1. Department of Metal Materials
The department of Metal Materials has commenced enrolling undergraduate students since 1978. At present, it has two majors: Metal Materials Engineering and Materials Surface Engineering. The Metal Material Engineering is one of the earliest undergraduate majors at the university. After more than 40 years of development, the department is currently one of the most advanced majors in the university. The Metal Materials Engineering major has successfully passed the Engineering Education Professional Certification of the Ministry of Education in 2022.
At present, the department has 26 full-time academic staff, including 10 national, provincial and ministerial level talents, 11 Professors, 6 doctoral supervisors and 18 master supervisors; 12 of the academic staff have overseas educational and visiting experience; 2 national talents and 1 full-time professor have 17 years' overseas experience. In the past three years, the department has undertaken more than 30 projects, including 2 national key R&D projects (the NSFC and the Ministry of Science and Technology international cooperation projects) and one provincial scientific research and innovation project. We have strong research teams with world class scientific research capabilities.
The department produces the most employable graduates. Our graduates are employed in materials R&D, technology, and production management in new materials, machinery, automobile, aerospace, metallurgy, chemical industry, energy, electronic information, communication, medical treatment, instrumentation and other industries. Many of them have become leaders in major enterprises. In the past three years, 40% of our students have successfully gained entry into postgraduate programs, of which 75% entered top universities in China and overseas.
2. Department of Materials Physics and Chemistry
The Department of Materials Physics and Chemistry was founded in 2008. At present, it has the major of Materials Science and Engineering. Based on the first-class discipline award, the department consists of undergraduate, master and doctoral degree programs. The Materials Science and Engineering major has successfully passed the Engineering Education Professional Certification of the Ministry of Education in 2018, and our major has further won the national first-class major construction qualification in 2019.
At present, the department has 20 full-time academic staff, including 6 professors, 5 associate professors, 1 academic leader at the level of Anhui province, and 3 doctoral advisors. The full-time academic staff have secured more than 20 national scientific research grants such as projects from the NSFC, 863 and 973 programs. One academic has won the support of Anhui Provincial Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars. Two academic have won the support of Anhui Provincial Science Fund for Outstanding Young Scholars. One academic has won the title of “Wanjiang scholar of Anhui Province”. The department has nearly 20 national invention patents granted, and more than 100 top quality scientific papers published in high impact journals.
Students majoring in Materials Science and Engineering can systematically study the fundamental theoretical knowledge of Materials Science, Material Physics and Chemistry. Meanwhile, they can obtain professional knowledge and skills of preparation, synthesis, processing, structure and performance testing, and analysis of materials, especially new functional materials. The graduates from this major can find a career in the large and medium-sized enterprises, universities and research institutes related to electronics, information, energy, and metallurgy in the developed East China. In recent years, more than 30% of the graduates are recommended or admitted for further study majoring in Materials Science and Engineering, or related interdisciplinary subjects such as materials, physics, chemistry, and metallurgy; more than 75% of the graduates are admitted to 985 or 211 universities such as Tsinghua University, Peking University, and University of Science and Technology of China. The annual employment rate of the graduates from this major is about 98%.
3. Department of Inorganic Nonmetallic Materials Engineering
The Department of Inorganic Nonmetallic Materials Engineering was founded in 1996, and now it is the provincial specialty in Anhui province. This department is featured by "enhancing foundation, versatile talent, highlighting ability, and seeking innovation" with the major of Inorganic Nonmetallic Materials Engineering cultivates scientific and engineering technology-oriented talents with solid fundamental theory and professional skills in inorganic non-metallic material engineering.
This major has 20 full-time academic staff including 6 professors, 7 associate professors, 3 doctoral supervisors and 19 master supervisors; and 18 of them have doctoral degrees. This major focuses on undergraduate education and training. The national and provincial-level scientific and technological innovation projects involve more than half of the students. This major runs 20 provincial-level courses. The academic staff of this major have published 3 provincial-level planning textbooks, presided over 30 provincial-level quality engineering projects, and won 3 provincial-level teaching achievement awards. This major has an average annual scientific research fund of more than 3 million Yuan, and the researchers presided over more than 10 national projects and more than 30 provincial projects. The academic staff of this major have published more than 180 top-quality papers in high impact factor journals and have more than 80 national invention patents authorized.
The employment of graduates of this major is mainly concentrated in large enterprises, listed companies, high-tech enterprises, and scientific research institutes in new materials, ceramics, electronics, information, building materials, testing and other industries in the Yangtze River Delta region; and the employment rate is 100%. Each year, about 50% of the graduates continue their study in Manchester University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang University, University of Science and Technology of China, and other first-class universities in the world. In 2021, the admission rate for postgraduate examination reached 53%, ranking among the top of the University.
4. Department of Materials Processing Engineering
The Department of Material Processing Engineering was founded in 1985 as the welding branch of metal material engineering. It has doctoral and master programs as well as the authorized qualification of "Material Engineering" professional master. At present, the department has 13 full-time academic staff with doctor degree, including 2 Professor, 5 Associate Professors, 9 Master's supervisors, and many of them have international welding engineer certificate (IWE).
Based on the basic platform of Anhui Key Laboratory of "Metal Materials and Processing" and the provincial experimental teaching demonstration center of "Material Science and Engineering", the welding major has established Metal Weldability laboratory, Welding Process laboratory, Welding Structure laboratory, Welding Inspection laboratory, and Welding Simulation laboratory. This major has also established off-campus practice teaching bases such as Shanghai Baoye Construction Co., Ltd., Shanghai Baoshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., Maanshan Steel Co., Ltd., and an on-campus engineering practice and innovation education base.
Graduates can be engaged in processing development, design, manufacturing, and operation management in research institutions or enterprises in the fields of aerospace, petrochemical, metallurgy, electric appliances, shipbuilding, vehicle manufacturing, engineering machinery, etc. In addition, graduates can enter the quality supervision and inspection departments or continue to study in Materials Science and Engineering and related interdisciplinary. To date, this department has 33 years’ experience in running undergraduate courses and a large number of graduates have stepped onto management and technical leadership positions.
5. Experimental teaching center
The experimental teaching center is the provincial experimental teaching center of Material Science and Engineering in Anhui province. The center was awarded the title of advanced unit of laboratory construction and management in colleges and universities in Anhui province in 2012. The experimental teaching center is mainly responsible for the teaching tasks of the basic experiments of Materials Science and Engineering and the professional experiments of various majors in the college.
There are 12 full-time experimental teaching staff in the center including 6 senior laboratory teaching staff; 11 of them have master's degree or above. The center has an area of 2600 m2 and a heavy equipment laboratory of 1000 m2 with 500 sets of experimental equipment worth more than 10 million Yuan. In recent years, the center has presided over a number of provincial and ministerial scientific research projects.
The center has established a diversified practical teaching mode with a unique combination of industry-university-research. The content of experimental teaching is closely combined with the industrial practice of steel and other industries. All innovative experiments and most of the comprehensive experimental teaching contents are involved in the engineering projects of academic staff. The center also caters to the technical needs of local enterprises in Anhui province and the steel industry in the Yangtze River Delta region.
