Northwestern Polytechnical University Explained

Northwestern Polytechnical University
Image Upright:.7
Motto:公诚勇毅
Mottoeng:Loyalty, Integrity, Courage, and Perseverance
Mascot:Aoxiang
President:Wang Jinsong (汪劲松)
Country:China
Undergrad:14,395
Postgrad:13,736
Students:28,131
Faculty:3,600
Campus:Urban
(Youyi campus)
(Chang'an campus)
Free Label:Newspaper
Free:西北工大报
Colors: Blue & silver
Other Name:NWPU
Module:
Child:yes
S:西北工业大学
T:西北工業大學
P:Xīběi Gōngyè Dàxué
Order:st

Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU;) is a public science and engineering university in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction.[1] [2]

NPU specializes in education and research in the fields of aeronautical, astronautical and marine engineering. As of 2012, NPU had 13,736 graduate students (3,063 full-time doctorate candidates, 7,087 master candidates, 3,586 professional degree candidates) and 14,395 undergraduate students.

As of 2024, Northwestern Polytechnical University was listed as one of the top 300 universities in the Academic Ranking of World Universities and the U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking.[3] [4]

History

NPU builds upon the legacies of its three major predecessors.[5]

Northwestern Engineering Institute

In 1938, due to the Japanese invasion of China, many universities in the occupied east evacuated to "Free China" in the western hinterland. Among those that fled to Shaanxi, the National Beiyang Engineering Institute, the Engineering School of Beiping University, the Engineering School of the National Northeastern University, and the (private) Jiaozuo Engineering Institute were combined to form the National Northwestern Engineering Institute in Hanzhong, a city surrounded by mountains. In 1946, after the surrender of Japan, Northwestern Engineering Institute was relocated to the city of Xianyang.

East China Aeronautics Institute

In 1952, to meet the demand for concentrated aeronautics research, the departments of aeronautical engineering of the former National Central University (later known as Nanjing University), Jiaotong University and Zhejiang University were relocated to Nanjing and combined to form the East China Aeronautics Institute. This institute was relocated to Xi'an and renamed the Xi'an Aeronautics Institute, which is the second predecessor of the NPU, in 1956.

In 1957, the Northwestern Engineering Institute and the Xi'an Aeronautics Institute were merged to form NPU, which concentrated its research efforts on defense technology for aeronautics, astronautics and marine engineering.

People's Liberation Army Military Engineering Institute

In 1970, due to deteriorating relations with the former USSR, the People's Liberation Army Military Engineering Institute, which was located in Harbin, was disassembled. Many of its departments were relocated from the city near the China-Soviet border; among these, its Department of Aeronautical Engineering (the third predecessor of NPU) was moved to Xi'an and merged with the other two predecessors to form NPU.

Campuses

NPU's campuses comprise about 4.58 km2, with the Youyi Campus, located in Beilin District, Xi'an, comprising about 0.8 km2 and the Chang'an Campus, located in Chang'an District, Xi'an, comprising about 2.6 km2.[2] and the Taicang Campus, located in Suzhou, Jiangsu, comprising about 1.18 km2.[2]

Youyi Campus

The Youyi Campus, often referred as the 'old campus', is divided into three parts: the South, the West and the North by the West Youyi Road and the South Laodong Road. The campus contains education facilities, apartments of teachers and students, stadiums, logistics facilities, a kindergarten and the primary and middle school affiliated with NPU.[6]

Chang'an Campus

The Chang'an Campus, often referred as the 'new campus', is divided into two parts: the East and the West by the Dongxiang Road. This campus contains many newly built administration buildings, school buildings, experiments facilities, sports facilities and so on. It serves as the main base for undergraduate education of NPU.[7]

Taicang Campus

The Taicang Campus, located at the border between Suzhou and Shanghai, is currently under construction and will start to run in September 2021. This campus will contain 10 schools including School of Artificial Intelligence, School of Flexible Electronics, School of Business etc. It will serve around 10,000 students.

Infrastructure development

NPU is building or going to build more facilities on both of these two campuses. Supported by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the former Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, NPU has received a 1.58 billion CNY (US$252.8 million) investment in infrastructure constructions from the central government and there're more than 20 construction projects running currently including the Material Science Building, the Innovation Science and Technology Building, the Reconstruction of Dangerous and Old Apartments after the earthquake, the #1 Student Apartment in the Youyi Campus and the New Library, Infrastructure Plan I & II, the High-tech Experimental Research Center and others in the Chang'an Campus.[8]

Academics

NPU has a strong research capacity in engineering. It was confirmed as one of the National Key Universities by the State Council in 1960. In the seventh and eighth Five-year plan, NPU was listed as one of the 15 National Key Developing Universities. In the ninth Five-year plan, NPU joined the Project 211. And, in the tenth Five-year plan, NPU joined the Project 985.[2]

Since its establishment, NPU has educated more than 150,000 high level technicians and researchers for China's defense industry and national economy development. The first PhD from 6 disciplines in China was graduated from NPU.[2] And, among NPU's alumni, there are more than 30 fellows of the CAS and the CAE, 30 generals in PLA and 6 recipients of China's TOP 10 Outstanding Youth Elite.[9]

Accreditation and memberships

NPU is one of the Seven Sons of National Defence[10] and member of SAP University Alliances.[11]

Funding

The university's research funding has been continually rising every year. It reached 1.67 billion RMB in 2010 (US$0.26 billion), ranking fifth among all universities in China. with funding per faculty member ranked first. In 2011, funding reached 1.91 billion RMB.

Rankings and reputation

Bcur N:23
Ws N:21
Cuaa N:22
Qs N:36
The N:21–25
Line 1:0
Qs A:=146
The A:51
Line 2:0
Arwu W:101–150
Qs W:=547
The W:301–350
Usnwr W:253

In 2024, Northwestern Polytechnical University was listed as one of the world's top 300 universities in the Academic Ranking of World Universities and the U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking.

In 2022, NPU ranked 25th in the Best Chinese Universities Ranking compiled by Shanghai Ruanke.[12] NPU's engineering ranked the tenth among China's engineering universities.[13]

According to the results of the third Evaluation of Disciplines by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, the ranks of parts of NPU's disciplines are shown below.[14]

Discipline Rank
Material Science and Engineering 3
Aeronautical and Astronautical Science and Technology 1
Armament Science and Technology 3
Marine Science and Application 5
Dynamics 7
Computer Science and Technology 12
Mechanics Engineering 14
Control Science and Engineering 14
Transportation Engineering 15
Electronic Science and Engineering 17
Instrument Science and Technology 18
Power Engineering and Engineering Thermophysics 18
Information and Communication Engineering 20
Electrical Engineering 23
BiomedicalEngineering 23
Optical Engineering 24
Architecture 26
Mathematics 36
Chemistry 39
Civil Engineering 46
Business Administration 50
Foreign Languages and Literatures 52
Public Management 55
Applied Economics 58
Biology 64
Marxist Theory 69
Laws 72

Laboratories

The university has seven State Key Laboratories and 28 Province/Ministry-level Key Laboratories. Only the State Key Laboratories are listed below.[15] These labs often specialize in particular areas of academic research and receive government funding:

Name Supporting School
State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing School of Materials Science and Engineering
State Key Laboratory of Airfoil, Cascade Aerodynamics School of Aeronautics & School of Power and Energy
State Key Laboratory of Torpedo Guidance Technology School of Marine Technology
State Key Laboratory of Heat Structure and Inner Flow Field of Combustion of Solid Rocket Motor School of Astronautics
State Key Laboratory of UAV Special Technology Institute of National Defense
State Key Laboratory of Superhigh Temperature Structural Composite Materials School of Materials Science and Engineering
State Key Laboratory of Space Flight Dynamics Technology School of Astronautics

Organization

Education Experimental School

The Education Experimental School is the college with special honors in NPU. Its predecessor is the Education Reform Class established in 1985 which was upgraded to the current school in 2001. The aim of this school is to provide the most elite students of NPU with the best resources so that they can become future leaders in their fields.[16]

Academic schools

NPU has 15 academic schools, 1 educational experimental school(known as Honors College), 1 independent school, 1 joint school and some other administrative schools.[17] The university offers 58 undergraduate programs, 117 master programs, 67 doctorate programs and 14 postdoctoral programs. Currently, there are 2 First-level National Key Disciplines, 7 Second-level National Key Disciplines, 2 National Key (to cultivate) Disciplines, 21 First-level Disciplines for Doctorate Degree Granting and 31 First-level Disciplines for master's degree Granting. Additionally, NPU has 7 State Key Laboratories, 28 Province/Ministry-level Key Laboratories and 19 Province/Ministry-level Engineering Research Centers. The 15 academic schools of NPU are listed here in the official order.

  1. School of Aeronautics
  2. School of Astronautics
  3. School of Marine Science and Technology
  4. School of Materials Science and Engineering
  5. School of Mechanical Engineering
  6. School of Mechanics, Civil Engineering and Architecture
  7. School of Power and Energy
  8. School of Electronics and Information
  9. School of Automation
  10. School of Computer Science and Technology
  11. School of Science
  12. School of Management
  13. School of Humanities, Economics and Law
  14. School of Software and Microelectronics
  15. School of Life Science
  16. School of Foreign Languages
  17. Queen Mary University of London Engineering School, NPU

Other schools

Besides the 15 major academic schools and the education experimental school, NPU has other schools or institutes.[17] They are:

Student life

Innovation Study Base

The Innovation Study Base, directed by the Dean's Office of NPU, consists of multiple student competition programs including NPU's university team of Football Robotics, Dancing Robotics, Model United Nations, Mathematical Modeling, Model Airplanes and so on. In the 11th Five-year plan, NPU students won more than 1,400 awards at the international, state and provincial levels including 54 first or second place international level award and 147 first or second national level award.

Student Club Center

The Student Club Center, directed by the Communist Youth League of NPU, serves all university-level student clubs. The center helps to organize and supervise student activities on the campus and acts like a bridge between the administration and students' clubs.

Affiliated secondary school

See main article: Middle School Attached to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Notable alumni

Notable faculty members

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 教育部 财政部 国家发展改革委 关于公布世界一流大学和一流学科建设高校及建设 学科名单的通知 (Notice from the Ministry of Education and other national governmental departments announcing the list of double first class universities and disciplines) . Mor.gov.cn.
  2. Web site: 学校简介-西北工业大学. Nwpu.edu.cn. 5 August 2018.
  3. Web site: ShanghaiRanking's Academic Ranking of World Universities . 2023-08-27 . www.shanghairanking.com.
  4. Web site: US NEWS Best Global Universities: Northwestern Polytechnical University . 2024-07-15 . U.S. News & World Report.
  5. Web site: 学校历史-西北工业大学. Nwpu.edu.cn. 5 August 2018.
  6. Web site: 友谊校区规划-发展规划处. Fazhan.nwpu.edu.cn. 5 August 2018.
  7. Web site: 长安校区规划-发展规划处. Fazhan.nwpu.edu.cn. 5 August 2018.
  8. Web site: 在建项目-发展计划处 . 2013-05-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130414190330/http://fazhan.nwpu.edu.cn/xygh/zjxm.htm . 2013-04-14 . dead .
  9. Web site: The University -西工大英文站点 . 2013-05-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130519052705/http://english.nwpu.edu.cn/aboutNPU/ThexUniversityx.htm . 2013-05-19 . dead .
  10. Web site: Cong . Forest . US Ban on Chinese Students With Military Links Divides Experts on Impact . www.voanews.com . 15 June 2021.
  11. Web site: SAP University Alliances Member Universities. SAP. 4 February 2023.
  12. Web site: ShanghaiRanking's Best Chinese Universities Ranking . 2022-06-11 . www.shanghairanking.com.
  13. Web site: 武书连2012中国大学工学排行榜. Edu.sina.com.cn. 5 August 2018.
  14. Web site: 教育部学位中心2012学科评估结果公布. Chinadegrees.cn. 5 August 2018.
  15. Web site: 西北工业大学研究生招生信息网--重点实验室 . 2009-03-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100423070926/http://yzb.nwpu.edu.cn/emplab.htm . 2010-04-23 . dead .
  16. Web site: 学院简介-教育实验学院. Honors.nwpu.edu.cn. 5 August 2018.
  17. Web site: 学院设置-西北工业大学. Nwpu.edu.cn. 5 August 2018.
  18. News: Educational drone maker takes to water. Chinadailyhk. 2018-03-27.