On May 7, 2018, Academician Professor Li Peigen, the former President of the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, reported on the “cultural factors that are important in Emerging Engineering” at “Qiushi Lecture Hall”.

Professor Li illustrated the cultural significance of Emerging Engineering in four ways: the key cultural aspects of Emerging Engineering, the cultural elements of engineering and technology, the major cultural perspectives of engineering education and the educational culture in teaching activities. He pointed out that Emerging Engineering reforms will be superficial if they only focus on conventional methods, so both teachers and students should look at engineering education from the level of educational and cultural values. This requires us to attach importance to cultural elements embodied in engineering and technology, such as existence, systematization, interconnection, decentralization, space and time as well as openness and sharing. He mentioned that a favorable engineering educational culture helps students shape their inner minds. In addition, the major cultural ethics and values of engineering education should embrace kindness, freedom, transcendence and critical thinking. To reshape engineering educational culture, we should integrate advanced educational culture into teaching, to reflect cultural elements of engineering and technology as well as the cultural perspective of engineering education on curriculums, classes, textbooks, practical processes and students’ extracurricular learning. He said that if the priority of engineering education reform is to implant the cultural values of engineering into the daily lives of teachers and students, then the innovation ability of students and China’s engineering education will make progress with each passing day, and China’s new engineering education will be world-class.

Vice-president of TJU Wang Shuxin pointed out in a summing up speech that the report enriched Emerging Engineering from the perspective of engineering education culture, reflected on Emerging Engineering from the level of philosophy, and played an important role in inspiring teachers' thinking, guiding teachers' development and reshaping education concepts. He pointed out the construction of Emerging Engineering is inevitable for advancing reform and innovation in engineering education in the new era, accelerating the construction of engineering education efficacy as well as the transformation and upgrading of services to industry. Emerging industry and the new economy in the future is in need of experts with extraordinary engineering practical and innovative ability and international competitiveness. He hopes that all teachers, guided by Professor Li’s report, should think further about the future and development of Emerging Engineering as well as the cultivation of talent in this area.

Tianjin University’s “Qiushi Lecture Hall” aims to build a platform of high-level teaching, research and academic exchange. To invite well-known scientists, educationalists from home and abroad to give lectures at our university, we can better inspire teachers’ creative thinking, guide the development of young teachers and create a favorable teaching and academic environment.

The report meeting was hosted by Academic Affairs Office of Tianjin University. About 200 teachers and students from 22 schools and departments attended, including Wang Shuxin, the Vice President of Tianjin University, and representatives from related departments and offices.