Piloting science and engineering through innovation

Founded in 1920, Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) is an established hub for engineers, and is a leader in aerospace technology. With science and engineering as its core, it has also developed multidisciplinary programmes encompassing liberal arts, management, economics and law. It is a national key university, and a member of China’s “Ivy League”, the C9 League.

The many firsts of HIT

HIT was the first in China to establish a school of astronautics; the first university to independently develop a small satellite; and the first to realize the scientific experiment of man-machine coordination on in-orbit maintenance (the Tiangong-2 space manipulator). It built the world’s first micro-satellite (Longjiang-2) to complete Earth-to-Moon transfer, near-moon braking, and circumlunar flight, and was the first in China to achieve satellite-ground laser link communications. It was a pioneer in realizing target and multi-beam laser auto-alignment of large laser device, as well as space application of magnetic focusing Hall thruster. It developed China’s first computer to play chess and talk to humans, China’s first new type long range ocean detection radar system, and its first arc- and spot- welding robot. It was the first to reveal the structure of a ligase complex in the HIV virus.

HIT has produced a large number of achievements that have contributed to major space missions, including the first launches of the Long March 7 and the Long March 5, as well as the Tiangong-2 space lab and the Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft.

Expanding reach and scope

HIT has signed exchange and cooperation agreements with 278 universities in 39 countries, and, since 2011, has led more than 180 international collaborative research projects. In 2011, HIT initiated and jointly established the Association of Sino-Russian Technical Universities (ASRTU) that now counts 67 elite universities as its members. In 2018, HIT became a member of the University of the Arctic, the largest international academic organization in the Circumpolar North.

HIT’s expansion has seen the growth of its campuses in line with regional development. In the coastal city of Weihai in East China, HIT opened a campus in 1985, focusing on developing marine research and ocean economy, as well as intelligent manufacturing and smart cities. It has undertaken more than 1,000 projects, including ocean detection technologies, unmanned vehicles, intelligent robots, new information technology, cyber security, new materials, water purification, and renewable energy, generating hundreds of patents.

Seizing the opportunity of the growth of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, HIT’s Shenzhen campus is becoming a hub for scientific and technological innovation. Starting from the HIT Shenzhen Graduate School in 2002, it has since established comprehensive degree programmes. Its 10 schools and four research centres focus on research ranging from materials and artificial intelligence, to space science and bio-pharmaceuticals. It is striving to be an international, high-skilled, and research-oriented campus, by revolutionizing higher education and enhancing international collaboration.

With a ‘one university, three campuses’ model and an expanding international network, “HIT is striving to reach its goal of becoming a world-class university,” says Yu Zhou, president of HIT and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.