Hubei University of Technology (HBUT) is a multidisciplinary university covering 9 disciplines, specifically Humanities, Science, Art, Economics, Management, Law, Education, Medicine, and its specialty discipline Engineering. Originally established in 1952, Hubei Institute of Light Industry merged with Hubei Academy of Agricultural Machinery in 1984 to form Hubei Polytechnic Institute, and was renamed as Hubei University of Technology in 2004. It is one of Hubei Province’s key universities for development and has been assessed by Hubei Provincial Communist Party Committee and the Provincial Government as a high level, standard-setting, linchpin university in the higher education system of Hubei Province. HBUT has the authority to confer a full range of degrees, including Master’s and PhD degrees, and it is authorized to recommend its excellent graduates for postgraduate education with exemption from the national entrance examination. In 2010, HBUT won the title of “National Exemplary University for Graduate Employment”. In 2014, it attained Tier 1 university status. HBUT consecutively gained membership to the National Basic Ability Construction Project of Western and Central China Higher Educational Institutions in 2012 and 2016. In 2016, HBUT was selected as one of the first batch of innovation and entrepreneurship education reform demonstration universities in China. In 2018, HBUT was recognized by the Ministry of Education as one of the top-50 exemplary universities for innovation and entrepreneurship. In 2021, HBUT earned the title of an “Advanced University of Civilization” nationwide.

HBUT’s campus covers an area of more than 93 hectares, with a building area of more than 1 million square meters. The University has fully fledged supporting facilities and infrastructure for teaching, scientific research, artistic and physical education as well as logistic services. It has built a full range of laboratories for fundamental and specialized experiments. The HBUT students’ dormitories are equipped with air-conditioning and hot water supply systems. The library of HBUT, which is rated as “excellent” among Hubei provincial campus libraries, has a building area of 45,800 square meters, and offers a collection of more than 1.92 million paper books, 1.63 million electronic books, and 1.53 million electronic journals. Reliable and smooth campus internet systems and smart online administration systems are available.

HBUT has established 17 schools, namely School of Mechanical Engineering, School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, School of Material Science & Chemical Engineering, School of Biological Engineering & Food Science, School of Civil Engineering, Architecture & the Environment, School of Computer Science, School of Art & Design, School of Industrial Design, School of Economics & Management, School of Marxism, School of Foreign Languages, School of Sciences(School of Chip Industry), School of Physical Education, Normal School of Vocational Techniques, School of International Education, Detroit Green Technology Institute, and College of Engineering & Technology. In addition, the University has established 10 subordinate institutions, namely the Library, School of Continuing Education, Information Technology Center, the Archive, the Periodical Press, Agricultural Machinery Engineering Research & Design Institute, Agricultural Machinery Appraisal Center, Asset Operation & Management Corporation, Science Park Corporation and HBUT Community Hospital. HBUT enrolls students from a total number of 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities throughout China, and has an enrollment of roughly 20,000 full-time undergraduates, nearly 7,000 postgraduates, and approximately 1,000 international students.

HBUT currently has more than 1,400 full-time faculty members, of whom more than 700 have senior titles, and over 800 are doctoral or master’s supervisors. The proportion of faculty members with a PhD degree has reached over 65%. HBUT has recruited 27 national talents, and 188 provincial experts specializing in various fields. Additionally, HBUT has recruited as part-time professors more than 400 influential scholars, 9 of whom are domestic academicians and 8 are foreign academicians, from renowned domestic and overseas universities, scientific research institutes, and large-scale enterprises and public institutions, forming a high-level faculty team headed by national talents, and firmly supported by provincial talents and young faculty members with a PhD degree.

HBUT offers 56 undergraduate programs, of which 4 are labeled as national featured programs, 20 are national first-class programs, 3 are selected programs of the “Outstanding Engineer Cultivation Scheme” of the Ministry of Education, 3 are included in the “Outstanding Faculty Cultivation Scheme”, 295 are university-industry joint cultivation programs, 10 are provincial first-class programs, 8 are provincial brand programs, and 27 are selected programs of “Hubei Provincial Talent Cultivation Scheme for Emerging (Backbone) Strategic Industries” and “Coordinated Education Scheme for Hubei Outstanding Talents”. HBUT has 14 teaching teams that have reached the provincial level of excellence. It also has 12 excellent component teaching organizations of undergraduate education among provincial universities.

14 of HBUT programs, including the program of Mechanical Design, Manufacturing & Automation, have obtained accreditation from the China Engineering Education Accreditation Association or accreditation from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. HBUT has built 2 national experimental teaching demonstration centers, 3 national engineering practice education centers, 10 provincial experimental teaching demonstration centers, 5 provincial centers for internship and practical training, and 3 provincial virtual simulation experimental teaching demonstration centers. In addition, HBUT offers 3 national-standard premium video open courses, 6 national first-class undergraduate courses, and 38 provincial first-class undergraduate courses. The University also offers 35 provincial-standard open courses, including a range of high-quality video courses, resource sharing courses and online open courses. HBUT hosts 1 national and 2 provincial ideological and political demonstration programs.

In recent years, HBUT has proactively aimed to satisfy the national and regional strategic demands of the development of green technologies as well as the greening of traditional technologies, and has endeavored to implement the “135+” Discipline Development Strategy focusing on green technologies. HBUT has 1 provincial Double First-class discipline, 1 provincial leading discipline, 5 provincial characteristic disciplines, 4 key provincial disciplines (being nurtured), and 4 provincial leading and characteristic discipline collections. HBUT has the authority to confer PhD degrees in 2 disciplines, to confer academic Master’s degrees in 21 disciplines, and to confer professional Master’s degrees in 21 disciplines. The discipline of food science & engineering, the discipline of power electronics engineering and the discipline of biological engineering are labeled as “World First-class Discipline” in ARWU. The discipline of engineering and the discipline of agricultural science of HBUT rank top 1% of ESI.

HBUT has 1 key laboratory accredited by the Ministry of Education, 1 postgraduate innovation center accredited by the Ministry of Education, 1 national technology conversion demonstration center, 2 post-doctoral research centers, 13 provincial postgraduate research centers, 5 provincial key laboratories, 5 provincial humanities & social sciences research centers, 1 provincial engineering laboratory, 1 provincial pilot-test center, 2 provincial coordination innovation centers, 17 provincial engineering (technology) research centers, 26 provincial university-industry research & development centers, 41 provincial industry-university joint innovation centers and 15 industry research institutes. Since 2012, HBUT has undertaken more than 2,000 scientific research programs of provincial level and above, including more than 500 national programs. The University has published more than 450 treatises and textbooks, over 2700 high-level academic papers, including more than 1,400 SCI papers. It has obtained more than 2,500 patents and has earned 144 scientific awards of provincial level and above, including 1 national and 26 provincial first-place awards. Revolving around the great demands of regional development of industry and the “51020” modern industry system of Hubei Province, HBUT actively conducts scientific research and has established long-term cooperation relationships with more than 500 medium and large scale enterprises. HBUT has been positioned near the top of the ranking list for Science and Technology Service for Economic and Social Development of Hubei Province among provincial higher educational institutions. In October, 2020, HBUT, as the only higher education institution in Hubei Province, was recognized by the Ministry of Science and Technology as a pilot university to authorize its research staff to own or use post-related scientific and technological achievements for a long term. There has been featured coverage of its achievements in scientific and technological conversions by important media, including CCTV News.  

HBUT undertakes or co-undertakes a range of scientific publications, such as China Mechanical Engineering, Digital Agriculture & Smart Agricultural Machinery, and Journal of Hubei University of Technology. Among them, the journal of China Mechanical Engineering was selected into the EI source journal catalog and has been recognized as one of the “Top-100 Outstanding Academic Journals of China” for 12 years straight. It has been rated, for many times, as one of the “Journals of China with Excellent International Academic Impact”, “Boutique Technical Journals of China”, and “Top-100 Science & Technology Journals of China”.

Throughout its longstanding course of operation, HBUT has developed such spirit as is embodied in its motto - “the cultivation of virtue, expansion of knowledge, pursuit of truth, and stimulation of innovation”. It has formed the philosophy of “centering on students, prioritizing faculty members, sticking to free development and maintaining international vision”, has extracted the operational theory of “building on quality, consolidating with talents, thriving on science and technology, revitalizing through opening-up, and operating by law”, and has refined its structure of administration that is typical of a modern university: “the university Party Committee takes the lead; the president undertakes ultimate responsibility; professors preside over schooling; administration reflects democracy”, with its quality of education, capability of science and technology service and level of international development continuously improving and its social impact continually expanding.

In the last 5 years, HBUT students have achieved outstanding accomplishments in a variety of national competitions, and have made a number of significant breakthroughs as well. They have won more than 2,100 national and provincial awards in a range of competitions covering all sorts of subjects, including highest ranking awards in competitions such as the National “Internet Plus” Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition for College Students, the National “Challenge Cup” Entrepreneurship Scheme Competition for College Students, the Mathematical Modeling Competition, the Structural Design Competition and so on. HBUT ranked 64^th in 2020 and 71^st from 2016 to 2020 among all national universities, according to the figures released by the Chinese Association for Higher Education, correlated from results of competitions of Chinese universities. In sports events, HBUT’s basketball team has broken into the top-16 of CUBA; HBUT students have won championships in both the Men’s Singles and the Women’s Singles of the National Table Tennis Tournaments for College Students. Over many years, the rate of HBUT’s students being able to find employment in the first year after their graduation has remained over 95%. HBUT values highly innovation and entrepreneurship education, and has built an entrepreneurship park, creative bazaar and provincial-level mass innovation center for students. HBUT was among the first batch of “Demonstration Universities for Undergraduate Entrepreneurship” and has successively created exemplary cases- students or graduates who have obtained the title of “National Top-10 Influential Entrepreneurs”, “National Top-100 Influential Entrepreneurs” and so on.

HBUT upholds the opening-up of its operations, has established the strategy of international development, and keeps implementing the International Academic Competitiveness Improvement Scheme for Faculty Members and the International Competence Nurturing Scheme for Students, with a full range of international exchange and cooperation programs thriving, which cover all dimensions, broad areas and various levels. It has been honored with the title of “Hubei Provincial Advanced Organization for Intensifying Opening-up”. HBUT has established cooperative relationships with more than 130 universities, colleges and research institutes from more than 30 countries, such as the USA, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, and regions, namely Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The University has established Detroit Green Technology Institute (a Sino-American “4+0” joint education institution leading to the conferral of dual degrees from both hosting institutions), which is the only one international joint education institution nationwide that focuses on the cultivation of international talents in the domain of green technology.

Besides, it offers more than 10 international cooperative programs of undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In total, HBUT has an enrollment of approximately 1,700 full-time students on its international joint education institution and programs. HBUT has recruited 8 foreign academicians and 30 standing foreign experts and faculty members undertaking teaching and research assignments. HBUT has been authorized by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) to establish the International Cooperative Program for Innovative Talents. In the meantime, it is an official partner of CSC to offer CSC-funded Overseas Training Program for Young Backbone Faculty Members.

The number of HBUT faculty members and students participating in overseas programs on an annual basis is top-ranking among provincial universities. HBUT has been authorized by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education to establish 2 overseas expertise introduction centers for discipline innovation (“111 Center”). Additionally, it has established 3 Hubei provincial overseas expertise introduction centers for innovation and demonstration, and 2 Hubei provincial international scientific cooperation centers. The HBUT School of Civil Engineering, Architecture & the Environment has been recognized as a demonstration school for international development.

HBUT has established over 20 international joint scientific research platforms (centers), such as “Sino-British Ultrafast Laser Processing Research Center”, “Sino-French Geomechanics and Concrete Materials Research Center” and so on. Furthermore, HBUT has been authorized by the Ministry of Science and Technology to establish “TEFL in China” Wuhan Center. HBUT has obtained national accreditation of its education quality for international students studying in China.    

HBUT has been awarded various honorary titles for many times, such as “National Advanced University of Civilization”, “Advanced Organization for Graduate Employment Rate among Chinese Higher Educational Institutions”, “Hubei Provincial University of Good Reputation”, “Best Civilized Organization of Hubei Province”, “Advanced Organization for Science and Technology Service in Hubei Province”, “Hubei Provincial Advanced Organization for International (Overseas) Exchange”, “Hubei Provincial Exemplary University for Legal Operation”, “Hubei Provincial Advanced Organization for Talent Introduction”, “Hubei Provincial Advanced Grassroots Communist Party Committee”, “Hubei Provincial Advanced Organization for Communist Party Development”, “Advanced University Central Committee Recognized by Hubei Provincial Communist Party Committee”, “Provincial Advanced Organization for the Building of Leadership with Five Salient Merits”, “Top-10 Provincial University for the Encouragement of Reading”, and so on.

At present, HBUT operates under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, continues to thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important exposition on education, sticks to socialism as the guideline of operation, strengthens the overall leadership of its Communist Party Committee, fully implements the Communist Party Committee’s educational policy, and fulfills the fundamental task of virtue cultivation. The University strives to improve its comprehensive level of operation and administration, comply with the requirements of the Third Convention of HBUT CPC Representatives, center on faculty members and students, adhere to characteristic high-quality development, adopt an approach of coordinated development, and maintain reform and innovation as the underlying driving force. HBUT is oriented towards a three-step development strategy, upholds an ambition in developing double first-class disciplines, establishes the goal of first-class development, first-class discipline development and building a first-class faculty team. HBUT adopts the “Four & Four” development conception of “Four Focuses”, “Four Mixtures”, “Four Projects”, and “Four Advanced Areas” , upholds the principle of taking root in Hubei Province and serving its technology development, and proactively integrates into the layout of “One core taking the lead, two wings being the engine, and the entire region coordinating”. HBUT endeavors to foster highly qualified applied talents who embody international vision, and possess strong innovative and entrepreneurial competence as well as practical skills, aiming to form unique characteristics in its education, scientific research, social service, cultural heritage & innovation, and international exchange & cooperation, striving to break new ground with its development into a high-level technology university that reflects salient features in green technology disciplines, and contributing to the development of Hubei Province in terms of “becoming a pivot, coming to the forefront, and creating a new episode”.