The Department of Municipal Engineering of the School of Civil Engineering of Chang'an University was established in 1953, from the former School of Construction Engineering of Shaanxi Province, which was one of the earliest schools in China, with this specialty and graduates. Later, it was renamed to Xi'an Architectural Engineering School. In 1978, it was changed to the Northwest Institute of Architectural Engineering, which was attached to the Ministry of Construction. In April 2000, Chang'an University was formally established, and the Specialty of Water Science and Engineering was incorporated into the School of Environmental Science and Engineering. In 2015, according to the national enrollment plan, the Department of Water Science and Engineering was transferred to the School of Civil Engineering.
At present, the students of the Water Science and Engineering include undergraduates, master's, and doctoral students. In 2006, it was rated as a school-level famous major. In 2010, it was awarded the first batch of national-level outstanding engineer education and training programs, which was included in the national undergraduate teaching project of "Specialty Comprehensive Reform Pilot" in 2012. In 2014, the teaching team of water science and engineering was awarded the "Shaanxi Province Teaching Team", and the specialty was awarded the "Innovation Experimental Zone of Shaanxi Province Talent Training Model ". In 2015, the practice education base, "Engineering Practice Education Center of Chang'an University- Xi'an Water Group Planning and Design Research Institute Co., Ltd.", was awarded the Shaanxi Province Off-campus Practice Education Base. In August 2017, it received the provincial first-class professional training program funding. In November 2019, it received the provincial professional training program funding.
The specialty of water science and engineering passed the professional evaluation organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development in 2008, the re-evaluation in 2013, and the professional certification in 2018. So far, it has recruited 41 years of undergraduates and 37 years of them graduated, including 2,721 undergraduates, 941 technical students, and 421 master students. The employment rate of undergraduates has remained above 90% in the past five years, and the quality of students has been praised by employers. Over the years, a large number of professionals in water supply and drainage have been trained for the country and society. Graduates have made outstanding achievements in design institutes, construction units, government agencies, colleges and universities, scientific research institutions, and other positions and fields across the country.
Faculty
The Department of Water Science and Engineering currently has 17 full-time teachers, including 12 professors and associate professors, and 7 lecturers. Among them, 13 teachers have Ph.D degrees and 3 teachers have master's degrees, accounting for 94.1% of the total. Additionally, we have 2 Famous teachers of Chang'an University, 3 doctoral supervisors, 11 master supervisors, and 4 postdoctoral fellows. The overall education level of the teachers is high, and the age structure is reasonable. It is a vigorous team, with a title of provincial teaching team, water supply and drainage science and engineering.
Curriculum construction
The Department of Water Science and Engineering insists on promoting the construction of courses of high quality. In the course construction, it focuses on the combination of course construction and teaching reform, the combination of course construction and textbook construction, and the combination of course construction and improving teaching quality. The teaching management is well, the teaching documents are complete, and the implementation is in good condition. The talent training program has distinct characteristics, and significant achievements have been obtained in the specialty development, curriculum, and textbook construction. At present, there are more than 10 provincial and school-level courses that have been built or are under construction. Among them, "Water Treatment Biology", "Water Supply and Drainage Piping System (1)", and "Building Water Engineering" are provincial quality courses; the other 3 courses are school-level. A bilingual course "Organic Chemistry" has been opened, and the other 3 are being built. The construction of the water science and engineering MOOC is actively carried out.
Textbook construction
In order to reflect the characteristics of the specialty, the textbook construction plan is being carried out. Teachers were organized to compile distinctive professional course textbooks, edited or participated in the compilation and publication of "Sewage Treatment Plant Process Design Manual" (Second Edition), "Water Environment Engineering", “Urban Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology”, “High Turbidity Water Supply Theory and Technology”, “Engineering Project Planning and Management”, “Special Water Treatment Technology”, “Oil Wastewater Treatment Technology”, "Highway Transportation and Environmental Protection", "Urban Surface Runoff Pollution and Control", " Pipeline Engineering Technical Specifications of Urban Long-distance Water Supply", "Town (Village) Water Supply Engineering Technical Specifications", "Building Water Supply and Drainage”, "Computer Application of Water Supply and Drainage", "Graphic Collection of Rural Water Supply Project", "Technical Specification for Secondary Water Supply Project in Xi'an" and many other reference textbooks or practical teaching reference books. Among them, "Project Planning and Management" was awarded “Chang'an University Excellent textbook”, and "Secondary Water Supply Engineering Technology" was selected into the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" textbook of Chang'an University.
Teaching research
For a long time, the Department of Water Science and Engineering has focused on the improvement of teaching quality, and the teaching reform has achieved remarkable results. In the past 5 years, the activities of teaching reform and research have been dynamic. As the main research unit, the department undertook 2 national teaching research projects, presided over and participated in 9 provincial and ministerial teaching research projects, and 2 municipal (bureau) level teaching research projects.
Teacher training
The Department of Water Science and Engineering pays attention to the training and construction of the teaching team. Adhering to the strategy of "going out" and "bringing in", Yang Liwei, Zhao Xiaohong, and Hu Bo went to Canada, the United States, and Ireland to study for one year, respectively. Dr. Zhao Xiaohong was from the University College of Dublin, Ireland. Qin Jinyi got a Ph.D. degree in Engineering from the University of Leipzig, Germany. Li Xiaoling, Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering, and He Jiaojie, Ph.D. in Municipal Engineering, were from Harbin Institute of Technology. In the training of young and middle-aged teachers, we paid more attention to both scientific research and teaching, to promote them together. Regular activities were organized within the department, exploring teaching methods, and actively guiding young teachers to participate in lecture competitions. Many teachers have won awards. At the same time, old teachers help young and middle-aged teachers to participate in teaching reform projects funded by the nation, province, city, and Chang’an University. Therefore, the professional quality of young teachers is continuously improved.
Scientific research
The department focuses on the cultivation of scientific research ability. In the past 5 years, teachers took charge of over 4 national scientific research projects, 13 provincial and ministerial scientific research projects, 6 municipal, department (bureau), and transverse projects, and obtained more than 10 national patents. The total funding is more than 20 million yuan. One Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award, one Water Conservancy Science and Technology Award from the Provincial Hydraulic Society, and one First Prize of Xi'an Science and Technology Progress Award were obtained. In the past five years, 111 research papers have been published, of which 62 were accepted by core journals, and 49 are recorded by SCI and EI.
Practical teaching
According to specialty development trends and situation changes, 20 long-term and fixed practice bases have been established. It is necessary to further strengthen the links, enriching the practice content and adding new practice activities on waste landfills, rainwater pumping stations, etc. The construction of practice bases on campus should be sped up. With the support of the school and college this year, the practice base for the cultivation of outstanding talents and the innovative practice (internship) education base for students have been initially completed, and the practice teaching has been improved as well. In 2015, the "Engineering Practice Education Center of Chang'an University-Xi'an Water Group Planning and Design Research Institute Co., Ltd." won the off-campus practice education base of Shaanxi Province, which guarantees the cooperation of enterprise teachers, which benefits the establishment of the school-enterprise joint practice platform.
