Overview
The School of Information Science and Engineering, a pride of Southeast University (SEU), may date back to 1923 when the Department of Electrical Engineering was established at then National Southeast University. In 1952, the Department of Radio Engineering of Nanjing College of Engineering, the predecessor of the School of Information Science and Engineering today, was set up with relevant departments and disciplines of other colleges and universities integrated. After decades’ development, the School, now one of the top radio-electronics teaching and research centers with international influence, ranks among the best of its kind nationwide in terms of its overall strength in the discipline influence, education quality, research level, teaching team, talent cultivation, horizontal integration and industrialization. The School, always oriented to international frontier research areas, has reached the national advanced level in the field of communication and information in particular, and has thus become one of the bases for talent cultivation, scientific research and technological innovation in China. In addition, the School took the first place both in the first ranking of brand majors for undergraduate students of Jiangsu Province and in the national ranking online of brand majors in 2006.
At present, the School boasts a faculty of 226 teachers, including 1 academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 1 academician of the Canadian Royal Academy of Sciences and the Canadian Royal Academy of Engineering, 7 IEEE Fellows, 3 professors of National Recruitment Program of Global Experts, 1 member of National Recruitment Program of Global Youth Experts, 2 National Distinguished Experts, 11 “Cheung Kong Scholar” Distinguished Professors, 1 National Famous Teacher and 1 Famous Teacher of Jiangsu Province, 69 doctoral supervisors, 59 professors and 71 associate professors, 4 members of National Talents Program, 6 winners of National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (NSFDYS), 4 members of National Young and Middle-Aged Experts with Outstanding Contributions Program, 5 members of Cross-Century Talents Program of the Ministry of Education, 11 members of New Century Outstanding Talents Program of the Ministry of Education, 3 members of High-level Entrepreneuring and Innovation Talents Program of Jiangsu Province, 17 members of Jiangsu High-Level Talent Cultivation Program 333, 5 members of University Excellent Teachers and Academic Principals Program of Jiangsu Province, 8 members of Jiangsu Program of Peak Talents in Six Major Industries, as well as 2 creative research groups of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and 3 innovation teams awarded by the Ministry of Education.
School students have displayed excellent performance in various disciplinary contests, such as multiple special awards in “Challenge Cup” Contest of Technological Works for National University and College Students, Electronic Design Contests for National University and College Students and Postgraduate Students, and International Digital-Analog Contest; in addition, 3 papers have been awarded as Best Research Papers in such academic activities as MTTS sponsored by IEEE in recent years. Over the last three years, undergraduates have won awards in various disciplinary contests with an annual average of over 400 person-times, published 48 papers in various journals and academic conferences (EI 22, SCI 2), and applied for 2 patents.
Major Setup for Undergraduate Students
Students are admitted to the major of Information Engineering in the wide-caliber mode. The major, among the first ones awarded as Jiangsu Brand Major, is also one of China’s first characteristic disciplines to be constructed. There are five research orientations as follows: communication engineering, signal processing, microwave engineering, electronic circuit and system, and information security.
The School the two disciplines of “Electronic Science and Technology” and “Information and Communication Engineering”, both among the first batch of national key disciplines, respectively ranked 2nd and 4th nationwide in China Discipline Ranking of 2012. The five sub-disciplines it comprises, i.e. “communication and information system”, “signal and information processing”, “information security”, “electromagnetic field and microwave technology” and “electronic circuit and system”, are all national key disciplines authorized to confer doctoral degrees and masters’ degrees, and equipped with the center for post-doctoral research.
The School boasts the two national key laboratories of “National Millimeter Laboratory” and “National Mobile Communication Laboratory”, both of which were well applauded in the review of national key laboratories of 2012. Besides, the School boasts a national talent cultivation base for integrated circuits (one of the nine nationwide) and 4 posts for “Cheung Kong Scholar” Distinguished Professors; “Information and Communication Engineering” is awarded among the ten “priority of priorities” disciplines of Jiangsu Province, and two disciplines have been elected into the development project of strong disciplines of Jiangsu-based colleges and universities (1st stage). There also establishes National Demonstration Center of Professional Practice and Teaching for Information and Electronics as well as Jiangsu Demonstration Center of Professional Practice and Experimental Teaching for Communication Information.
Major courses include: communication theory, modern communication network, digital image processing, mobile communication, mobile digital communication technology, computer communication network, computer architecture and logic design, electronic circuit of communication, ASIC design, operating system and compilation principle, statistical signal processing, signal and linear system, data structure, micro-computer system and interfacing, electromagnetic field and microwave technology, communication network, circuit analysis, etc..
Scientific Research
The School boasts such “National Millimeter Laboratory”, “National Mobile Communication Laboratory”, Engineering Research Center for Radio Frequency Circuit Integration and System of the Ministry of Education, Engineering Research Center for Radio Frequency and Photo-Electricity Integrated Circuits of Jiangsu Province, Engineering Research Center for Digital Technology of Jiangsu Province, Underwater Signal Processing Laboratory of the Ministry of Education and other research bases; National Communication Technology Laboratory is under construction.
The School won the only national special award for teaching reform in the field of electronics in 1990; the “digital signal processing” and “signal and system” have been awarded as National Superior Courses; 3G and 4G mobile communication system have been developed successfully, with such outstanding achievements as CDMA super-large-scale IC design technique, radio frequency technique and Bluetooth technique reaching world standard and among the advanced nationally; furthermore, the projects of MMW bulk-effect oscillators and 3G mobile communication system respectively won the 1st and 2nd prizes of National Scientific and Technological Progress.
In 2012, the School, in collaboration with Tsinghua University, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Harbin Institute of Technology, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, PLA Information Engineering University, as well as China Mobile, Huawei, ZTE and Datang Telecom, took the lead in establishing the Wireless Communication Technology Collaborative Innovation Center so as to break through in studies on key and fundamental technologies in the field of wireless mobile communication.
During the period of the 11th Five-Year Plan, funds for scientific research projects totaled 489.3349 million RMB, with an annual growth averaging 45.83%; funds for government sponsored research totaled 427.946 million RMB, taking up about 87.5% of the total funds. Funds for scientific research exceeded 100 million RMB in 2009, and those in place in 2010 reached 184 million RMB, most of which went to extraordinarily important research subjects. During this period, the School assumed 50 projects of NSFC, 25 projects included in National Program 863 and 8 of National Program 973; it also took the lead in or participated in 21 major special projects of National Sci-Tech Program, 3 projects of National Sci-Tech Support Program, 10 funded by Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, as well as 158 projects for the military industry and national defense. In addition, the School won 12 awards at or above provincial and ministerial levels, published 468 SCI –indexed research papers, 773 EI-indexed papers and 575 ISTP-indexed papers, as well as applied for 450 patents for invention and was granted 149.
In 2011 and 2012 of the 12th Five-Year Plan, the School maintained good momentum of development in scientific research with one and anther achievements; for example, Professor You Xiaohu won Award of Outstanding Contribution to National Science and Technology Plan for 11th Five-Year Plan, the research results achieved by Professor Cui Tiejun-led team were elected into the “Top Ten Scientific Developments of China of 2010” and won the 1st prize of Natural Science of the Ministry of Education in 2011; the research paper jointly published by Professor Gao Xiqi and Associate Professor Jin Shi won Stephen O. Rice Prize Paper Award in the field of communication theory of IEEE in 2011; Sun Dan, doctoral candidate of National Millimeter Laboratory and her supervisor Professor Dou Wenbin won IEEE Piergiorgio L.E. Uslenghi Prize Paper Award in 2010, the first scholar of Chinese mainland who had won the award in question.
In 2012, with a decade’s effort and innovation, the National Mobile Communication Laboratory overcame the world-level difficulty in the capacity approximation transmission technology in wideband mobile communication, so that President You Xiaohu and his team won the 1st prize of National Technological Invention of 2011. The new-generation wideband mobile communication technology and system jointly developed by the School and Huawei Group, which adopted the wideband mobile communication capacity approximation transmission technology, boasts the highest peak transmission rate in the industry, and has thus been adopted as the international standard by International Telecommunication Union and won the Gold Award in thr 14th China International Industry Fair.
The School has engaged a total of 32 visiting professors and part-time professors both at home and abroad, and hosted multiple large-scale international academic conferences; in addition, it has established 12 R&D centers with a variety of international and domestic enterprises, like Agilent, National Instruments and Texas Instruments of the USA, Mitsubishi of Japan, Rohde and Schwarz of Germany and Huawei, etc..
International Exchange
The School, featuring innovative research, has an annual enrolment of 300 undergraduates (including those of Chien-Shiung Wu Advanced Class and Electricity-Major Intensive Training Class), 330 masters’ degree candidates and 60 PhD candidates. During their undergraduate studies, students may participate in the learning exchange program at sister colleges and universities based in the USA, Japan, Singapore, Germany, France, Italy, Taiwan, Hong Kong, among others. Many preeminent foreign professors and experts have been invited to deliver lessons, special lectures and seminars to undergraduate students. The School, encouraging those excellent undergraduate students to publish papers in significant international academic conferences, would fund their academic exchange activities in Europe, America, Japan, Hong Kong and other countries and districts.
Employment and Further Studies
60% of the undergraduates choose to pursue their masters’ degrees, 2/3 of them having furthered their studies in such prestigious universities as Tsinghua University, Peking University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Zhejiang University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University and University of Science and Technology of China, and 1/3 of them having chosen to pursue their masters’ degrees and doctoral degrees in renowned universities in the USA, the UK, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, Singapore, among others.
The School, with emphasis on the teaching of basic theories and professional skills as well as on the improvement of students’ comprehensive quality (innovation ability in particular), has cultivated for China over 10 thousand high-level engineers, technicians and management personnel. Employers need 6 to 8 times the number of graduates every year. All graduates may find jobs in satisfactory institutions or enterprises with a good salary.
Nearly ten thousands of students have graduated from the School, who may conduct teaching and research in the field of communication engineering, signal processing, transmission, switching testing technique, and carry out the development, manufacturing and application of electronic equipment and system, the development and application of computer hardware and network software technology as well as the design and development of the electronic system for security protection. They are mainly employed in the following units: such communication operators as China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, broadcasting and TV system, national defense, bank network system, aviation, aerospace, navigation, energy sources, transportation, electric power, high-tech enterprises, research institutes, as well as colleges and universities. A total of 11 graduates of the School have been elected academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences or the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
