On June 18, Queen Mary Engineering School (QMES), and HNA Aviation Technic Co., Ltd. (HNA Technic) successfully signed a talent development cooperation agreement and held a formal inauguration ceremony for a new training and internship base. The event was attended by Wang Yongxin, Vice Dean of QMES, and Zhang Jian, Secretary of the HNA Technic Party Committee, along with ten other participants.
On June 25, Xinhuanet reported on the inauguration ceremony of the new training and internship base between NPU and HNA Technic.
Background to the Collaboration
To better understand the needs of the company, an earlier delegation from NPU, including Wan Xiaopeng, former Deputy Secretary of the NPU Party Committee and Party Working Committee Secretary of the Taicang Campus and Director of the Management Committee, and Fan Xiaoli, Dean of QMES, visited HNA Technic for an inspection and exchange. The team visited the frontlines of HNA Technic, including the one-stop aircraft maintenance base and the Grand China Aircraft Maintenance Hangar, gaining detailed insights into the company's situation, technical requirements, and talent standards. During this visit, NPU and HNA Technic held a special discussion on university-enterprise cooperation. Through these discussions, both parties reached a preliminary consensus on talent development goals, curriculum design, and internship arrangements, laying a solid foundation for future collaboration.
Following the conclusion of the discussions, HNA Technic swiftly responded by developing a tailored curriculum to meet the education needs of QMES. To ensure the practicality and relevance of the courses, HNA Technic invited experts and engineers to participate in the course design. The result was a bespoke two-day programme, delivered on a small scale, that not only covered the professional knowledge required for QMES students’ internships but also emphasized fostering patriotism, professional ethics, global perspectives, and innovative capability.
Following a rigorous selection process from February 1st to 2nd, 2024, the first 20 students from QMES arrived at HNA Technic in Haikou, Hainan Province, for practical training by aircraft maintenance engineers. The engineers from HNA Technic gave the students a comprehensive overview of civil aviation maintenance, detailing the characteristics and basic knowledge of various aircraft models, including Boeing and Airbus. Key aspects covered included aircraft component maintenance, composite material repair, and accessory servicing, alongside insights into industry characteristics and future development trends.
Deepening of Cooperation
On June 18, 2024, building on prior research and course pilot programmes, QMES and HNA Technic officially signed a talent development cooperation agreement and inaugurated the NPU-HNA Technic Internship and Practice Base. This partnership aims to jointly cultivate high-quality, application-oriented professionals urgently needed in the industry. The base will support the training of QMES students, with both parties collaborating on technology development, teaching reform, and textbook preparation, and serving as a teaching resource for students and technical staff.
At the unveiling ceremony, Wang Yongxin, Vice Dean of QMES, and Zhang Jian, Secretary of the HNA Technic Party Committee, delivered speeches highlighting the significance of the partnership. Wang Yongxin reviewed the training activities from February, noting, “This collaboration effectively merges production practice with real-world applications, enhancing students’ problem-solving skills. In future engagements, we will invite HNA Technic to recruit outstanding talents from QMES and collaborate on research projects to tackle industry challenges.” Zhang Jian then provided an overview of HNA Technic and discussed its current recruitment situation, stating, “With many alumni from NPU, this partnership marks a promising beginning, facilitating the recruitment of high-quality talent and advancing domestic technology to overcome foreign monopolies.” During the gift exchange, Wang Yongxin shared the story of the “He Zun” and the spirit of “Serving the Nation Anonymously” from NPU.
On June 25, 2024, 236 undergraduates in four batches was sent for an cognition practice at HNA Technic’s Xi’an base. Moving forward, QMES will continue to deepen this collaboration by sending students to HNA Technic. This initiative aims to immerse students in frontline production, engage them in relevant technical work, and lay a solid foundation for their professional careers.
This collaboration represents a significant initiative by QMES to deepen school-enterprise partnerships and is a key effort in joint training with leading enterprises to cultivate application-oriented talents. It marks a major achievement in advancing educational reform and enhancing institutional standards, promising to produce more “chief engineer-type” talents who meet the demands of the new era. By working closely with enterprises, QMES can better understand their needs, adjust curricula promptly, and improve the quality of education. Through internships, students can apply theoretical knowledge in practical settings, achieving a synthesis of theory and practice, enhancing their problem-solving abilities, and fostering an engineering mindset. Looking ahead, QMES will continue to explore new models and approaches, deepen its collaboration with enterprises, and focus on national and industry needs to cultivate more high-quality application-oriented professionals, thereby supporting NPU in achieving its “127” development goals.
(Text: Ding Jing; Photo: Ding Jing; Edit: Tang Yinwen; Translate: Shen Xinyi; Review: Wang Yongxin)
