A teacher at Changzhou University guides students through robot assembly. The university has provided images showing students operating robots. At the Changzhou University Robotics Industry Institute, the concept of "assignments becoming products and classrooms connecting to real-world applications" is a daily reality. Sophomore student Zou Chenji worked in a 45°C textile workshop, transforming a course assignment into a thread-break detection robot. Junior student Shen Fang visited nearly a hundred fishing enthusiasts to develop "Dingbo," an intelligent fishing companion.
Addressing common challenges in traditional engineering education, the institute has adopted "entrepreneurship-driven engineering education" as its core philosophy, forging a new path for cultivating highly capable innovators under the framework of New Engineering Education. "We firmly believe that the best education is not 'taught' in classrooms but 'grown' through solving real-world problems," said Xu Shoukun, Party Secretary of Changzhou University.
The institute has initiated a fundamental shift from "knowledge transfer" to "value creation." "Students in traditional engineering programs often learn fragmented knowledge points without understanding how to integrate them into complete products that solve actual problems. They rarely consider who the technology serves or what value it creates," explained Xu Shuling, Dean of the Robotics Industry Institute. The reform begins at the source of the educational logic—setting "creating valuable products" as a primary goal, seamlessly integrating engineering education with innovation and entrepreneurship.
Mindset transformation marks the starting point of this reform. From their first day, students take courses like "Design Thinking" to break free from the habit of learning technology for its own sake. All practical projects must balance the "technology-business-needs" entrepreneurship triangle and the "quality-cost-schedule" project management triangle.
Curriculum restructuring has directly dismantled traditional disciplinary boundaries. Knowledge points are reorganized around the entire product development process, and assignments are no longer simulation reports or theoretical papers but functional prototypes capable of performing specified tasks.
In January of this year, Shang Linghong, a 2023 graduate, exhibited a "smokeless grill" in the United States, which was recognized as one of the "Top Ten Smart Kitchen Appliances" at the 2026 International Consumer Electronics Show. The product originated from a course project during her senior year, where she identified the pain points of Chinese families who enjoy barbecuing but are concerned about health and smoke. Starting with a prototype, she iterated, secured funding, and launched the product, receiving an additional 20 million yuan in financing late last year.
"Practical training, ecosystem support, and risk tolerance have solidified the implementation of this reform," Xu Shuling noted. The institute has established a progressive project chain covering the entire undergraduate cycle: freshmen start with individual line-following cars to experience multidisciplinary collaboration; intermediate students participate in comprehensive competitions like intelligent logistics robots; seniors directly address real corporate needs. Located within the renowned hard-tech incubator XbotPark's Changzhou base, the institute provides students with on-site engineering guidance, mentorship from entrepreneurial alumni, and full industrial ecosystem support.
The institute is also transforming engineering faculty qualifications. Instead of prioritizing academic publications, it focuses on recruiting educators with practical industry experience. Chen Bingwei, an instructor with over a decade of corporate experience, previously struggled to enter academia due to insufficient publications. "I've managed projects, led teams, and solved countless real-world problems in industry, but my applications went unanswered," he recalled. After joining the institute, Chen quickly became known as "Coach Chen" among students. He helped establish project-based teaching standards, contributed to industry standard formulations, and guided students to win over 40 national competition awards in five years.
The faculty now includes engineers from leading manufacturing firms providing technical guidance, entrepreneurs offering insights into market trends and startup mentoring, and recent PhDs gaining industry experience through corporate placements. Additionally, over a hundred industry experts and technical specialists serve as external mentors, promoting two-way talent flow between the university and enterprises. "We leverage the strengths of different types of instructors," Xu Shuling emphasized.
Evaluation criteria have also shifted, prioritizing teaching outcomes, student competition achievements, entrepreneurial孵化, and technology transfer over publication counts.
"All projects are based on real corporate needs, and evaluations adhere to industry standards. Delivering functional prototypes is our baseline," Xu Shuling stated. Over the past eight years, the institute has maintained an industry-education integration model where "companies pose challenges, teachers and students solve them, and the market evaluates the results," enabling students to develop practical skills under real-world constraints.
Zou Chenji's initial thread-break detection robot achieved a 96% detection rate, but during enterprise验收, he was asked, "With less than 99% accuracy, can you guarantee no errors?" This prompted him to spend over ten days in the sweltering workshop, improving the rate to 99.6%. Just as he thought the project was complete, the company requested longer battery life. "It was frustrating, but I realized I wasn't building a lab toy—it had to be usable," Zou recalled. He optimized the algorithm, reducing power consumption by 30% and extending battery life from 7.3 to 11.5 hours. "Being pushed to iterate repeatedly taught me what it truly means to solve problems," he said.
Today, numerous leading enterprises and tech innovators present real challenges to the institute, turning corporate "micro-projects" into student实践活动. Students' technological achievements are directly implemented in industry, creating a virtuous cycle.