The history of the Department of Automation can be traced back to the industrial automation class we jointly ran with Chengdu Institute of Computer Applications of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1952. The industrial automation class later evolved into the Department of Electrical Machinery of the former Chengdu Institute of Technology and the Department of Computer and Automation Control of the former Chengdu University of Science and Technology. The Department of Automation offers Class I master's degree programs in control science and engineering, full-time professional master's degree programs in control engineering, and undergraduate programs in automation.
After a long period of accumulation and continuous development, the Department of Automation has put together a team of young, middle-aged, and senior teachers who are both experienced and innovative. It currently has more than 20 full-time teachers, including one who is included in Sichuan Province's "Thousand Talent Program," six professors (researchers), more than 10 associate professors (associate researchers), and nearly 10 part-time professors, of whom one is included in the national “Thousand Talent Program for Enterprises" . In recent years, the Department of Automation has undertaken a large amount of teaching and research work and presided over more than 20 projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National High-Tech R&D Program (863 Program),as well as nearly 100 scientific research projects in cooperation with enterprises and institutions. Our research has distinctive features. It covers advanced control theory and applications, image processing and pattern recognition, control of power electronics and electric drives, sensors and intelligent detection technology, special robot research and development, embedded technology, new energy and smart grid control and so on.
The Department of Automation admits about 120 undergraduates and 80 master degree candidates every year. The main undergraduate courses offered under the automation program include automatic control theory, power electronics, AC speed control system, basics in electric motor and driving, power transmission automatic control system, process control and instrumentation, computer control systems, software engineering, sensors and detection technology, operations research and optimization, artificial intelligence and so on. The main hands-on activities include metalworking, basic training in computer application, electronic technology internship, electronic technology curriculum design, professional curriculum design, production internship, experiments with automatic control theory, experiments with power electronic technology, and comprehensive innovation experiments with robots. In recent years, the automation program succeeded in applying for membership of the national "Excellent Engineers Training Program" and established several EETP bases outside of the school, which greatly enriched our students' off-campus engineering practice activities. The Department of Automation has always attached importance to our students' extra-curricular innovation activities and in-discipline competitions. In the past five years, our students won over 50 national and provincial level awards from competition events such as the National Electronics Design Contest for Graduate Students, the National Electronics Design Contest for Undergraduates, the National AB Cup Automation Contest, and the National FIRI Robots Contest.
Our students have a wide array of options when they graduate, and have always been welcomed by employers. They step into society with an employment rate of 97%, which tops the whole university. Over 30% of our students pursue advanced studies after graduation, most of whom are admitted into well-known domestic and foreign universities and research institutes, where they directly do doctoral degrees or master's degrees. Our graduates can engage in research, teaching, system design, product development, hardware & software development, and information management in the fields of control science and engineering and information technology at scientific research institutes, government agencies, design and planning companies, universities and colleges, industrial enterprises, and high-tech enterprises.
