A few days ago, School of mechanical engineering of HUAT and Hubei Jiaheng Technology Co., Ltd. established partnership and successfully signed a contract of technology development. This is one of the examples for the school to provide academic guidance and technology support for local economic development.

As a university featuring automotive science and technology as its target of research and education, HUAT has been gaining support from DMF and other related automobile industries in Shiyan, and in the meanwhile providing academic guidance and technology support for local enterprises, automobile industries in Hubei province and even the whole automobile industries in China.

HUAT has a team comprised of professors and experts who have been taking an active part in local economic development. For example, HUAT sets it as a rule that a number of young teachers are sent to work in local enterprises and companies for a year, and that a few teachers with PhD and associate professors are supposed to work as visiting researchers in enterprises so that they can help the enterprises solve some technical problems or develop new products. Some senior professors and prestigious experts also work as counselors in enterprises and companies to provide guidance to the development of strategy of the enterprises and companies.

By May 22nd, the team has solved 6 key technical problems for Hubei Jiaheng Technology Co., Ltd. As Mr. Zhang Youbin, director of science and technology department, said with deeping feeling that as a local university, HUAT should serve for the local economic development, which has become a conscious action for all the departments and faculty.

Since December 2013, when HUAT launched a series of activities called t "centering around DFM to improve teaching and education ideas-HUAT’s tours to DFM and serve for local economy”, President Zhong and his delegation have visited more than 20 enterprises, companies, institutes, etc and held talks and meeting with them about what they need and what HUAT can offer so that HUAT can closely related with local enterprises, companies institutes and government departments.

According to an incomplete statistics, in the past 3 years, HUAT has undertaken more than 240 projects from enterprises, established a strategic alliance with more than 20 enterprises, jointly undertaken more than 10 national projects and more than 10 provincial projects.

In May 2013, a research project entitled "a research on taking advantage of lean enterprise culture to promote the development of automobile parts industries in Hubei province", carried out by Professor Wei Rengan, won the third prize of Hubei development research, which was the first time for scholars of HUAT to win such prizes. “The research offered a new idea for Hubei economy to move a big step forward,” said a director of development and research center of Hubei province.

In recent years, HUAT has been merged into the national and regional innovation system of science and technology, participating in the planning, formulation of northwest of Hubei commercial vehicle parts industry cluster Shiyan city’s "Eleventh Five Year Plan" development plan of science and technology, industrial economic development planning and "Shiyan City automobile Culture Industry Zone project, and etc.

"It is our responsibility to help DFM establish Dongfeng Brand, boost its development and provide service for local economy “which can be achieved only by strengthening cooperation between HUAT and enterprises, jointly advancing the development and research of new technology,” President Zhong Yuning said.