The Department of Civil Engineering was established in 1986 and was one of the first eight departments set up at the founding of Ningbo University. It was aided and constructed by the Department of Civil Engineering of Zhejiang University, with Professor Jiang Zuyin from the latter serving as the first dean. In 1988, the Department of Civil Engineering was renamed as the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering. In 1989, the discipline of "Solid Mechanics and Structural Engineering" jointly established by the Department of Civil Engineering and the Research Center for Mechanics and Materials Science of Ningbo University was designated as a provincial key discipline. Since 1994, the discipline of engineering mechanics (structural engineering) has been listed as a key discipline in Zhejiang Province. In 1998, Engineering Mechanics (Structural Engineering) was approved as a master's degree authorization program and began formal enrollment in 1999. In June 1999, the Basic Laboratory of Civil Engineering and Architecture passed the qualification assessment conducted by the Provincial Education Commission. In April 2000, the School of Architecture and Environment was established, and the Department of Civil Engineering entered a period of rapid development, making significant progress in talent cultivation, professional construction, disciplinary strength, degree programs, and practical experimental platforms.
At present, the department has a total of 65 full-time teachers, of which 66% hold senior professional titles, 77% hold doctoral degrees, and 23 are "double-position teachers". It has formed a teaching staff with reasonable age, education, professional titles, and academic qualifications. In order to meet the development needs of research-oriented universities, the department has established five professional modules: Architectural Structural Engineering, Road and Bridge Engineering, Geotechnical and Underground Structural Engineering, Engineering Management, and Intelligent Construction.
After more than 30 years of development, civil engineering has become a national first-class major, a first-class major and a "13th Five-Year Plan" advantageous major in Zhejiang Province, as well as a brand major in Ningbo City. The level of professional construction and the quality of talent cultivation continue to improve, and the professional ranking has risen to 16.12% nationwide (88/546, four-star major), and passed the national engineering education professional certification in January 2020. The quality of graduates from the department has been highly recognized by the society, with a total of 12 students awarded the "Outstanding Graduate Award of China Civil Engineering Society for Universities" since 2007. Over the past five years, the faculty members of the Department of Civil Engineering have edited or co-edited 8 professional textbooks, secured 4 provincial first-class courses, 2 high-quality online open courses, and undertaken 5 provincial and ministerial education reform projects, as well as over 10 municipal and university-level education reform projects, winning multiple municipal and university-level teaching achievement awards.
The department boasts favorable conditions for experimental teaching, with a laboratory floor area of 3,398 square meters and a practical teaching base area of 1,270 square meters. The total value of equipment exceeds 30 million yuan. The department has two national-level experimental teaching platforms, namely the "National Virtual Simulation Experimental Teaching Center for Civil Engineering" and the "National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center for Civil Engineering", as well as multiple experimental and practical platforms such as the key construction project of the "12th Five-Year Plan" Provincial Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center in Zhejiang Province, the Practical Teaching Base for Zhejiang Provincial University Student Structural Design Competition, and the "Off-campus Practical Teaching Base for Civil Engineering Majors" of Ningbo University. The department also establishes off-campus internship bases in over 60 enterprises, providing an excellent practical teaching platform for talent cultivation.
The department has a first-class discipline in Civil Engineering in Zhejiang Province and a key discipline in Structural Engineering in Ningbo City. The discipline of civil engineering has a first level master's degree program in civil engineering, a master's degree program in civil engineering and water conservancy, and a second level doctoral program in structural engineering and geotechnical mechanics. It also has the Collaborative Innovation Center of Coastal Urban Rail Transit in Zhejiang, Zhejiang-Canada Joint Laboratory of Sustainable Urban Drainage, the Ningbo Key Laboratory of Structural Engineering (Fire), and the Ningbo Key Laboratory of Energy Underground Structures.
In the past five years, the faculty members of the department have secured one National Science and Technology Support Program project, over 40 projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, more than 60 provincial and ministerial projects, and over 50 municipal projects, with an average annual research funding exceeding 20 million yuan. We have published nearly 500 high-level academic papers of various types, obtained over 40 authorized invention patents, and won more than 20 provincial and municipal-level science and technology progress awards.
With the advancement of Ningbo University's "Double First-Class" initiative and as a key construction university in Zhejiang Province, the Department of Civil Engineering will focus on the first-class discipline of "Mechanics", integrating and leveraging its own advantages to achieve new breakthroughs in professional development and academic strength!