The Department of Inorganic Non-Metallic Materials Engineering originated from the Department of Resources and Materials Engineering of Xi'an Institute of Geosciences. In 1993, it set up “non-metallic mineral processing and utilization specialty”and began to enroll junior college students; in 1994, it set up undergraduate majors; in 1995, undergraduate students were enrolled as students of “inorganic non-metallic materials engineeringspecialty”; in 1996, the department was renamed to the Materials Department of Xi'an Engineering College; in 2000, after three colleges merging, it was renamed to the Materials Department of Chang'an University; in 2007, after the College of Materials Science and Engineering of Chang'an University was established, it was renamed to the Department of Inorganic Non-Metallic Materials Engineering. Beginning in 2016, undergraduate students were enrolled in the “Materials category”. Aiming at the needs of transportation, civil engineering, construction and other industries, the department carries out teaching and research on non-metallic materials engineering, and has strong scientific research ability in ecological cement-based materials, high-performance road concrete, special ceramic materials, advanced composite materials, material simulation and design, etc.
The department has a complete talent training system from undergraduate, master to doctor. We enroll graduate students in the first-level disciplines of materials science and engineering, Ph.D. students in the second-level disciplines of road science and engineering and mechanical engineering materials, and undergraduate students in inorganic non-metallic materials engineering. The department focuses on the construction of the second-level discipline of Materials. There are over 30% graduates go abroad or admitted as postgraduates for further study every year, and the employment rate remains above 95%. The graduates are widely employed in large enterprises and institutions, well-known companies and research institutes, such as China Construction, China Railway, China Communications, BOE, Midea and Samsung Semiconductor, etc.
The department has 25 faculty members, including 7 professors, 13 associate professors, 1 senior engineer, and 4 lecturers. Among them, 4 members are doctoral supervisors, 18 are master's supervisors, 100% with doctoral degree. 10 people have overseas experience.
The department focuses on international academic exchanges and cooperation. We have established good relationships with well-known universities and research institutions, such as the University of Delaware, the University of Houston and the University of Tennessee in America, the University of Sydney in Australia, and the University of Erlangen-Nuernberg in Germany. Through visiting lectures, cooperative research and training of graduate students, the scientific research level and quality of personnel training have been effectively improved.
The department was supported by the Engineering Research Center of the Ministry of Education and the Material Analysis and Testing Center of Chang'an University. Focusing on the current national economic development and the major demand for national defense and military construction, the Department has formed research majors in high performance cement concrete, special ceramic materials, advanced composite materials, and computational materials, with maintaining the traditional inorganic non-metallic materials, such as cement and ceramics, at the same time. In recent years, the department has hosted or participated in more than 60 projects. The total value of scientific research funds reached more than 10 million RMB. The department has owned 7 provincial and ministerial level scientific and technological progress awards, 3 academic books, 3 school-level teaching achievement awards, and more than 160 national invention patents and utility model patents. More than 30 academic papers were published averagely per year.
