Shijiazhuang Institute of Railway Technology (SIRT), located in Shijiazhuang, the Capital of Hebei Province, is a provincially public full-time ordinary higher education school with fine traditions and is one of national 100 demonstrative higher vocational schools.

SIRT was initiated in September 1950 and its predecessor is Finance & Material Department of Railway Engineering Corps College. Finance & Material Department of Railway Engineering Corps College was incorporated into the Ministry of Railways in January and was changed into Secondary Technical Department of Shijiazhuang Tiedao University In June 1984. In Jan. 1993, it was reconstructed into Shijiazhuang Railway Engineering School. In Jan. 1994, it became independent and was affiliated to China Railway Construction Corporation Limited. In July 2000, its name was changed to Shijiazhuang Vocational College of Railway Engineering and renamed into the current name in Sept. 2003. In Aug. 2005, SIRT was handed over to People’s Government of Hebei Province for administration. At present, SIRT acts as National Excellent Higher Vocational Education School Proposal and Construction Entity of Campaign Program of Higher Vocational Education for Innovative Development (for 2015 – 2018), one of first-batch Pilot Establishments of Modern Apprenticeship of Ministry of Education (MOE), one of first-batch Experimental Schools in Digital Campus Construction among Nationwide Vocational Institutes, one of first-batch Cultural Quality Education Base Construction Entity among National Vocational Institutes, and ICT Faculty Training Base of Cooperative Education by MOE-Xunfang Industry-academy Cooperation. Currently, SIRT is consisted of three campuses, namely Sishuichang Road Campus, Xuefu Road Campus and Beierhuan East Road Campus.

SIRT enrolls students nationwide. Currently, there are over 10,000 full-time undergraduate and junior college students on campus, including 900-odd students in applied undergraduate engineering education pilot classes and 200 students educated under Sino-Russia cooperation. SIRT boasts a powerful faculty, with the proportion of high-level talents ranking leading among nationwide similar schools. There are 293 teachers, including 47 professors, 122 associate professors; 29 doctors; 2 experts enjoying the special allowance of State Council, 1 well-known teacher in National High-level Personnel Special Support Program (“Ten Thousand Talents Program”), 1 state-level well-known teacher, 2 national outstanding scientific and technological professionals, 1 state-level excellent teacher; 2 provincial outstanding experts, 1 expert enjoying the special allowance of Hebei Province, 2 young and mid-aged experts with extraordinary contributions in Hebei Province and 2 young topnotch talents of Hebei Province; 4 provincial well-known teachers, 2 provincial model teachers and 4 provincial outstanding teachers; 25 candidates for “30-300-3000 Talent Program” of Hebei Province in New Century; 1 doctoral tutor and 7 graduate tutors; and 1 national outstanding teaching team and 2 provincial outstanding teaching teams. Therein, there are 44 professors, accounting for 15%.

SIRT sets 12 teaching departments (colleges/sections), including Department of Railway Engineering, Department of Construction, Department of Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography Engineering, Department of Information Engineering, Department of Electric Engineering, Department of Rail Transit (that of Electro-mechanical Engineering), Department of Economic Management, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, International Transportation College, Section of Ideological and Political Theory Teaching and Research, Section of Fundamentals and Section of Physical Education, and 54 majors for enrollment. SIRT has established three R&D centers, i.e. Intelligent Financial Outfit Engineering R&D Center of Hebei Province, Higher Education Schools’ Building Structural Engineering Application Technology R&D Center of Hebei Province and Higher Education Schools’ Rail Transit Control and Management Application Technology R&D Center of Hebei Province, and two engineering technology centers, i.e. High-speed Railway Construction and Safety Engineering Technology Center and Green Intelligence Engineering Technology Center. Since 2011, SIRT has developed the pilot work of applied undergraduate engineering education and actively explored new ways to the cultivation of high-quality, applied and versatile talents.

Led by “Deep Industry-education Integration and Close School-enterprise Cooperation for Construction of Topping Major Clusters”, SIRT roots in Hebei, acts in the industry-oriented manner, actively matches up with regional economic and social development and the Belt and Road Initiative, serves railway transportation, urban rail transit development, modern service industry and other fields. Now, SIRT has formed the professional development layout of dominant majors like railway transportation and civil engineering and construction under characteristic development, newly rising majors like rail transit, electro-mechanics and information engineering under prior development and supporting majors like geodesy, photogrammetry and cartography technology, business administration and arts under innovative development. So far, there has been 1 National Fine Major, 2 State-level Teaching Reform Pilot Majors, 4 Majors under Key Construction in National Demonstrative Schools, 2 Majors Constructed under Support of Central Finance, 5 Demonstrative Majors among Higher Vocational and Technical Colleges of Hebei Province, and 2 provincial pilot majors. SIRT co-establishes International Transportation College with Russian Communications University, with 5 majors offered; and cooperates with Shijiazhuang Tiedao University in operation of 4 pilot majors for applied undergraduate engineering education. Also, there are 5 National Fine Courses and 15 Provincial Fine Courses; 3 Provincial Demonstrative Training Bases; 5 National Fine Resource-sharing Courses and 2 provincial ones. SIRT takes charge of the construction of state-level high-speed railway technology major teaching resource pool and participates in that of 3 state-level major teaching resource pools.

SIRT adheres to the direction of socialist school running, fulfills the Party’s and national policies for education comprehensively, stands on the basis of morality education, carries forward the Railway Corps’ Spirit of “Being Hardworking, Striving and Ambitious”, keeps on industry-education integration, school-enterprise cooperation, working-learning combination and knowledge and practice unity; upholds the school-running tenet of “Serving Hebei by Being Locality-oriented and Serving Railway by Being Industry-oriented”; persists in the cultivation philosophy of “Giving Priority to Morality Education, Laying Emphasis on Capability, Enabling All-inclusive Development and Striving for Success of Everyone”; and with students as center and capability as standard, innovates the cultural cultivation system of “Military Spirit, Railway Spirit and Yanzhao Spirit” and the technical and skillful talent cultivation approach of “three-access and three-invitation (specifically speaking, to allow teachers to access to enterprises, projects and positions for the sake of serving enterprises and enhancing technical and skill accumulation; and to invite enterprise management, project technicians, masters of corresponding positions to lecture on corporate culture, professional ethnics, techniques and skill)”, vigorously explores “New Routes for Development of Demonstrative Schools after Embedded School-enterprise Cooperation” and cultivates a wealth of technical and skillful talents with international horizon. In recent years, SIRT has been awarded 1 First Prize and 1 Second Prize in National Teaching Achievements Award; 3 First Prizes, 4 Second Prizes and 8 Third Prizes in Higher Education Teaching Achievements Award of Hebei Province and 1 Third Prize in First State Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography Administration Teaching Achievements Award. SIRT witnesses that 100% students of key majors succeed in obtaining “Double Certificates” and annually over 96% of them in landing jobs. Therefore, thanks to high employment rate and high-quality employment, SIRT won honors like First “Star-rated Demonstrative School among National Higher Vocational and Technical Schools for Employment” and “Demonstrative School with Employment Competitiveness among Nationwide Vocational Institutes”. SIRT has been appraised as “Demonstrative School of Integrity in National Transportation Construction Industry” for running four years from 2014 to 2017. In recent years, students participating in various skill competitions and innovation and start-up contests have achieved 2 Special Prizes, 12 First Prizes and 20-odd Second Prizes at state, provincial and ministerial levels. The student delegation once won “HEP Cup”, National Top Prize, of Group B in China Undergraduate Mathematical Contest in Modeling (CUMCM). TAO Mengyuan was titled as Top-10 National Final in 2013 “Star of Outlook” English Talent Competition and elected Promotion Ambassador of 2014 “Star of Outlook” English Talent Competition (Hebei Region).

With adherence to the development road of “Strengthening SIRT with Talents, Establishing SIRT with Characteristics and Prospering SIRT with Service”, SIRT is active in developing key problem tackling and technology service. In recent five years, SIRT has undertaken National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program), National Scientific and Technological Support Program, Humanities and Social Sciences Fund Program of the Ministry of Education, Key Scientific and Technological Support Program of Hebei Province, Natural Science Fund Program of Hebei Province and so on. In construction of state and provincial key projects, SIRT has accumulatively completed 300-odd technology R&D projects and developed 28 technology service projects for fellow enterprises in industries. Currently, SIRT has entered into the obit of teaching, research and technology service in mutual promotion and sound development. SIRT has successively won Science Prize of Hebei Province for twice, Scientific Progress Prize of Hebei Province for 4 times, 2 Second Prizes in Science and Technology Award of China Railway Society and 1 Third Prize for Scientific Progress Prize of Chinese Society for Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography (CSGPC). SIRT has had over 1,000 theses published in all kinds of publications at all levels nationwide, including 235 theses searched by SCI, EI and ISTP, and more than 100 monographs and textbooks.

Ever since engaging in running higher vocational education, SIRT has delivered more than 40,000 high-quality technical and skillful talents for the Party, the country and economic and social development, who scatter in domestic 131,000km railway, 46 urban subways and numerous overseas engineering projects. They practice the culture of “Military Spirit, Railway Spirit and Yanzhao Spirit” in their positions, establish themselves in grassroots, dedicate themselves to business and make contributions, honored as “Young People Raising Rainbow”. Outstanding alumni and alumna include LI Jingchao and YANG Dawei, who were interviewed by General Secretary HU Jintao and Premier WEN Jiabao amicably; MIAO Chungang, who was interviewed by General Secretary XI Jinping during the Spring Festival of 2013; YONG Ru and MENG Rong, whose meritorious deeds were aired in news of CCTV; CAO Zhanwei, who won the First Prize in the Fifth National Railway Industry Skill Competition and was titled as Top-10 “Western Railway Model” of Year 2017; and ZHAN Xiaoli, who was awarded “National May-1 Labor Medal” of Year 2018 and honored as “Guardian of High-speed Railway in New Era”.

Now, SIRT acts as Vice Chairman of Rail Transit Council of The Chinese Society of Vocational and Technical Education, President of Hebei Provincial Association for Artificial Intelligence, Initiator of Hebei Civil Construction Vocational Education Group, Managing Director of Beijing Human Resources Service Vocational Education Group, Member of International Association of Transport Universities of Eurasian Countries and Member of China-ASEAN Rail Transit Education and Training Association.

So far, SIRT has grown into a regionally leading and domestically prestigious demonstrative higher vocational technical institute, honored as “the Cradle of Innovative Technical and Skillful Talents for Chinese Railway”.