Tongji University in Shanghai yesterday teamed up with Fortune 500 companies to launch the largest collaborative engineering education center in the Asia Pacific region.

 

 

Tongji President Wan Gang (right) shows off the certificate of the Advanced of Collaborative Engineering Education center, which was launched yesterday, as Chen Shi, vice president of General Motors Corp China looks on.

 

The Advanced of Collaborative Engineering Education center, or PACE center, which is part of Tongji's centenary anniversary celebrations, was jointly initiated by General Motors Corp, EDS, Sun Microsystems, UGS PLM Software and Hewlett Packard.

 

The partners are providing design software, hardware and training with a total value of more than US$470 million to the center in Tongji's suburban Jiading campus.

 

Students at Tongji's school of automobile engineering and mechanical engineering will be given access the same auto designs, analysis and manufacturing facilities GM professionals use in the workplace.

 

It is the first time this level of professional auto manufacturing has been integrated into a Chinese university's classroom and lab curriculum.

 

Annual forums, communication networks as well as student competitions will also be arranged for institutes with PACE centers, PACE officials said.

 

"We greatly appreciate the confidence that PACE has shown in Tongji through the PACE center establishment," said Tongji President Wan Gang, who was appointed China's Minister of Science and Technology last month.

 

He added that the center was expected to create a cutting-edge work experience platform for automotive engineering education and enhance communication with international counterparts.

 

Founded by GM in 1999, PACE has set up computer-engineering centers in 40 leading academic institutions in 10 countries around the world to date.

 

The first PACE center in China was set up at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2002.

 

(Shanghai Daily May 11, 2007)