International standards pave way for country's future 'hardcore' engineers

In 1985, the Sino-German College of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology began to cooperate with Germany in many aspects. Based on the Shanghai-Hamburg College established in 1998, SGC has undergone a journey of 25 years and built cooperative relations with four German universities. SGC has set clear educational goals and based itself on Chinese soil to impart virtues, cultivate talents and nurture high-caliber application-oriented personnel with an international vision and innovative ideas. It explores professional standards that are both in line with China's local conditions and international rules.

Quality education

With a focus on foundational knowledge and practical skills, the college's strict quality standards ensure that students master German language skills, which constitute one-third of the curriculum taught by German professors using German-language textbooks.

The curriculum also emphasizes practical training. During the seventh semester, 10 to 15 percent of students are selected to intern at German-based companies.

These internships frequently involve graduation projects and offer first-hand experiences inside the industry, ensuring that students can quickly adapt to the working environment after graduation.

SGC has trained a group of specialized personnel who are fluent in German, possess technical knowledge and are able to engage in cross-cultural communication.

Liu Kun, who graduated from the college in 2004, worked as an on-site German-language interpreter for Schuler, which helped build the SAIC Volkswagen stamping line. Since 2019, he has worked as a quality expert for Huawei's smart car business unit. He believes that the strict German-language training and advanced technical knowledge were beneficial to him.

School-enterprise ties

He Yitian, a graduate of the 2011 class of SGC, completed an internship at the engineering technology center of ZF (China) Investment before graduation. He now serves as the software manager for the transmission and electric drive business at the center.

Like He, a group of graduates have become industry elites and all of them are the results of the school-enterprise cooperation and collaborative education.

The college collaborates closely with German companies operating in China, including Continental, ZF Friedrichshafen, Siemens, Hella and Schneider Electric, establishing co-op programs, internship sites and employment channels.

It has also developed partnerships with organizations such as the German Center, the German Chamber of Commerce, the Hamburg Liaison Office Shanghai and the German Academic Exchange Service to promote international talent development.

Innovation and entrepreneurship

Moreover, the college encourages students to pursue entrepreneurship by guiding them in solving real-world problems in production and scientific research.

One such successful entrepreneur is Chen Mo who graduated from the college in 2005 and founded SIGAS Measurement Engineering Corp in 2010.

Her company's gas analysis system, which was developed with the assistance of a university-mentored R&D team, is highly accurate and portable. SIGAS has achieved significant success after being listed on China's "new third board," a financing platform for small and medium-sized enterprises, in 2015.

In 2022, Zhang Bangsen, a core designer for Xiaoqiu, the world's first industrialized table tennis robot, and a student in the 2018 class of the mechanical manufacturing and automation major at SGC, was awarded the gold prize at the China International College Students' "Internet +" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.

In 2025, SGC, as the first Asian college to pass German ASIIN professional certification, is to undergo a new cycle of evaluations.

Taking this as an opportunity, the college will strengthen the quality system of Sino-German education and bolster high-quality development in international cooperation.

Chen Qi and Xu Fang contributed to this story.