Wuhan Institute of Technology , originally named as Hubei Petrochemical Institute was under the administration of Hubei Province when it was established in June 1972 . It was renamed to Wuhan Institute of Chemical Technology (WICT) and was put under the administration of the former Ministry of Chemical Industry of the Central Government in March 1980 with the permission of the former Ministry of Education . As a result of the readjustment of the management system for colleges in July 1998, WICT has been put under the joint administration of central and local authorities with the stress on the latter. The university was renamed as Wuhan Institute of Technology ( WIT) with the approval of the Ministry of Education and Hubei Provincial Government in February 2006. In November the same year, WIT received the national evaluation launched by the Ministry of Education of China ，on undergraduate teaching quality and WIT won an A , the top grade of the evaluation. After 37 years’ endeavor, the university has become a multi-disciplinary university with its own characteristics, fine teaching environment, and advanced research level.
WIT offers different academic programmes to three levels of students including undergraduates, postgraduates, and junior college students who come from 30 provinces , autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government . Presently, there are more than 18,318 full-time students in the university, among whom there are 1,084 postgraduates, 15,363 undergraduates, 1,419 junior college students(students having adult education). Upon their successful completion of schooling , the students are awarded bachelor’s degree or master degree and corresponding diplomas.
There are 14 subordinate schools, one department and one research institute and one independent( attached) college. There are 48 specialties classified into 6 categories, namely engineering, science, management, economics, arts and law, with engineering, management and science as the key disciplines, all of which cover more than 3 subordinate disciplines. Wuhan Institute of Technology boasts 1 national level excellent course, 1 national level distinguishing specialty, 6 Hubei Provincial-level brand specialties , 15 provincial-level key disciplines; among those, 11 specialties have been appraised as Chutian Scholar Disciplines by the provincial government( these disciplines have the right to employ scholars around the world ,which is financially sponsored by the local government). The university also has 24 master degree programs and 5 doctorate degree programmes co-offered with other research institutes and universities , granted by Hubei province.
Now the university has 1793 faculty and staff, among them, there are 1115 teachers and scientific researchers, 530 persons have senior professional titles, 134 professors. There are 964 full-time teachers, of whom 46.5% have senior professional titles. Among them there are 134 professors, 317 associate professors, 167 doctors of philosophy which accounts for 17.3% of the total teaching staff , 521 masters of science and arts, 69.7% of the total number of teachers. Among the teachers, one has been selected into the list of the National Project : “Thousands of Talents”; one has obtained the national outstanding youth fund for science; 2 have been selected as candidates of Talent Project of New Century of the Ministry of Education of China, 29 have been chosen as Hubei High-level Talents of the New Century ; 2 as Famous Teachers of Hubei Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs), 5 outstanding teachers above provincial level; 40 teachers enjoy the State Department’s allowance and Provincial government’s allowance; 17 middle-aged and young experts have made outstanding contributions to the provincial level; One is the receiver of Outstanding Youth Fund of the Ministry of Education of China; 6 professors are specially employed as “Chutian Scholar project ” professors, and 1 “Chutian Scholar”.
In order to optimize the structure of the faculty and improve the quality of research and teaching , WIT has employed 8 professors from abroad as special guest professors of “WIT Scholar Project”，offered the positions of “ WIT Talents” to 5 professors. There established 16 undergraduate teaching teams, 8 scientific research teams, and 5 academic innovation teams . In addition, the university has invited 83 famous experts and scholars from home and abroad to be honorary or guest professors, among whom 10 are academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Sciences in other countries.
Wuhan Institute of Technology has two campuses: Wuchang and Liufang , and covers 1527mu(252acre), with the constructive area of school building of 74,000 square meters and a fixed asset of RMB790 million yuan. There are 3 400-meter standard fields and track playground, 2 standard swimming pools, 68 playgrounds including basketball, volleyball, badminton and tennis, 50 multimedia classrooms, 17 language laboratories, and 49 teaching-based laboratories. The total value of teaching equipment is worth RMB114 million yuan. The library in WIT, crowned as “the Prominent Library” in the colleges and universities of Hubei and “Document Collection Unit at Research Level of Hubei Province”. preserves all types of books ,all kinds of publications and electronic publications up to 1,18 million volumes and 370,000 volumes respectively.
The university has a research team, full-time and part-time, which is competent efficient and constructive. It has set up a research and design institute with the functions of technology development, engineering design, intelligence and information, analysis of test, 2 key provincial labs, one key research center for social and human sciences, and 16 provincial engineering centers (bases). WIT is qualified for B-Level chemical engineering design, A2 D1 D2 serial Pressure Container design, A-Level Consultation for Chemical Engineering Industry, B-Level unit of assessment of geo hazard prevention and protection, B-Level unit for geo hazard investigation and prospecting, B-Level unit of environment assessment of the Environmental Protection Administration of China, C-Level project design qualification for pollution prevention and control, and C-Level qualification for construction project. Wuhan Institute is also an authorized as Hubei Provincial Information Center of Science and Technology of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Hubei Provincial Quality Supervision and Testing Center for chemical/ petrochemical products .
In recent years, the university has undertaken 2200 various research projects, of which 59 are at national level, 426 at provincial level. The University has won 39 awards of all kinds of technology achievements, among which, one national second-prize award for scientific and technological progress and one national second-prize award for technique invention, 24 provincial awards for natural science, technique invention or scientific and technological progress, 9 provincial teaching achievement awards, and 4 other provincial awards. In recent three years, the scientific funds raised amounts to RMB105 million yuan. The scientific fund and the rising speed both ranked at the top of the provincial Higher institutions. The University Robot Soccer Team has won 6 gold medals in the World Robot Soccer Competitions successively in the past 6 years. More than 5,000 academic papers are published on all kinds of academic journals domestic or abroad and over 600 papers are collected by SCI, EI, ISTP, four most famous international search tools. WIT also has its own publications: Journal Of Wuhan Institute of Technology, and Journal of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and some other science and technology core journals.
WIT attaches great importance to cooperation and exchange with foreign higher education institutions and corporations. The university has established close cooperative relationship with USA MU-Columbia , Alberta University , University of Ottawa, University Paris 13, etc. A large number of experts, scholars and professors have been invited to have come to our university to visit and to do research. As an exchange, WIT has sent 165 teachers to higher education institutions and research institutes of 24 countries and regions to further study , to receive special training or attend international conferences, to visit and to cooperate in scientific research. In recent years, WIT has signed 13 project agreements with foreign counterparts.
Besides, the university has also established close relationship of cooperation with other universities and institutes in China, such as Chinese Academy of Sciences, Northeastern University, Tianjin University, and Zhongnan University. with the joint efforts of these universities or institutes ,WIT offer doctorate programmes.
Moreover, a board of 129 large and medium-sized enterprises has been set up, with the anticipation of agreements on joint development, talent fostering, technology development and employee training .The system of mutual participation, mutual service and mutual benefits has been established, thereupon formed an open-to-society university . WIT sticks to quality, science and technology, talents, specialty and coordination; and always abides by the principles of quality education and talent cultivation by enhancing foundations, broadening channels, stressing practice and developing abilities. Effective measures have been taken in the past to ensure the quality of talent cultivation and great achievements have been made in this regard. Since the founding of the university, it has turned out more than 40,000 graduates for government offices and enterprises, many of whom become backbones in different fields. Just take the industries of chemistry and medicine of Hubei province as an example, among 80 large and medium- sized chemical plants and pharmaceutical enterprises whose industrial output value exceeds RMB100million yuan per year, nearly 70% of the leaders graduated from our university. In recent three years, students of WIT have earned 146 prizes and awards in various national contests and 198 in provincial competitions such as national mathematical modeling contest of college students, national electronic design contest of college students, national college English contest and other competitions like Serial Competitions of “ Cup Challenges” in scientific and technological works, career planning, scientific innovation , etc. Among all these prizes and awards, WIT especially takes pride in the prize of China’s Teen-ager Scientific Innovation, the first prize won in the national “ Cup Challenges” college students’ scientific and technological works, and the first prize in the national mathematical modeling contest of college students.
The university also maintains that moral education takes priority in nurturing young people, so it focuses on all kinds of youth volunteer activities and services, which take patriotism as main theme and youth volunteer as the carrier. WIT takes great pride in some excellent students, such as Xu Zhiwei, a hero who sacrificed his own life to save three drowning children. His name and deeds have become well-known all over the country and he was been honored as “ Excellent College Student” by the Ministry of Education of China, “National Excellent Youth League Member” by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, “ Excellent Communist Party Member” by the Party Committee of Hubei Province, and “ A Revolutionary Martyr” by the People’s Government of Hubei Province.
The university has been given high praise and received many awards, such as “Provincial Best civilized Unit”, “Advanced School of Party Building and the Ideological and Political Work of Hubei Province”, “The National Exemplary Worker’s Family”, “Advanced Unit of Afforest ”, “Garden School” and “Safe & Civilized Campus”, etc.
