BUAA (Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics)
History of BUAA
The meeting announcing the founding of the Beijing Institute of
Aeronautics (BIA) was held in the auditorium of Beijing Institute of
Technology (formerly Zhongfa University ) on October 25, 1952. Faculty
and students from the aeronautical departments in eight universities
joined to lay the foundations for the new institute, whose chosen site
was in Beiyanzhuang Village , Haidian District, in the western suburb
of Beijing . Construction started on June 1 and over 60,000m2 of
buildings were completed within 6 months. By October some of the
faculty and students were able to start normal work and study. In the
beginning there were only two departments with 4 majors: aeroplane
design and aeroplane technology in the department of aeorplane
engineering, and engine design, engine technology in the department of
aeroplane engine engineering. In May 1988 the Institute changed to its
present name of Beihang University .
BUAA was among the nation' s first 16 key universities back in the
1950' s, and among the top 15 for priority development during China' s
7 th five-year-plan period (1986-1990). During the 8 th five-year-plan
it was listed among the top 14 for priority development, and at the
start of the 9 th five-year-plan BUAA was among the first batch of 15
universities in “project 211 for Higher Education.” As it entered the
new century and millennium, the university was again listed in China' s
Action Plan for the Revitalization of Education in the 21 st Century.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of several generations of people BUAA
has grown into an open, multi-disciplined, research-oriented university
of engineering science and technology with an emphasis on aeronautical
and astronautical engineering. The university now has 40 undergraduate
majors, 65 master programs, and 36 second-level doctorate programs in
2ndlevel disciplines and 12 post-doctorate stations. In 10 disciplines
of the 1 st level BUAA is authorized to confer doctor and master
degrees. BUAA, as a center of both higher education and scientific
research, has become one of the important bases for quality personnel
education and scientific research in China .