Tianjin International Engineering Institute (TIEI) is affiliated to Tianjin University (TJU), and also the experimental area of engineering talent cultivation jointly established by Tianjin University, Polytech Nice-Sophia and Polytech Group from France. In 2022, TIEI, Qiushi Honors College andXuanhuai School together established the School of Future Technology of Tianjin University , which represented the successful combination of the advanced experience of French engineer education with emerging engineering education in China to explore the cultivation of engineers to be leaders of future technologies.

The institute located on the two campuses of Tianjin University, Peiyang Park Campus and Weijin Road Campus. Relying on TJU’s strengths in engineering and the educational resources of overseas high-level universities, TIEI integrates itself with the goal of building Tianjin University into world-class university which is “comprehensive, research-oriented, open and international”. TIEI is committed to further promoting Sino-foreign cooperative education, and actively exploring the cultivation mode of international leading talents in engineering at Master’s level. TIEI aims to build an open and international first-class engineering institute, and cultivate international leaders in the engineering field, who meet the needs of China’s social and economic development and drive world progress.

Qiushi Honors College, established by Tianjin University in September 2009, serves as the experimental field” and “experimental center for cultivating outstanding engineers” for TJU to explore the cultivation mode of innovative talents of engineering excellence. To this end, the College has carried out substantial amount of engineering education reform practice, and achieved fruitful results in the exploration of the concept of talent cultivation, talent training mode and engineering education system.

In 2014, Based on the Qiushi College precious experience, Tianjin University has absorbed the cultivation features of French engineers and established Tianjin International Engineering Institute (TIEI) in 2014 in cooperation with Polytech Nice-Sophia (Ecole Polytechnique de l'Université d'Azur). Three initial programs - Building, Electronics and Computer Science - were established .

In 2016, the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China proposed the construction of “Emerging Engineering Education”, in order to meet the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution, deepen the reform of engineering education for the future, and support and lead industrial development.

In 2017, the Ministry of Education held the Seminar on the Construction of Emerging Engineering Education in Tianjin Universities, Tianjin University jointly with advanced engineering colleges in China released the “TJU Action” for the construction of the “Emerging Engineering Education” disciplines. As an important part of the construction of the Emerging Engineering Education, Tianjin University has deepened its cooperation with French engineering education through the promotion of the reform of Emerging Engineering Education at the graduate level. Moreover, TIEI has passed the French CTI certification. At the same time, Qiushi Honors College established the Emerging Engineering Experimental Class of Tianjin University (NXP Class). to introduce the French engineering education model into undergraduate cultivation, which explored the in-depth cooperation between the university and enterprises in the cultivation of engineering talents, laying a solid foundation for the integration of undergraduate and postgraduate education.

In 2019, the Ministry of Education held the “Six Excellence and One Top” Program 2.0 Launch Conference at Tianjin University to promote the construction of “Emerging Engineering Education”. Tianjin University, as a pioneer in China, takes the lead in proposing the “TJU Plan of Emerging Engineering Education”.  Qiushi Honors College and TIEI took the lead in carrying out the practice of “Emerging Engineering Education”, and built the platform of “Future Intelligent Machines and Systems” for undergraduate students and Intelligent Medicine Engineering and Smart Water Engineering specialties for graduated students respectively. The platform and specialties breaks the boundaries between disciplines and schools/colleges, and practices the interdisciplinary education to cultivate future talents, together with the School of Mechanical Engineering, the School of Electrical and Information Engineering, the School of Precision Instrument and Optoelectronics Engineering, the School of Microelectronics, the College of Intelligence and Computing, the School of Mathematics and the School of Environmental Science and Engineerin. In December 2019, TIEI became the first overseas partner of the Polytech Group . In June 2020, TIEI was nominated for the “International Strategy of the Year, Times Higher Education Awards Asia 2020” .

  In 2020. the Ministry of Education issued a notice on the establishing the School of Future Technology as the landing measures of the “Emerging Engineering Education” . In the same year, the Ministry of Education, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the Notice on Ensuring the Construction of the National Energy Storage Technology Innovation Platform for the Integration of Industry and Education in order to meet the energy challenge and the national goal of “Carbon Peaking by 2030 and Carbon Neutral by 2060”. As a pioneer in the construction of the experimental field for engineering education reform and Emerging Engineering Education, Tianjin University organized Qiushi Honors College and TIEI to jointly apply and in 2021, was approved to establish one of the first batch of the 12 Schools of Future Technology in China , and became one of the first three National Energy Storage Technology Innovation Platforms for the Integration of Industry and Education (with the national investment of RMB 150 million to support the construction of the platform). In addition, Qiushi Honors College has been approved to establish the speciality of Energy Storage Science and Engineering. In order to promote the reform of Emerging Engineering Education and explore the integration of undergraduate and postgraduate education for cultivating engineering talents, TIEI has established two interdisciplinary platforms of “Future Intelligent Machines and Systems” and “Energy Storage Science and Engineering”. TIEI serves the development of “Intelligence+ Plan” of the Graduate School of Tianjin University (TJUIP) by establishing the university-level multidisciplinary platforms. Meanwhile, we are also committed to the cultivation of postgraduate students in PhD and Master’s programs in engineering through the cooperation between the university and the enterprises. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of Intelligent Medicine Engineering and Smart Water Engineering, these two specialities are integrated into the multidisciplinary platforms.

In 2022, Tianjin University has decided to establish the School of Future Technology jointly by Qiushi Honors College, TIEI and National-level Innovation and Entrepreneurship College (the former Xuanhuai School of Tianjin University). The structure and functions of the School of Future Technology are shown in Figure A.1.1.c. Currently Qiushi Honors College is responsible for undergraduate education, and TIEI for postgraduate education. It is expected to break the boundary between undergraduate and postgraduate education in the near future in order to realize the integrated engineer cultivation at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Qiushi Honors College provides TIEI with excellent students of even higher level than now, and the National-level Innovation and Entrepreneurship College (the former Xuanhuai School) strives to provide more support for undergraduate and graduate students in innovation and entrepreneurship. The students in the undergraduate program of Energy Storage Science and Engineering and on the postgraduate Energy Storage Platform of the School of Future Technology will be cultivated under the engineering talents education mode in combination with the characteristics of French engineering education through the cooperation between university and enterprises.

The conditions for TIEI have been constantly improved through years of efforts. In 2017, the operation of TIEI was mainly on Weijin Road Campus of Tianjin University, with the relocation to the East Wing of No. 20 Teaching Building on Weijin Road Campus in 2020 . In 2023,  TIEI will move to No. 56 Teaching Building on Peiyang Park Campus . At the same time, students have access to the platforms of National Innovation and Entrepreneurship College (No. 25 Teaching Building on Weijin Road Campus and No. 47 Teaching Building on Peiyang Park Campus) to jointly carry out innovation and entrepreneurship  with enterprises. By then, the total operation area of TIEI is expected to reach 16,000 square meters.