The School of Electronic Information and Communications (EIC) was founded in 1960 as the Department of Radio Engineering of Huazhong Institute of Technology, and was later renamed the Department of Electronics and Information Engineering of the former Huazhong University of Science and Technology. After the merger in May 2000, it became the Department of Electronics and Information Engineering of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST). In November 2014, it was changed to the present name, School of Electronic Information and Communications. EIC possesses great strength in teaching and scientific research, boasting two first-level disciplines (Information and Communication Engineering and Electronic Science and Technology) and postdoctoral research stations with the same names. EIC is among the first group approved to confer doctoral degrees. It is qualified to confer doctoral and master’s degrees in Communication and Information System, Signal and Information Processing, Circuits and Systems, and Electromagnetic Field and Microwave. Communication and Information System, the second-level discipline, is a national key fostering discipline. Information and Communication Engineering and Electronic Science and Technology are both the first-level key disciplines in Hubei Province.

Faculty

There are 158 faculty members in EIC. Of them, there are 122 full-time teachers, including 27 professors and 64 associate professors. A number of famous scholars in China and abroad were invited by EIC as part-time professors or consultant professors, including Zhu Zhongliang, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhong Shan and Zhao Zisen, both are academicians of Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Professor Zhang Kezhao from Iowa State University.

Teaching

EIC now provides three undergraduate programs: Communication Engineering, Electronic and Information Engineering and Electromagnetic Field and Wireless Technology. Of these, Communication Engineering has been awarded the national distinguished program and the representative undergraduate program in Hubei Province. Three courses, including Fundamentals of Electronics, Electronic Circuit Design and Test, and Electronic Circuit of Communication, were awarded the National Quality Course and the National Sharing Quality Course. EIC has won the second prize in the National Teaching Achievement Award three times successively. It boasts the National Instruction Base of Electrotechnics &Electronics (Electronics), and the teaching team from the instruction base is awarded the national outstanding teaching team.

Cultivation of Top Innovative Talents

The cultivation of top innovative talents is one of the education highlights of EIC. The Advanced Class of Information Science in Mathematics and Physics of HUST is under the administration of EIC. In 2001, the Innovation Center of Electrotechnics and Electronics was established; In 2002, Dian, a mentor mechanism-based undergraduate talent training group, was established; In 2006, Undergraduate Program for Advanced Project-based Information Science Education was set up. In 2010, Electronic and Information Engineering program was among the first group approved as the pilot program for national excellent engineer cultivation, which is the demonstration zone of innovative talents training in HUST and among the first group approved as the national experimental zone with innovative training mode. Students of EIC have many opportunities to participate in various scientific and technological activities and international/national competitions. In recent years, undergraduate students of EIC have won more than 30 prizes in various international/national scientific competitions annually, and more than 20 students’ innovation and entrepreneurship projects have been awarded project funds. A number of students have won grand prizes and first prizes in various international and national competitions.

Outstanding Alumni

More than 15,000 undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. students have graduated from EIC so far. Of them, there are a large number of outstanding alumni in various fields, for example, Zhu Zhongliang, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Luo Xiwen, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Huang Xiaoqing, member enrolled in the Recruitment Program of Global Experts / former Dean of Mobile Communications Research Institute, Huang Li, in the Hurun China Rich List released in 2010 and 2014 and Chairman of Wuhan Guide Infrared, Ling Ke, Chairman of Gemdale Group, Lu Ying, Chairman of UT Starcom, Zhang Xiaolong, “Father of Wechat”, founder of Foxmail and Senior Vice-president of Tencent, Zhang Lianglun (in the 2013 Forbes 30 under 30 List) and Ke Zunyao, founders of the Mizhe E-commerce Company.

International Education

International collaboration programs and international student education are also the highlights of EIC education. EIC works in collaboration with the University of Birmingham of the United Kingdom, the Arizona State University of the U.S. and the University of Wollongong of Australia to co-establish China-Britain class, China-US class, China-Australia class, etc (with varying academic-year lengths, such as 2+2, 3+1). Two universities cultivate students jointly, and credits are recognized by two universities. In the national first-level discipline ranking of 2012, the index of “student international exchange” of EIC ranked first. In addition, EIC is the first school in HUST to set up undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs for international students, in which all classes are taught in English. So far, EIC has cultivated more than 1000 international students.

Scientific Research Strength

EIC has been striving for excellence in the research of broadband wireless communications and network, information security and anti-counterfeit, image, graphics and multimedia processing, space navigation and detection, radiation characteristics and electromagnetic target detection, and Internet technology and engineering. In 1996, “EIM-601”, a large-capacity digital SPC exchanges for local use, co-developed by EIC and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation 54th Research Institute won the grand prize in Scientific and Technological Progress Award of the Ministry of Electronics Industry. EIC has won more than 10 awards at provincial level since 2008. A large number of high-level research papers have been published in international journals and at international conferences, including more than 200 SCI papers and more than 400 EI papers. In the national first-level discipline ranking of 2012, the index of “quality of representative academic papers” ranked first. Over 208 patents of EIC have been authorized, and the faculty of EIC also engaged in the formulation of multiple national standards. EIC has been awarded the research funds of over 229 million RMB, of which longitudinal research funding accounts for over 70%.

Scientific Research Platforms

EIC boasts a number of scientific research platforms, including National Anti-counterfeit Engineering Research Center, National Instruction Base of Electrotechnics &Electronics (Electronics), Chinese University Social Sciences Data Center, Internet Technology and Engineering R&D Center, and China International Joint Research Center of Green Communications and Networking. In addition, faculty from EIC also took an active part in the construction of various national and provincial research bases and experiment instruction centers, such as National Engineering Laboratory for Next Generation Internet Access System. Moreover, there are a number of bases and platforms co-established by EIC and corporations in China and abroad, such as TI Associate Laboratory and Xilinx Associate Laboratory. EIC also maintains close cooperation with many universities in various countries and regions, including the U.S., Singapore, Australia, Germany and Hong Kong.

At present, with development as the top priority, discipline construction as the backbone, and research bases as the foundation, EIC is committed to continuously cultivating and recruiting outstanding talents, strengthening basic research and supporting innovative teams. At the same time, EIC also strives to tap its unique potentials for a leapfrog development by deepening comprehensive reform, carrying out scientific and technological innovations and enhancing international cooperation and exchange.