On January 10, 2019, Xinya College held theFifthSeminar onTalentCultivation,Education andTeaching in the main building of Tsinghua University. This seminarfocused on the education and teachingworkofXinya’sinterdiscipline “Creative Design and Intelligent Engineering” (CDIE). The meeting was attended byPeng Gang, Assistant to the President and Director of the Academic Affairs Office, Su Peng, Deputy Director of the Academic Affairs Office, over 10 CDIE teachers fromDepartment of Automation, Academy of Arts & Design, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Engineering Mechanics, as well as all members of College Affairs Committee. The seminar was chaired byGanYang, Dean of Xinya College.

At the beginning of the meeting, Peng Gang, on behalf of theuniversity and the Academic Affairs Division, thanked Xinya College on which CDIE relies, and Xu Yingqing, Zhang Changshui,Ji Linhongand many other teachersfor their efforts. Mr. Peng pointed out that Xinya College and CDIE are of great significance to the cultivation of undergraduate talents in Tsinghua University. Xinya College is an important measure in education and teaching reform sinceitscomprehensive reform. General educationis of irreplaceable significanceto the development of young students’ values and personalities. As an interdiscipline based on general education, CDIE has very distinctive Tsinghua characteristics. The emergence of this new interdiscipline must be based on a strong team ofteachers in engineering and arts subjects and the foundation of Xinya’s liberal arts and general education. Peng Gang said that, in the future, the Academic Affairs Division willgive greatersupportforthe education and teaching of CDIE as always.As a “special zone”of Tsinghua University, Xinya College has uniqueadvantages on the one hand,however, on the other hand XinyaCollege does not have some of the most fundamental resourcesthat other independentcolleges and departments have.Under such conditions, it is not easy for Xinya College to explore a new way to cultivate talents.

Then, on behalf of the Academic Affairs Office of Tsinghua University, Mr. Peng Gang presented Mr.Ma Sai withthe letter of appointment as “Creative Design and Intelligent Engineering (CDIE)UndergraduateInterdisciplinary Talent Training ProgramLeader”. It was announced in the Seminar to set up theCreative Design and Intelligent Engineering (CDIE)Sub-Committee of Teaching Steering Committee of Xinya College, Tsinghua University with Ma Sai as the Director andXu Yingqing, Zhang Changshui, Ji Linhong, Zhang Lei, Wang Hong, Ruan Dong and Cao Li as committeemembers.

Subsequently, the teachers introduced and summarized the development of CDIE courses. WangHong and YeZhaohui are two famous teachers from Department of Automation. Ms.Yementioned that her course“Fundamentals of Analogy Electron Technique” is difficultfor students. She highly affirmed the learning attitude of CDIE students, and pointed out that CDIE students are generally introverted and not active enough in class. Wang Hong said frankly that dueto the relatively short time of subject infiltration, CDIE students have a poor foundation in “electricity”. Ms. Wang also pointed out that, the teaching contents ofFundamentals of Digital Electronic Technology andCourse Exercise in Electronic Technologyfor CDIEhave a large span, and this idea can also be used for reference in the teaching of Department of Automation, because in the process of abstraction, some irrelevancies will be removed, and those core laws will be taught to students. Ms. Wang Hong has repeatedly stressed thatshe hopes that the “physicalstress”of various disciplines can produce “chemical reactions” on students.

As one of the leaders of CDIE, Zhang Changshui introduced the famous “electronicsteachinggroup” oftheDepartment of Automation intoXinya’sCDIE.

Zhao Jingshan, Mou Peng and Li Xiaoyan from Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Engineering Mechanics mentioned that CDIE students in Xinya College have better mathematical foundation andgood understanding, and in terms ofthe examination results, their average scores were higher than that ofstudents inordinary classes in engineering departmentsof the sameperiod while introducing their respective courses. Although they have taught these courses for many times in their respective professional departments, how to adjust and optimize these courses according to characteristics of CDIE students is a bigchallenge for the teachers.

As the lecturer ofFundamentals of Mechanical Design, Zhao Jingshan said that the course requirements are stricter for CDIE students than students ofDepartment of Mechanical Engineering. FacingCDIE students who are good at thinking and asking questions, teachersare very cautious, and feel like walking on thin ice.

As the lecturer ofFundamentals of Engineering Drawing, Mou Peng has taught the course to students ofQian Xuesen Mechanics Class,Mechanical Engineering Experimental Class and CDIE students in Xinya College.

Comparatively speaking, he thinks that CDIE students are characterized bygood understanding and high comprehensive quality.

As the lecturer ofEngineering Mechanics,Li Xiaoyan was deeply impressed byone of CDIE students with full marks in exam,becauseit was the only full mark he had over encountered in his years of teaching.

Ma Sai, Zhang Lei, Fan Yinliang and Shi Danqing from the Academy of Arts & Design shared the teaching situations of their respective courses. As the lecturer ofColor Composition, Ma Sai said thatCDIE students gave him great personal inspiration. Before the class started, he was worried. After all, theyare different from the students of the Academy of Arts & Design, and coloris an abstract expression. In the end, the works presented by CDIE students were much better than he expected. After slowly unloading the burden of portrayingconcrete things, students could find moreself expression ways.

As the lecturer ofGraphic Design Expression,Processes and Methods ofIndustrial Design and other courses, Zhang Lei said that there were a lot of work in his class, but CDIE students did well;although the art foundation of CDIE studentswas not as good as that of the students in the Academy of Arts & Design, all the students worked hard andhe was often surprised by their excellent work.

As the lecturer ofIntroduction toDesignPsychology,Fan Yinliang said that,taking the “pain point” as the breakthrough point, he led the students to complete a series of down-to-earth designs.

Taking his course“New Media Art” and his personal education experience as the example, Shi Danqing said thatin terms of art design, there is no doubt that there is a gap between CDIE students and students from the Academy of Arts & Design, but for CDIE students, “the greatest significance lies in finding the intersectionpoint at which you can be a leaderinthe future, that is, what kind of technology can be combined with what kind of creativity. You don’t have to do the final design and write the final algorithm, but you must be able tofind the connection, combine these things, and then let it play a bigger role exponentially. This is the significance ofcombining art and technology”.

Another twoacademic leaders of CDIE,Xu Yingqing and Ji Linhong outlined the essential points. Mr. Ji briefly introduced the course “Enterprise Practice (1)” of CDIE, and said that in the process of this open enterprise practice, the students experienced aself-challengingtraining. Both he and Xu Yingqing insisted that students face the challenges of contacting enterprises and accepting interviews with enterprises etc. by themselves. Most students took the first step of challenging themselves and exploring unknown environment, which laid a foundation for facing greater challenges in the future. Mr. Ji pointed out that the students have great potential for development, which can be further exploited. Although many students had only worked in enterprises for four to six weeks, they had learned many new technologies and mastered some new tools in a short timeas required by enterprises, and had well completed the tasks assigned by enterprises. Some studentsdid very well and completed the tasks that sophomores are unlikely to complete. Meanwhile,Mr. Ji also said that, further explorationshould be made in the evaluation mechanism and sustainability of curriculum.

Xu Yingqing briefly introduced the teaching content of the course “Comprehensive Modeling Basis” and shared his thoughts onthe cultivation of CDIE talents.

First of all,to master a solid basic knowledge of art and design. Secondly, tocultivate practical ability and innovative spirit.

There should be normal and evenheated academic debates between teachers and students.

To carry forward team spirit whileemphasizing personalitydevelopment

Totake time to think and don’t get stuck in the subject.

For subject research or personal development, it is necessary to set short-term goals and long-term prospects.

Tothink about the relationship between concentration andpenetration.

Todo great things and do practical things. What aregreat things?Itis to reach the limit within your ability. Everyone’s “great things” are different.

To play WeChatAppless and readbooksmore.

Totake part in the competition prudently.

Toattend academic conferences, take part in an internship, andtake a trip.

To start trying to writeacademic papers. Don’t have to publish the papers, but have to learnscientific writing.

Tohave the consciousness of designing patent and turnthe thoughts into intellectual property rights.

After a brief summarymadeby Dean Gan Yang, theFifthSeminar onTalent Cultivation,Education andTeaching of Xinya College came to an end.