Established in 2003, the School of Garment and Art Engineering (hereinafter referred to as the School) is one of the important bases for the cultivation of high-level textile and apparel talents and scientific and technological innovation in Fujian Province. Boasting strong faculty strength, the School is the leading unit of “Teaching Alliance of Application-Oriented Undergraduate Textile and Garment Majors in Fujian Province”. Textile Science and Engineering is a first-level key discipline in Fujian Province, and Fashion Design and Engineering a state-level characteristic discipline.
With the disciplines of Textile Science and Engineering and Design as the focus, the School offers three undergraduate majors in textile engineering, fashion design and engineering, and fashion and apparel design. The major of Fashion Design and Engineering was rated as a state-level characteristic discipline in 2010. The discipline of Textile Science and Engineering was rated as a provincial first-level key discipline in 2013, and won the approval of building a provincial key applied discipline in 2017. The Specialty Group of Textile and Apparel was approved as Fujian Model Application Specialty Group in 2018. The major of Textile Engineering, a characteristic major for service industry in the institutions of higher learning in Fujian Province, passed the IEET certification in 2018. In terms of graduate employment, business satisfaction and other indicators, the School ranks among the top in the textile and apparel universities of Fujian Province.
The School has 60 faculty members, including 44 full-time teachers, 4 professors, 19 associate professors, and 12 doctors. The teaching team has 3 Minjiang Scholar Chair Professors such as Wei Qufu and Lin Jiahong, 1 provincial scientific and technological innovation team of “functional textile fiber”, 1 provincial outstanding teacher, 3 provincial teaching teams such as “teaching team of garment art engineering” and 4 provincial outstanding talents in colleges and universities in the new century. The sophisticated teaching team has laid a solid foundation for the cultivation of quality talents.
At present, the School has 4 provincial innovation platforms, namely Fujian Key Laboratory of Novel Functional Textile Fibers and Materials, Fujian (Yao Mu) Academician Expert Workstation, Fujian Technology Development Base for Clothing Industry and Fujian Fashion Creative Design Center, and 2 city-level research centers, serving as good platforms for undergraduate and graduate education.
The School boasts a building area of 12,800 square meters and a total equipment value of more than 34 million yuan. It has established the Fujian Textile and Apparel Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center, which features a complete laboratory system of industrial chain ranging from spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing, printing, clothing to textile and apparel testing, providing students with a comprehensive and experiential practical environment. Besides, the School has established practical education bases in cooperation with more than 20 key enterprises such as Liheng Polyamide Technology and LILANZ, aiming to cultivate high-quality application-oriented talents through industry-education integration.
The School has more than 900 undergraduate students with an increasingly high quality of training. Over the past five years, students have won awards for 137 times, such as the prize at the “Challenge Cup” National College Students’ Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Contest, bronze prize at the 26th China International Young Designers’ Works Contest, and the China Fashion Design New Talent Award. The students have been involved in more than 40 projects of innovation and entrepreneurship training.
Remarkable achievements have been made in discipline construction and teaching research. Textile Science and Engineering is a key discipline in Fujian Province, and Fashion Design and Engineering a state-level characteristic discipline. In the past five years, the School has undertaken 6 provincial and ministerial educational reform projects and won 1 first prize of provincial teaching achievements; established 1 national excellent course, 1 national excellent resource-sharing course, 3 provincial excellent courses, and published 12 monographs and textbooks.
Having gone through more than a decade of development, the discipline of Textile Science and Engineering have proved itself to be characteristic and advantageous in the research directions of functional textile fibers, nanofibers, functional and intelligent clothing, garment ergonomics, and Fujian and Taiwan clothing culture, resulting in a number of achievements with significant economic benefits and social impact. Besides, the School has undertaken 3 national projects, 12 provincial and ministerial projects, more than 50 municipal-level projects, and 35 projects commissioned by enterprises, with a total of more than 15 million yuan in scientific research funding; published more than 300 papers and obtained more than 50 patents.
The School attaches great importance to international exchanges and cooperation. It has established sound relations with the University of Southampton, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Feng Chia University in Taiwan. A large number of undergraduates have been offered opportunities for exchanges abroad. Nearly 100 students of 10 groups have completed exchange studies in Taiwan under the Fujian-Taiwan cooperation and exchanges.
The School plays an active role in serving the society. The Fujian Textile and Apparel Teachers Training Base has trained more than 40 teachers for Fujian colleges and universities. The School has provided training of textile and clothing technology for developing countries since 2011, which has recruited more than 400 trainees. The “Fujian Window Service Platform of Textile and Garment Industrial Cluster” built relying on the School provides thousands of services to the textile and apparel industry every year. The School has also taken the lead in establishing the “Fujian Textile and Garment Teaching Alliance” to promote the development of the textile and apparel education in Fujian Province.
Through years of continuous refining and upgrading, the School has formed an industrial chain discipline cluster that integrates textile materials, textile engineering, clothing engineering, and clothing design, highlighting the characteristics of training high-quality applied innovative talents. The quality of talent training has been well received by all sectors of society, and the social reputation of graduates has been improved year by year.
