The Department of Vehicle Engineering is attached to the School of Mechanical Engineering, boasting a distinguished full-time faculty of 16 members, including 4 professors and 7 associate professors. Academically led by Professor Yin Guodong, a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, the department also has 3 outstanding talents at the provincial and ministerial levels, such as those supported by the Young Talent Support Program of the China Association for Science and Technology and the "Qing Lan Project" of Jiangsu Province.
Facing the development of intelligent connected new energy vehicle manufacturing and the national economy, the department is rooted in the basic theories of the interdisciplinary vehicle engineering discipline, focuses on the common key foundational technologies of the automotive industry, and relies on the Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Electric Vehicle Equipment. It has forged six distinctive disciplinary research directions: Vehicle Design and Intelligent Structures, Vehicle Power and Electric Drive Technology, Intelligent Chassis and Electronic Control, Autonomous Driving and Smart Mobility, Digital Vehicle and Intelligent Cockpit, and Cross-domain Vehicle Equipment and Collaboration. A sophisticated technical system and R&D platform for advanced system control and three-dimensional safety protection have been established here. The department has taken the lead in winning a Second Prize of the National Technological Invention Award, a First Prize of the Outstanding Scientific Research Achievements Award (Science and Technology) of the Ministry of Education, and a First Prize of the Jiangsu Science and Technology Award. It is dedicated to accelerating the development of intelligent electric vehicles, promoting the transformation and industrial application of scientific research achievements, and making remarkable contributions to the sustainable development of the automotive industry.
With moral education as its fundamental mission, the Department of Vehicle Engineering is committed to cultivating industry leaders in the field of intelligent vehicle engineering. The cultivated talents are equipped with firm ideals and beliefs, noble moral sentiment, strong willpower, solid professional knowledge, profound humanistic accomplishment and outstanding innovative quality, and are competent in system analysis, design, control and testing in the intelligent vehicle engineering field. Over the past five years, students of the department have achieved extraordinary results in various high-level competitions and evaluations, clinching 16 gold awards in prestigious events such as the China International College Students' "Internet+" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition and the World Intelligent Driving Challenge. In addition, 28 students have been honored with distinguished titles including the "Star of Self-improvement of Chinese College Students", "Three Good Students of Jiangsu Province", National Scholarship winner, and author of Excellent Master's and Doctoral Theses.
Research and Academic Directions
● Vehicle Design and Intelligent Materials
Centering on the core performance indicators of intelligent electric vehicles and their key components, such as structural strength, collision impact resistance, vibration and noise reduction, and electromagnetic compatibility, the department conducts systematic and in-depth research on innovative structures, advanced manufacturing processes, new functional materials and optimized design methods, aiming to comprehensively improve the overall performance and operational reliability of vehicles.
● Vehicle Power and Electric Drive Technology
Focusing on the core components of intelligent electric vehicles including power batteries, electric drive systems and electronic control units, the research in this direction mainly involves the durability mechanism and safety behavior mechanism of power batteries, composite power battery system integration, thermal characteristic analysis and regulation, and fault-tolerant control technologies, striving to enhance the energy efficiency, operational safety and service life of vehicle power systems.
● Intelligent Chassis and Electronic Control
This research direction focuses on the chassis design and multi-system cooperative control of intelligent electric vehicles, carrying out in-depth research on steer-by-wire systems, active suspension, electric drive systems, universal chassis architecture, automotive-grade chips, transient handling and stability control, and multi-actuator coordination control, so as to improve the handling performance, driving stability and intelligent control level of vehicle chassis.
● Autonomous Driving and Smart Mobility
Research in autonomous driving and smart mobility focuses on cutting-edge technologies such as all-view environmental perception, self-learning decision-making and control, predictive motion control, personalized driving assistance, vehicle-road-cloud collaborative control, and adaptive scheduling of vehicle clusters. The department is committed to breaking through the key core technologies of autonomous driving and realizing the intelligent and efficient development of urban smart mobility systems.
● Digital Vehicle and Intelligent Cockpit
Centering on the digital transformation of electric vehicles and the innovative development of intelligent cockpits, the department conducts in-depth research on intelligent manufacturing digital twins, driving behavior data mining and analysis, multi-modal human-computer interaction, network security intrusion detection, and the construction of information security protection systems, aiming to build a safer, more intelligent and humanized vehicle digital ecosystem.
● Cross-domain Vehicle Equipment and Collaboration
Focusing on the electrification and intellectualization upgrading of vehicle equipment, this research direction carries out systematic research on new-type vehicle equipment such as flying cars, inspection robots (unmanned ground vehicles/unmanned aerial vehicles), air-ground collaborative operation systems, and digital cloud control platforms, exploring the innovative application of vehicle engineering technology in cross-domain transportation and operation scenarios.
Student Technology Associations
● Southeast University Formula Student Team
Founded in 2013, the Southeast University Formula Student Team has two branches focusing on fuel-powered and pure electric racing cars respectively. It has a team of more than 80 undergraduate and postgraduate members from various departments and schools of the university. Adhering to the spirit of "Great achievements stem from lofty aspirations, and great careers result from diligent efforts", the team has built a passionate and innovative group pursuing speed, passion, excellence and technological breakthroughs. Committed to the innovative technological design of racing cars, the team has achieved key technological breakthroughs in carbon fiber composite monocoque manufacturing, roll and pitch decoupled suspension, and low-drag high-downforce aerodynamic kits around the core themes of vehicle performance optimization, safety improvement, cost control and lightweight design. Up to now, the team has won numerous provincial and national awards, published a number of high-quality academic papers, and obtained more than 40 authorized or pending patents.
● Southeast University Zhishan Intelligent Vehicle Team
Established in 2016, the Southeast University Zhishan Intelligent Vehicle Team currently consists of five professional groups: the Perception Group, Fusion Group, Navigation Group, Planning and Control Group, and Operation Group. All groups coordinate closely and collaborate efficiently to ensure the high-quality and sustainable development of the team. Over the years, the team has achieved outstanding results in various domestic and international top competitions, winning more than 20 international and national awards including the second place in the International Unmanned Intelligent Vehicle Challenge, the Leading Award in the Intelligent Assistance Group of the World Intelligent Driving Challenge, gold awards in both the Extreme Challenge and Intelligent Driving Simulation Competition of the World Intelligent Driving Challenge, the Leading Award in the Intelligent Assistance Group of the China Intelligent Vehicle Competition, and the Grand Slam of gold, silver and bronze awards in the national "Internet+" College Students' Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.
