The College of Engineering held a welcome ceremony for the freshers of 2014 on Sunday, September 14th. The ceremony, taking place in the Sunny Hall of Yingjie Exchange Center, got together many of the College of Engineering (COE) administrative leaders, department chairs, faculty members, office staff and senior students, to meet with the new entrants, a total of over  300, including 139 undergraduates, 96 master and 138 Ph.D. students.

“I’d like to warmly welcome you to this booming college, which has been growing remarkably since its re-establishment nine years ago,” Professor Dongxiao Zhang, dean of COE, addressed them before making a brief introduction of COE, “COE has been able to commit itself to future directions of engineering science and advanced technology and devoted to cultivating outstanding engineering talents. In the past several years, it has made an outstanding profile in engineering science education and research, and created lots of opportunities for students to have international exchange. I hope you will make full use of the facilities here to achieve substantial self-development during your stay.”

COE alumnus Yawei Sun (1979’), now technical director of Corning (Shanghai) Management Co., Ltd., delivered an inspiring speech to the young generation. He shared his ten years’ study experience at Peking University, and pointed out that achieving goals need unremitting efforts. He congratulated the freshers and also asked them to cherish their time in college.

Teacher representative Dingguo Xia, professor in the Department of Energy and Resources  Engineering, reminded the new entrants of the importance of forming good academic habits from the beginning. He represented all the COE teachers to make a promise to serve as the students’ strong supporter in their college life.

Senior student representative Ying’nan Mei, freshman representative Ziyan Zhou and first-year graduate student Yuting Fen also shared their stories and aspirations on the ceremony.

In particular, 2014 marks the first year of the enrollment of student pilots from the air force. This year, 21 student pilots have joined the College of Engineering, who will attended classes at Peking University and receive a Bachelor’s Degree.