EEE Students Gain On-site Experience in the Field

Eighteen undergraduate students, majoring in Electrical Engineering and Automation (EEA) from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), joined a field trip to Hua-Neng Suzhou Thermal Power Plant in Suzhou this week.

Accompanied by PhD student Ms. Xiaotong Xu and two members of academic staff from EEE, Dr. Jinling Zhang and Dr. Shaofeng Lu, the aim of this field trip was to enable EEA students to gain on-site experience of power generation systems combined with supporting the teaching and learning activities for the Thermal Power Plant Technology module.

A group of engineers from Hua-Neng Suzhou Thermal Power Plant met with the visitors and showed them around the facilities of the plant including the boilers, steam turbines, electric generators and transformers.

During the visit, XJTLU students demonstrated great interest in the power generation systems and the daily life of engineers. Mr. Yaoting Jiang, plant engineers, shared his special experiences as an electrical engineer with students and encouraged them to acquire more practical engineering skills at university. After the visit, one of the students, Mr. Jin Huang said, “It was an absolutely special experience for us. We gained different kind of knowledge from what we learn in books. This will definitely improve our competitiveness in the job market. ”

Dr. Shaofeng Lu also enjoyed the plant visit saying “For our students at EEE, it is very important to acquire more practical electrical and electronic engineering skills in the University. This type of field trip serves as an interesting and cost effective way to let our students get closer to the electrical industry. I look forward to more similar opportunities can be created for our students in future. ”