Seminar on SIAE Exchange Teachers' Experience in France

Time flies, and one year has passed in the blink of an eye. Two teachers, Mr. Yang Xudong and Mrs. Hu Yanmin, who were sent to France for exchanges by SIAE, have recently returned to China. For the purpose of strengthening the students’ understanding of their major and the understanding of the engineering educational system, on Tuesday (April 26th) the two teachers held lectures in SIAE Room 101 to share their knowledge and insights about their stay in France. SIAE 2014-grade and 2015-grade students attended the lecture.

The lecture was first given by Mr. Yang Xudong, a teacher in the structure and material direction and he shared his experience in SUPAERO. SUPAERO (ISAE-SUPAERO) is located in Toulouse, France's fourth largest city, known as the "City of Roses" and the center of European aerospace industry. It is one of the most prestigious engineering schools in France. It boasted of well-known alumni such as the founder of Dassault, the father of MiG, the parent of the European Airbus program and the current chairman of Safran. After briefly introducing SUPAERO's educational system and the campus, Mr. Yang Xudong introduced to the students in detail about the laboratory he worked in as well as the faculty, and compared it with Sino-European Institute of Aviation Engineering from some aspects. He mentioned that much SUPAERO laboratory equipment is designed by the school according to their needs. On top of that, many professors take part in several positions and are engage in active academic exchanges. Thanks to school-enterprise cooperation, the transformation and application of scientific research results enjoy a rapid progress. Finally, Mr. Yang Xinsheng told the students that there is great pressure in SUPAERO's study life, but Chinese students, especially those from SIAE, can adapt themselves quickly and perform well. The spirit of their dedication should be learned from. Meanwhile, Mr. Yang urged the students to apply the high standards of engineers to themselves, to improve their capacity of coping with stress, so as to prepare for future study and work.

Subsequently, Mrs. Hu Yanmin, the teacher of preparatory physics course, described her own exchange experience in Lycee Bellevue with relaxed style. Lycee Bellevue is one of the four preparatory schools in Toulouse and is currently ranked second. Mrs. Hu Yanmin firstly described her experience in Toulouse for a year and her daily work and lifestyle. The students listened with great interest. Afterwards, from the teacher's point of view, Mrs. Hu Yanmin described the characters in French preparatory school. Aside from the equally full timetable and high-pressure learning and living, she also compared the similarities and differences in terms of teaching between SIAE and French preparatory schools. In addition to TD, DS and students' innovation research projects, Mrs. Hu Yanmin also introduced the ADS (Science and Technology Literature Review, an examination that requires the students to give a speech on their own scientific literature as a test of their own understanding of what they have learned). In the end, Mrs. Hu Yanmin offered a few suggestions on how to learn the preparatory courses through his exchange experience in France. She urged the students to lay a solid foundation and correct their attitude. At the same time, Mrs. Hu also mentioned that the four students selected by Sino-European Institute of Aviation Engineering to study in France were all academically outstanding, and appreciated by the French teachers. The students were also proud of them and inspired by them.

This lecture not only provided valuable opportunities for exchanges between teachers and students, enabling both teachers to share their own exchanges with France, but also enabled the students to have a more comprehensive understanding of preparatory and engineering studies. Furthermore, they have also achieved the understanding of the educational and living conditions of the French preparatory and engineering students, via which they will be further motivated for the study of next semester.