In Nanhai District, Foshan, Guangdong Province, engineers at Guangdong Origin Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. are intensifying research on a new generation of five-axis linked laser CNC machine tools. Through a high-power visual camera, Xu Zhiyuan, a 2024 master's student in Optoelectronic Information Engineering from South China Normal University's School of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering, is capturing the spot morphology of laser cutting in real-time while extracting data noise characteristics from the machine's operations. "After a year of hands-on work in the enterprise, I've been following the development of an online monitoring system for laser cutting, striving to tackle frontline technical challenges," Xu said.

Accelerating technological self-reliance and strengthening the foundation of a manufacturing powerhouse urgently requires a corps of engineers who are devoted to the Party and the country, dedicated to their work, possess outstanding technological innovation capabilities, and excel at solving complex engineering problems. Deepening the reform of excellent engineer training has become a crucial issue that talent development efforts must address. In recent years, moving the classroom to the frontline of industry has been Foshan's distinctive approach to cultivating a new generation of outstanding engineers. As one of China's first four National Excellent Engineer Innovation Research Institutes, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Foshan) Advanced Manufacturing National Excellent Engineer Innovation Research Institute (hereinafter referred to as the "Foshan National Innovation Institute") has been exploring a university-enterprise joint training mechanism for engineering master's and doctoral students, covering the entire process from enrollment, training, curriculum, to evaluation. This initiative aims to deepen industry-education integration, cultivate outstanding engineers, and smooth the fast track for talent growth.

How is the model innovative?

In the spring of 2023, during the postgraduate entrance examination interview, the examiners introduced the university-enterprise joint training model and asked Xu Zhiyuan if he would be willing to do a practical placement in an enterprise during his second year of graduate studies. Born in 2001, he had always wanted to improve his hands-on skills and enhance his employability, so he readily agreed. Why explore university-enterprise joint training? This stems from the practical demands of Foshan's industrial development. Foshan is a major manufacturing city, where product development and technological breakthroughs urgently require practical engineering talent capable of hands-on work and problem-solving. However, local resources for high-level universities and research institutes are limited, and the teaching content of traditional master's and doctoral programs can sometimes lag behind industrial application scenarios. Some thesis topics deviate from production practice, leading to a mismatch between talent supply and industrial demand. As a result, a talent cultivation mechanism reform was rolled out. In 2022, leveraging the Foshan National Innovation Institute as a platform, Foshan focused on building an innovation consortium tailored to local industrial development needs, exploring a university-enterprise joint training model.

What is new about this model? "Unlike traditional university enrollment, the new model closely follows the pace of industry, conducting targeted recruitment to ensure that the recruited talent meets the current technological innovation needs of enterprises," explained Huang Xinyu, Executive Dean of the Foshan National Innovation Institute. Specifically, enterprises identify and report technical challenges, which the institute then carefully reviews and screens to form a list of key scientific and technological research projects, which is made public. Subsequently, university supervisors can independently connect with enterprises around these topics to negotiate technical cooperation. Once both parties reach a cooperation agreement, the institute arranges dedicated enrollment quotas for the university supervisors, and the enterprise's technical needs become the direction for the students' engineering practice and thesis work. The Guangdong Provincial Department of Education grants the Foshan National Innovation Institute more than 500 dedicated enrollment quotas annually for engineering master's and doctoral students, with over 300 local enterprises and more than 800 university supervisors joining the innovation consortium. To streamline the docking process, the institute has built an online integrated supply-demand matching service system, enabling full-process online handling of enterprise qualification applications, topic collection, information release, and two-way selection between enterprises and universities, significantly reducing communication costs. "Before the start of each year's postgraduate entrance exam registration, we declare dedicated enrollment quotas based on university-enterprise matching situations, ensuring that every quota is assigned to a specific university supervisor," Huang added. To ensure the effective operation of the Foshan National Innovation Institute, the city has established it as a new type of public institution, implementing a council-led dean responsibility system, incorporating 15 units including the Municipal Organization Department and the Municipal Education Bureau into its council. This new production-education integration model of talent cultivation on demand has been well received by enterprises. "The discourse and thinking logic of universities and enterprises are sometimes different, and communication between the two sides was not always smooth. The Foshan National Innovation Institute acts like a professional 'translator' of production-education supply and demand, connecting both sides and opening up more possibilities for talent cultivation and technical cooperation," said Shang Guangjian, Deputy General Manager of Origin Intelligent.

How to cultivate talent precisely?

In July of last year, Xu Zhiyuan walked into Origin Intelligent for the first time and felt "a bit confused." The workshop was filled with oscillating mirrors flipping up and down and various precision components; the equipment was dazzling, and he couldn't figure out where to start his research. Origin Intelligent, which already had four years of experience in university-enterprise joint training, immediately arranged for the company's Chief Technology Officer to serve as his corporate mentor. By immersing himself on the production line with his mentor, Xu learned the underlying operating logic of the five-axis linked laser CNC machine tools. He lived, ate, and worked alongside the company's engineers, diving into the research project on domestic replacement of five-axis galvanometers, focusing on online monitoring of laser processing. His solid theoretical foundation was a strong asset. Xu dismantled real technical bottlenecks in the workshop, delved into the mechanical and optical principles behind components, and used professional theories to solve production process challenges. "Working in the enterprise pushed me to supplement my knowledge based on product technology, connecting academic research with industrial needs," Xu said. Another layer of growth from the workshop was breaking down the barriers of a single-disciplinary perspective. He told reporters, "Enterprise R&D emphasizes multidisciplinary crossover; developing a set of equipment requires joint efforts from engineers in mechanical, electrical, optical, materials, and other fields. By participating in weekly scientific research project meetings, I've gained a lot of cross-disciplinary knowledge and can look at technical issues with systematic thinking." While guided by his corporate mentor, his university supervisor remained actively involved. Xu's university mentor, Guo Liang, continuously followed the project online and offline, guiding him in structuring his research framework and identifying data collection paths to avoid detours. Shang Guangjian noted that two other university students were also undergoing joint training during the same period. After the one-year practical placement, the three will begin writing their graduation theses based on their research topics, "Truly achieving research rooted in enterprises, where scientific research is closely tied to industry and technology empowers manufacturing." "Foshan's manufacturing industry boasts complete categories, providing fertile ground for cultivating outstanding engineers," Huang Xinyu believes. Deep integration of production and education is a key measure for forging practical engineering talent. The Foshan National Innovation Institute adheres to the philosophy of "writing papers on products, conducting research in engineering, and transforming results in enterprises," leveraging the driving role of enterprise scientific research projects in production-education integration. It moves the school classroom into the workshop, tempers students' practical innovation capabilities, and promotes seamless connection between production, learning, research, and application.

How to ensure the effectiveness of joint training? Strictly controlling the enterprise entry threshold is key. The Foshan National Innovation Institute has established a screening mechanism that reviews enterprise qualifications, including operating financial statements, R&D investment, and mentor configuration. Only enterprises with certain scientific and technological strength, real technical challenges, and complete cultivation conditions can join the innovation consortium. Regular tracking and supervision are also indispensable. The institute's staff regularly visit enterprises to conduct research, understand the progress of training, and require students to submit weekly engineering practice reports. "We require enterprises to implement student training plans well, guide students to actively participate in R&D work, and even take on the role of project research leaders, continuously improving their capability levels," Huang Xinyu said.

How to make good use of talent?

At Foshan Huashu Robot Co., Ltd., machinery roars and trucks shuttle back and forth. A batch of high-load intelligent industrial robots is coming off the production line. This star equipment, launched in 2024, targets scenarios such as automotive assembly and home appliance assembly and handling, with a maximum load capacity of 500 kilograms. Liu Jiale, a 28-year-old company engineer, is very proud of this. The high-load computing models and supporting industrial software on the robots embody his hard work. His connection with Huashu came about precisely through Foshan's university-enterprise joint training. Huashu is a national high-tech enterprise dedicated to R&D and production of industrial robots, deeply cultivating diverse application scenarios. Liu Jiale earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Automation from Foshan University. In July 2022, he joined Huashu for joint training. The enterprise practice was not entirely smooth sailing. Initially, Liu Jiale built an algorithm model for robots and quickly completed concept verification. However, when the algorithm was transplanted into the robot control system, it completely failed. "The computing speed couldn't keep up," Liu Jiale recalled. Just as he was feeling frustrated, his corporate mentor, Ye Beifa, proactively approached him, affirming his solid modeling skills while guiding him to shift his thinking towards developing models for high-precision, high-load robots. "Every increase in load capacity can potentially cause structural changes; you can't simply transfer the dynamic technology of light-load robots," he noted. He continued to polish his work in this new direction, and three months later, a dynamic model with higher precision, stronger collision protection, and better structural adaptability was successfully completed, directly contributing to the successful launch of the new high-load product. This key technical breakthrough earned him recognition from the company. Upon completing his master's degree, the company extended an invitation to him. Feeling the company's atmosphere of respecting talent and encouraging innovation, Liu Jiale chose to stay. Now, he is tackling the more challenging topic of rigid-flexible coupling dynamic modeling. "The joint training helped me find the right growth track and suddenly opened up my development space," Liu Jiale said, looking back on the journey from practice to employment, feeling fortunate. Liu Jiale is not an exception. Since joining the innovation consortium in 2018, Huashu has collaborated with multiple universities, including Guangdong University of Technology, South China Normal University, and Foshan University, to train a total of 39 engineering master's and doctoral students, some of whom have already joined the company. "Joint training allows enterprises to identify talent early and cultivate talent with a clear direction. The mutual understanding and adjustment between the company and talent also reduces the risk of talent attrition. Furthermore, they can independently undertake R&D tasks as soon as they start work, shortening the training cycle for newcomers and accelerating the development and launch of new products," Ye Beifa said. Cultivating talent ultimately hinges on utilizing it. In recent years, the Foshan National Innovation Institute has been broadening development space for talent, encouraging enterprises to retain talent, and combining talent cultivation with usage. To this end, the institute has optimized its assessment and evaluation indicators. Assessments for graduate students focus on patent outcomes and employment retention; evaluations for university and corporate mentors emphasize the results of industry-university-research cooperation such as the transformation and application of scientific research achievements, as well as their effectiveness in cultivating and retaining talent; enterprises are subject to a dynamic adjustment mechanism with annual qualification reviews, and those failing the review lose their joint training qualifications for the following year. "Under the new model, enterprises and talent achieve a win-win situation," said Lu Wenyong, Deputy Director of the Foshan Municipal Organization Department. Enterprises can not only leverage university intellectual resources to solve technical problems but also participate in talent cultivation, reducing talent introduction and training costs. For students, being rooted on the industrial frontline during their studies, facing real R&D projects, simultaneously enhances their practical skills and employment competitiveness. Now, the Foshan Municipal Organization Department has incorporated the construction of the Foshan National Innovation Institute into the city's key tasks for building a talent highland, providing support and guarantees. The abundant results attest to the effectiveness of talent cultivation. To date, this new university-enterprise joint training model has cultivated a total of 3,597 engineering master's and doctoral students, solved over 3,500 industrial technical challenges, and collaboratively developed 140 high-tech products.