n 2000, Nanjing Institute of Technology (NJIT) was founded by merging two former national model technical colleges of higher engineering, Nanjing Mechanics College and Nanjing Electric Power College. The predecessors can trace their own lineages back to the Mechanist Department affiliated with Shanghai Tongji Medical and Engineering School and Suzhou Vocational School of Advanced Industrial Technology, founded in 1915 and 1946, respectively. Nanjing Industrial School was then incorporated into NJIT in 2001.

Throughout its centurial history, NJIT has always been upholding the motto of “Learning for Application”, developing the distinctive educational features of close university-enterprise collaboration, practice-based engineering education, and cultivating application-oriented talents. Until now, NJIT has nurtured over 270,000 technical and managerial engineering talents for the advancement of society and industries, many of whom have grown into elite scholars, senior executives and technical experts, including Shen Guorong, member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the “The Great Craftsman” He Shaohua, “Outstanding Talent in Scientific Research and Innovation” Wei Shizhong, “Green Energy Entrepreneur” Zhu Gongshan, and “National Model Worker” Lu Zongkui. These brilliant alumni of NJIT have had a major influence in machinery, electric power, energy and power, and other sectors.