He often said, "I like to pursue the educational cause I love in the ordinary and enjoy the pleasure of teaching and educating people."

Several courses such as Introduction to Armored Vehicle Engineering, which he lectured, have been rated as national excellent courses.

He has won the Beijing Education and Teaching Achievement Award for four times.

The textbook he compiled has won the first prize of the Excellent Textbook Award of the China University Press.

His scientific research achievements have won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award,

and seven provincial and ministerial science and technology progress awards…

He is Yan Qingdong,

a professor at the School of Mechanical Engineering of Beijing Institute of Technology,

and the leader of the "undergraduate education team of armored vehicle engineering",

an excellent undergraduate education team of Beijing universities and colleges.

Yan Qingdong, who stayed here after graduating from his doctor's degree at BIT in 1995, has been deeply engaged in teaching for 28 years, continuously promoting educational reform and innovation, and interpreting the initial intention and educational mission of teachers with his own silent perseverance.

Innovating forms and creating high-quality classes

"By using virtual simulation technology, select vehicle models at will, choose different types of engines, transmission systems, and mobile devices to assemble vehicles freely from a series of devices, and then let the vehicle designed by yourself carry out speed and steering tests on a realistic experimental site to test the vehicle performance, and continuously adjust and improve the design scheme through system analysis and evaluation..." At the virtual simulation experiment class of special vehicles opened by Yan Qingdong, the students have become "designers" of special vehicles.

Yan Qingdong instructing students to carry out experiments

For many years, in the teaching of special vehicle specialty, the experimental teaching links are complicated, demanding and difficult, which greatly limits the practical learning of beginners who have just come into contact with knowledge of special vehicles. In response to this problem, Yan Qingdong innovatively proposed to use virtual technology to build an experimental platform to let students experience the driving situation of special vehicles. "The course of special vehicles involves multiple disciplines and requires students to exercise their independent design and development ability in practice."

After more than 20 years of dedicated research and continuous improvement, Yan Qingdong leads the team to develop a special vehicle virtual simulation experimental platform with advanced technology and realistic scenes, which overcomes the constraints of real vehicle safety, economy and experimental time and space. Students can carry out independent design and experiments in real time, which greatly improves the cultivation of their innovative ability.

Yan Qingdong giving a speech at the teaching experience exchange meeting

After that, Yan Qingdong carefully set up a virtual simulation experiment course based on the platform, in which students can assemble vehicles independently and actively explore innovative design solutions for special vehicles. In 2020, the course was rated as the national first-class undergraduate course.

How can we make students change from being passive to active in learning? How can we comprehensively improve students' overall ability? Yan Qingdong has been thinking and practicing. He insists on taking student development as the center, and guides students to "study while learning, think while studying, and understand while thinking" by offering research-oriented courses, organizing and implementing small-class teaching, offering innovation-driven projects, promoting heuristic interaction, open defense and other teaching methods.

"Don't study mechanically. Happy learning is the best way to acquire knowledge". Compared with "mechanical studying", Yan Qingdong attaches great importance to the cultivation of students' interests and abilities, and hopes that students can continuously improve their learning ability and comprehensive quality in the combination of theory and practice.

Yan Qingdong offering research-based courses and interacting with students

"A special vehicle driving in a severe cold area suddenly lost its power. After analysis, it was confirmed that the coupling was damaged. The reason is unknown. Who can give a solution?" In order to stimulate students' interest, small stories in special vehicle design and unsolved mysteries of vehicle technology often appear in Yan Qingdong's class. Students are not only willing to listen, but also willing to think deeply. The interesting and vivid cases one after one not only help students improve their theoretical knowledge, but also subtly stimulate their innovative consciousness and improve their thinking and ability to analyze and solve complex engineering problems.

As the earliest one among the major of special vehicle design and manufacturing in universities and colleges in China, we need to take the lead. " Over the years, Yan Qingdong and his team have been working hard and constantly exploring and reforming the education and teaching model, with fruitful results. The two courses he lectured were rated as national-level high-quality courses and high-quality video open courses of the Ministry of Education, and the "undergraduate education team of armored vehicle engineering" led by him was rated as the excellent undergraduate education team of Beijing universities and the research-based teaching innovation team of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and has won the first and second prizes of the Beijing Education and Teaching Achievement Award four times, Yan Qingdong himself has also been rated as a renowned teacher in Beijing's colleges and universities and an advanced individual in Beijing's teacher ethics.

Integrating science and education to build a multi-dimensional education model

"We can not only drive, but also disassemble and assemble!" Every year, students will be excited after completing the disassembly and assembly of special vehicle structure and driving practice. Since 1985, students majoring in armored vehicle engineering have carried out special vehicle structure disassembly and driving practice, which has a history of more than 30 years.

Yan Qingdong instructing students in practice

"How can you know its power without 'close contact'?" Yan Qingdong said, unlike ordinary vehicle engineering majors, special vehicle majors involve a wider range of disciplines. "Students can better form emotional resonance and set up the ideal and ambition of serving the country through personal experience and intuitive experience of the advanced equipment of China."

"That day, we were driving on the mountain road, it was majestic." Du Minggang, a former student of Yan Qingdong and now the chief expert of the NORINCO GROUP, recalled the scene of his internship that year and was still excited. It was the unforgettable experience of professional practice that planted a seed of innovation for Du Minggang's research. After taking part in the job, Du Minggang was lucky to participate in the research of the transmission device of the new generation of special vehicles in China. With the "initial experience" of his student era, he and his team successfully installed the "automatic gear" and "steering wheel" on special vehicles, and with other innovative achievements, filled the gap in the field and greatly improved the effectiveness of equipment.

"Engineering study is not to sit on the sidelines and make assumptions. The key is to let students go directly to the factory and workshop to see what their industry is doing and what they are going to study in the future. " After years of teaching, Yan Qingdong knows the importance of practice for scientific research. Under his promotion, the school has successively established cooperative relations with large and key enterprises in the production of special vehicles in China. Every year, the school arranges students to carry out enterprise practice and practical exercises, and constantly improves students' ability and level of finding and solving problems.

Yan Qingdong participating in the school-enterprise collaborative practical teaching seminar

"Students can combine their interests and career planning, divide into different groups, choose different units, and carry out practical practice in a 'real way'." After years of cultivation, professional practice has become a brand project for students to benefit a lot. The two engineering practice bases jointly built by BIT and relevant institutes in Hunan and Inner Mongolia have been rated as national engineering practice education bases.

"As a college teacher, we should integrate science and education, so that we can tell students the knowledge behind the books, integrate the hot and difficult points of the field technology into the classroom, combine the knowledge points of the course with the actual application background and engineering needs, and comprehensively improve the training effect of students' comprehensive quality and innovation ability." Yan Qingdong's another magic weapon is to bring "scientific research" into the classroom to improve teaching quality and talent cultivation ability.

Yan Qingdong and students

"In class, some research examples cited by Mr. Yan always arouse our strong curiosity. Once, he introduced to us the hydraulic torque converter with stepless speed change torque converter and flexible damping performance. This hydraulic torque converter is the major scientific and technological achievements of BIT's hydrodynamic transmission research group after years of technical research and continuous innovation. The relevant technology has reached the international leading level. Under the organization of Mr. Yan, we also visited the laboratory integrating virtual design analysis, laser flow field test and bench test, and got a more intuitive and profound understanding of the principle of the hydraulic torque converter using liquid kinetic energy to achieve torque change during the rotating and connecting of the impeller. We also sincerely admire the great efforts made by our scientific research team of Beijing Institute of Technology to serve the major needs of China. At that time, I secretly made up my mind to continue to study for graduate students and contribute to the country. " Chen Xiuqi, a 2019 doctoral student, recalled.

"The other aspect of scientific research feeding back teaching is the construction of professional teaching materials." Based on years of scientific research practice and teaching achievements, Yan Qingdong led the planning of a professional teaching material system. Some of the teaching materials were selected into the National Publishing Fund Project, the "13th Five-Year Plan" National Key Publications Publishing Planning Project, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's National Key Publications Engineering Teaching Materials, and were awarded the first prize of the Beijing Excellent Teaching Materials and the China University Press Book Award.

Building a strong team and creating a good educational atmosphere

"The teachers of BIT should have a sense of responsibility to serve the country through scientific research, a sense of mission to teach and educate people, a stable study style and a modest and peaceful working style." Over the years, Yan Qingdong, who has been engaged in teaching, has driven a group of young teachers to grow with his words and deeds.

Yan Qingdong and young teachers discuss teaching experiments

"Talents, teaching materials, and (experimental) equipment are the most important for the construction of undergraduate majors. We must lay a good foundation!" In 2005, Yan Qingdong became a professional responsible professor of armored vehicle engineering undergraduate specialty. As the first professional responsible professor of BIT, he took sustainable teacher team construction as his primary task. "Teaching is the main business of teachers and the basis of settling down. Teachers must practice real skills and study real problems so that students can truly learn, understand and grasp the knowledge." Therefore, Yan Qingdong formulated a mentoring system for training young teachers, promoting the after-learning in the way of "teachers leading apprentices", and helping young teachers grow in curriculum, teaching methods, scientific research and other aspects.

"One course should be arranged for two teachers, and one teacher should take at least two courses". Yan Qingdong's arrangement in teaching organization not only ensures the stability of course teaching, but also is conducive to the innovation and evolution of the course. It is such a practical measure that makes the idea of "class is a priority among priorities" take root.

In recent years, under the background of "strengthening BIT with talents", a group of young teachers have joined Yan Qingdong's teaching team, and their research fields include vehicle control, electromechanical transmission, image recognition and other different directions. Yan Qingdong actively encouraged young teachers to start new classes and teach new lessons based on the development trend of intelligent information technology of armored vehicles and in combination with their own professional characteristics. For example, Wang Weida, who graduated from the automobile major, opened "Integrated Electronic Information Technology for Vehicles", Yang Chao, who graduated from the automotive control major, opened "Integrated Control of Intelligent Connected Vehicles and New Energy Vehicles", and Li Ying, who graduated from the image recognition major, opened "Machine Learning "etc.

"Forging iron requires self-hardening. As a teacher, you must practice your basic skills well. Mr. Yan always focuses on student development, and acts as a guide in shaping students' knowledge and innovative thinking. He takes cultivating students as his own responsibility, which has a profound impact on me.” Liu Hui, the team teacher and head of the vehicle engineering department, said. On the basis of establishing a rich curriculum system, Yan Qingdong established a strong coupling course group under the professor responsibility system, realized the normalization of teaching and research activities, and formed the tradition of passing on, helping, leading, echelon construction of science and education interaction.

"I have benefited a lot from the teaching method of 'adhering to the organic interaction of scientific research and teaching, and cultivating innovative talents through research and teaching', and it has always been the teaching style of our team." Wei Wei, who has studied following Yan Qingdong since his undergraduate days, said. After graduating with a Ph.D., Wei Wei chose to stay at BIT to teach, and now he has become a "special vehicle teacher" loved by students, and continues to inherit the teaching concept of "interaction between science and education".

Group photo of Yan Qingdong's teaching team

"Mr. Yan looks strict, but she is full of care." "Mr. Yan always encourages me and makes me full of confidence." "Mr. Yan knows everything about us, and he is like the 'stability anchor' of our team. "... Every regular meeting of team teachers is like an "expert consultation". When encountering difficulties and pain points in personnel training, education and teaching, and scientific research, Yan Qingdong will "prescribe the right medicine" and a dose of "good prescription" which will benefit young teachers a lot.

In order to help young teachers "practice the basic skills", Yan Qingdong encouraged everyone to actively participate in the teaching basic skills competition. In the process of preparing for the competition, Yan Qingdong always personally guided the young teachers to give trial lectures, and carefully provided targeted guidance on PPT courseware, blackboard writing and curriculum design.

Led by Yan Qingdong to teach each other and help the development of scientific research, under the leadership and influence of Yan Qingdong, the young teachers of the team grew rapidly, and 4 national-level talents, 4 national-level young talents, 6 provincial and ministerial level young talents and young award winners emerged.

"There is no trivial matter in school, everything is education, teachers have no small details, and they are role models everywhere." Yan Qingdong is a model teacher, dedicated to his work, and tireless in teaching. In the past 28 years of teaching, teaching and scientific research, teaching and educating people have become the main theme of Yan Qingdong's life. In addition to intense work, Yan Qingdong also has a wealth of hobbies. "Sports is something I have always insisted on. When I was young, I liked table tennis and badminton. Now walking and mountain climbing are more suitable for me. I usually like to read some popular science books and look for new breakthroughs outside the research field."

Standing on a three-foot podium and with a passion for serving the country, Yan Qingdong used 28 years of persistence and love in ordinary posts, engaged in teaching, and wrote a wonderful chapter in educating people!