Established in 2012, the College of Liquor and Food Engineering serves as a key academic unit dedicated to education and research in fermentation and food sciences. The College's administrative structure comprises four functional offices: the Party and Administration Office, Academic Affairs Office, Graduate Studies and Research Office, and Student Affairs Office (which also serves as the Youth League Committee). Academically, the College operates three specialized teaching and research divisions: Brewing Engineering, Food Science and Engineering, and Food Quality and Safety. Our graduate programs include a first-level discipline master's degree in Food Science and Engineering, along with professional master's degrees in Food Engineering (under the Biological and Pharmaceutical category) and Food Processing and Safety (under the Agricultural Extension program).
1. Historical Development
The history of the College of Liquor and Food Engineering can be traced back to the Food Engineering program established in 1984 under the Light Industry Department of the former Guizhou Institute of Technology and the Agricultural/Livestock Product Processing and Storage program founded in 1987 at the former Guizhou Agricultural College.
In 1984, the former Guizhou Institute of Technology established its Light Industry Department. The Food Engineering program began enrollment that same year, followed by the launch of the Fermentation Engineering program in 1986. In accordance with the 1999 national curriculum adjustment by the Ministry of Education, these programs were subsequently renamed as Food Science and Engineering and Bioengineering, respectively. In 1987, the former Guizhou Agricultural College initiated its Agricultural and Livestock Product Processing and Storage program, leading to the establishment of the Food Science Department in 1988. The academic development continued with Guizhou University introducing the Food Quality and Safety program in 2005, followed by the Brewing Engineering program in 2013.
In 2000, the Fermentation Engineering (second-level discipline master's program) was approved at the former Guizhou University of Technology, with enrollment commencing in 2001. In 2003, the Food Science (second-level discipline master's programs) were approved at both the former Guizhou University and former Guizhou University of Technology, with enrollment beginning in 2004. In 2006, Guizhou University's Agricultural Extension Master's program in Food Processing and Safety was approved and began enrolling in-service professional degree master's students in agricultural extension. In 2011, the following programs were approved: first-level discipline master's program in Food Science and Engineering),Professional Master's program in Light Industry Technology and Engineering, and Food Engineering program. Full-time enrollment for these engineering master's professional degree students began in 2012.
2. Party building and ideological and political education
We have been fully implementing the Party's educational policy, adhering to the socialist orientation in running Colleges, precisely aligning and deeply integrating Party building, ideological and political work with business operations, upholding the principle of fostering virtue and nurturing talent and the all-round education approach, comprehensively promoting the high-quality development of the college, and continuously enhancing its educational strength and level. In the assessment of the Party building work in the College, the Party Committee of the college has been rated as excellent for three consecutive years. It was awarded the first batch of Benchmark Party Committees, Advanced Grassroots Party Organizations, and Advanced Branch Party Colleges by Guizhou University, as well as the first prize for outstanding achievements in the innovation project of grassroots Party building of Guizhou University. It has been awarded as one of the first batch of Model Party Branches of Guizhou University, a construction point for the Double Leader teacher Party branch secretary studio, a Five-Good grassroots Party organization in Guizhou Province's higher education institutions, and a Demonstration Point for Standardized and Normalized Construction of Party Branches in the Province.
3. Faculty and Student Profile
The Brewing Engineering and Food Science and Engineering programs are recognized as National First-Class Undergraduate Programs. Notably, the Brewing Engineering program has obtained national engineering certification, while the Food Quality and Safety program is designated as a Provincial First-Class Undergraduate Program. Currently, the College has a student population of over 1,300, including both undergraduate and graduate students.
The College currently employs 78 faculty and staff members, featuring distinguished academic leadership including 1 Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Our teaching force consists of 64 full-time faculty members, representing 86% of total staff and maintaining an optimal student-faculty ratio of 16:1. The faculty body demonstrates strong academic qualifications, with 70% holding senior positions (21 Professors, 19 Associate Professors, 3 Senior Experimental Technicians, and 2 Associate Senior Experimental Technicians). Notably, 80% of our faculty possess doctoral degrees (51 individuals), and 20% (13 faculty members) have gained valuable international experience through overseas study or research programs. The College's graduate education capabilities are reinforced by 7 doctoral supervisors, accounting for 9% of our faculty. Our faculty have earned numerous prestigious academic honors and appointments. These include 1 member serving on the MOE Teaching Guidance Committee for Food Science and Engineering, 4 recognized as Provincial-Level Experts, and multiple recipients of distinguished talent programs (5 Hundred-Talent Scholars, 2 Thousand-Talent Scholars). The College takes particular pride in its 6 recipients of the Guizhou Outstanding Young Scientist Program and 1 Provincial Teaching Excellence Award winner. Additionally, our faculty participate in Guizhou University's talent development initiatives, with 2 holding Yingcai Scholar (C-Level) positions and 11 faculty members appointed to special positions across various levels (1 A-Level, 1 B-Level, 7 C-Level, and 2 D-Level). This diverse and accomplished faculty body forms the foundation of our teaching and research excellence.
4. Academic Research
The College currently has provincial-level characteristic key disciplines in Food Science and Brewing Science & Engineering; 3 scientific and technological innovation talent teams recognized by Guizhou Province and the Provincial Department of Education; 1 engineering technology center jointly built by central and local governments; and 3 provincial-level key laboratories in Guizhou Province. In cooperation with enterprises, the College has jointly established 6 national, provincial and municipal-level engineering technology centers. Additionally, the College has established several disciplinary platforms including Guizhou Baijiu (Liquor) Research Institute, Rosa Roxburghii Industrial Development Research Institute, Premium Baijiu Collaborative Innovation Center, and Food Science Engineering Research Center. In the past five years, the College has obtained 378 research projects including those from the National Natural Science Foundation, National Key R&D Program, Guizhou Natural Science Foundation, Guizhou Science and Technology Support Program, as well as enterprise-commissioned projects. During this period, faculty members have published over 500 academic papers indexed by SCI, EI and SCD, and have been granted 46 invention patents.
5. Social Services
The College is an important talent training and scientific research base for Guizhou Province's liquor industry and ecological characteristic food industry. The College has always taken education and talent cultivation as its mission, closely integrating with the development of local advantageous liquor brewing and ecological characteristic food industries. It provides strong talent support and intellectual assistance for the development of Guizhou's liquor industry and ecological characteristic food industry. In the past five years, the College has served local ecological characteristic food enterprises and liquor enterprises more than 700 times, generating additional economic output value of several billion yuan for enterprises, with remarkable economic and social benefits.
The College adheres to the path of connotative development, with discipline construction as the leading factor and faculty team building as the core. It upholds the principles of student-oriented education, reform and innovation, and striving for excellence. Following the path of establishing the College through quality, revitalizing the College through characteristics, and strengthening the College through talents, the College comprehensively improves its talent cultivation, scientific research, and social service capabilities. It continuously enhances the College's comprehensive competitiveness and influence, and makes unremitting efforts to build a distinctive and high-level College.