The School of Automation Science and Engineering was found in January of 2002. Its predecessor was the Automation Department of the South China Institute of Technology, Guangdong Province, China. Our school is composed of three departments (Department of Control and Information, Department of Automation and Network Engineering,Department of Intelligent Science and Technology), three centers (Control and Optimization Center, Center for Brain Computer Interfaces and Brain Information Processing, Center for Experimental Training in Automation), and the Institute of System Engineering.

At present, the school has a first level discipline doctor degree programme of control science and control engineering, 4 second level discipline doctor degree programmes (control theory and control engineering, systems engineering, pattern recognition and intelligence systems, detection technology and automation devices), 5 second level discipline master degree programmes, as well as the Center for Post-Doctoral Studies on Control Science and Engineering. Our discipline on control theory and control engineering was authorized as the Key Discipline of Guangdong Province, China. In 2009, the Automation Specialty was awarded State Level Feature Specialty, China. The Principles of Automatic Control was awarded Key Course of Guangdong Province, China. The editorial office of the well-recognized journal “Control Theory and Application” was also established in our school.

Now, the School of Automation Science and Engineering has a team of high-level and professional lecturers. Totally there are 116 staffs in our school, including two jointly appointed academician (one from Chinese Academy of Sciences and the other from Chinese Academy of Engineering), one 1000-Elite Programme Professor (Organization Ministry of the CPC Central Committee, China), two Cheung Kong Scholars Programme Professors (MOE, China), and two professors supported by National Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholars. The school has 14 professors, 19 associate professors, 3 senior engineers, and 72 percent of the lecturers have doctorate degree.

At present, our school holds a provincial leading position in academic research and industrial technology in automation and control. The major areas include (1) modeling of complex systems, control and optimization; (2) comprehensive analysis of control systems; (3) pattern recognition; (4) brain-computer interfaces and brain information processing; (5) intelligent detection and intelligent Control; (6) intelligent monitoring and fault prediction of industrial process; (7) motion control and real-time Control based on network; (8) numerical control machine and embedded systems; (9) intelligent medical devices. As an important base of practical training for students, our school has set up aNationalDemonstrationCenter for Experimental Training (Center for Experimental Training in Electrical Information and Control). We also have a CultivationCenter for Student Creativity in Automation and the Center for Experimental Training in Automation. Meanwhile, as an important research base, our school has the Engineering Research Center of Precision Electronic Manufacturing Equipments (MOE, China), Key Laboratory of Autonomous Systems and Network Control (MOE, China), and Guangdong International Science and Technology Cooperation Base, China. All of the above substantially support our teaching, research, and international cooperation.

In the areas of scientific research, our staffs have undertaken many projects sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, MOE of China, the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province, the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, as well as cooperative projects with enterprises. Within the recent 3 years, the funds amount to 40 million Yuan in total, and we have published 750 research papers, with 390 of them being included in the 3 major indexes (SCI, EI, and ISTP). Besides these, we have also achieved 7 national/provincial science and technology awards.

Over more than 60 years, our School has cultivated over 6,000 undergraduates, over 1000 masters, and more than 300 doctors. Graduates from our school have shown their excellence in enterprises, research institutes, universities, business, governments, military forces, etc. The school has become an important cultivation center in control science and engineering in south China.