The motto of Shanghai Dianji University (SDJU) is ‘illustrious virtue, highest excellence; extensive study, and earnest practice’, four essential phrases selected from two Chinese Classics ‘The Great Learning’ and ‘The Doctrine of the Mean’. Our mission in education is to create top talents in technology and its application that will best serve the city of Shanghai and the world in the new era. The university is a modern public university under the supervision of Shanghai Education Commission. Be strong in applied sciences as it may, SDJU is organized into ten Schools (electrical engineering; mechanical engineering; electronic and information engineering; business; foreign languages; materials science; art and design; Marxism; literature and science; and physical education), three Colleges (for product intelligence, continuing education, and advanced vocational technology, respectively), and one independent Institute (collaborative with Shanghai Electric). It has more than 1100 faculty members, some 12,900 full-time postgraduate, undergraduate and postsecondary students, and more than 1,800 adult education students. As its founding in the 1950s, SDJU was an educational innovation, a community of hands-on problem solvers in love with practice-oriented theories and eager to contribute to efficient manipulation and manufacturing in the motor (‘Dianji’ in Chinese) industry. Today that spirit still guides how we educate students on campus and how we collaborate with local government, enterprises and research institutes to make SDJU teaching beneficial to them. SDJU’s spirit of application-oriented exploration has fuelled a number of technological advances. A major breakthrough in 2018 was the creation of a giant crankshaft employed in the low-speed diesel engine for driving a marine vessel. This particular variety of crankshaft was shaped, machined and heat-treated in a completely new process supported by our industry partner, which in effect greatly reduces the cost and may hence prove to be a core competence especially for a profitable domestic market. Current research and education areas include smart wind power, optimal design and special motors, and intelligent drive & control and modern electrical equipment; intelligent digital manufacturing, large-scale intelligent manufacturing equipment, and robotic systems; manufacturing processes and heavy & complex forgings, material organization and performance control, and new materials and applications; equipment software and Big Data analysis, smart wireless applications, and vision technologies; optimization and quality improvement, product/service systems, and logistics planning and management; value chain finance, equipment manufacturing industry, organizational behaviour, and innovation and internationalization. SDJU’s impact also includes our global engagement. SDJU has worked with more than 60 higher-education organizations and institutions across the globe to push the limits of cultural exchange and knowledge sharing. One way we make a difference on the international stage is by starting overseas innovation centres that attract investment and high-end talent. Among other global involvement, these overseas centres provide an opportunity for an outburst of international programs or projects for the SDJU community and beyond.