With the rapid development of cities in China, problems such as urban traffic congestion and dense high-rise buildings have become increasingly prominent, and the carrying pressure on urban ground space continues to increase. Developing urban underground space is an effective way to solve these problems and achieve sustainable urban development, and it is also an inevitable trend of future urban development. Urban construction has gone through a process from planar expansion to the development of high-rise and shallow underground space, and then to the development and utilization of deep underground space. At present, some large and medium-sized cities have built underground buildings and facilities such as urban subways, underground parking lots, underground commercial facilities, and civil air defense works. The urban underground space of the future will develop in the direction of greater comfort, three-dimensionality, and comprehensiveness. The Urban Underground Space Engineering program is a specially established program of the Ministry of Education, developed from the interdisciplinary intersection of civil engineering, urban and rural planning, and architecture, and is consistent with the talent cultivation goals of the new engineering disciplines for interdisciplinary and integrated talent development. In 2017, our university applied for the Urban Underground Space Engineering program and received approval from the Provincial Department of Education in the same year. In 2018, the Urban Underground Space Engineering program was officially established and enrolled its first cohort of undergraduates; to date, the program has enrolled students for seven consecutive years. In 2020, our university's Urban Underground Space Engineering program was approved as a Hebei Province First-Class Undergraduate Program construction site, and in 2024 it passed acceptance and officially became a Hebei Province First-Class Undergraduate Program; in 2021, relying on the Urban Underground Space Engineering program, the university-level key discipline of Geotechnical Engineering was approved.

Theoretical Mechanics, Mechanics of Materials, Structural Mechanics, Soil Mechanics, Rock Mass Mechanics and Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering Investigation, Foundation Engineering, Underground Building Structures, Underground Railways, Tunnel Engineering, Foundation Pit and Slope Engineering, Underground Engineering Construction Organization, Underground Engineering Testing and Monitoring, Urban Underground Space Planning and Design, etc.

The Urban Underground Space Engineering program currently has 25 full-time teachers, including 6 with senior professional titles and 17 with intermediate professional titles; 6 with doctoral degrees and 18 with master's degrees; and 10 "dual-qualified" teachers. Some teachers have obtained qualifications such as National Registered First-Class Architect, First-Class Structural Engineer, and Geotechnical Engineer, with solid theoretical knowledge, superb professional skills, and rich engineering practice experience.

In order to further improve teaching quality and educational outcomes, the program has specially engaged 5 senior engineers from enterprises as external teachers to participate in the professional course teaching tasks of the program, strengthening industry-university-research cooperation and achieving collaborative education.

Faculty Representative Introductions

Liu Zhenping, Ph.D., Associate Professor, main research directions are geotechnical model tests and geotechnical numerical computation, mainly teaches"Soil Mechanics""Underground Engineering Testing and Monitoring" and "Geotechnical Engineering Investigation"; has led 1 project of the Provincial Natural Science Foundation, 1 open fund project of a State Key Laboratory, and 1 enterprise-commissioned project, and has published 5 academic papers. In 2021, won the Third Prize of the Heilongjiang Province Urban and Rural Construction Science and Technology Award.

Song Xinghai, Master's degree, Associate Professor, main research directions are soil mechanics and foundation engineering, mainly teaches "Soil Mechanics," "Foundation Engineering," and "Ground Treatment"; has published 3 research papers and 2 research monographs. Has presided over 2 Hebei Province higher education teaching reform research and practice projects and published 2 teaching reform papers.

Wu Jinhua, Ph.D., Associate Professor, mainly engaged in teaching and teaching research of courses such as building materials and college chemistry, as well as research and development and application of new energy materials and new building materials. Has presided over 4 municipal and departmental-level projects including the Hebei Provincial Department of Education Young Top-Notch Talent Project, and participated in 5 scientific research projects at various levels; has published more than 20 SCI-indexed papers, of which 4 are as first author or corresponding author; has received 2 municipal-level science and technology awards. Won 1 First Prize and 2 Second Prizes in the Higher Education Group of the 2021 Hebei Province Teacher Education and Teaching Informatization Exchange Activity, 1 Third Prize in the Associate Senior Group of the Second Hebei Province Teacher Teaching Innovation Competition, 1 Third Prize in the First Hebei Province Higher Education Curriculum Ideological and Political Teaching Competition, and 1 First Prize each in the Associate Senior and Below Group of the university's Second Teacher Teaching Innovation Competition and First Curriculum Ideological and Political Teaching Competition and the university's 2022 Curriculum Ideological and Political Teaching Competition; guided students to participate in competitions such as the "Challenge Cup," the Internet+ National College Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, the College Student Extracurricular Science and Technology Works Competition, the National and Hebei Province College Student Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction Science and Technology Works Competition, and the National College Student Concrete Material Design Competition, achieving 3 national-level Third Prizes, 1 provincial-level First Prize, 3 Second Prizes, and 4 Third Prizes; guided students to participate in a total of 3 college student innovation and entrepreneurship projects and college student scientific research capability improvement projects, published 2 papers, and obtained 2 utility model patents.

Liu Jianxiu, Master's degree, Lecturer, main research direction is soil-structure interaction, mainly teaches "Soil Mechanics," "Foundation Engineering," and "Urban Underground Space Planning and Design"; has presided over 1 self-funded project of the Cangzhou City Key Research and Development Plan and 1 basic scientific research operating expense project, and has published 3 research papers, including 1 SCI paper. Has presided over 1 project of the Hebei Province Applied Technology University Research Association. Won Second Prize in the Sixth and Seventh National College Urban Underground Space Engineering Young Teacher Teaching Competitions.

Xu Xiaowen, Master's degree, Lecturer, main research direction is architecture and civil engineering, mainly teaches "Civil Engineering Construction Technology and Organization" "Underground Engineering Construction Technology and Organization," "Foundation Engineering," "Construction Project Management," and "Foundation Pit and Slope Engineering"; led students to win Third Prize in the Fifth Hebei Province College Student Structural Design Competition and Third Prize in the Sixth Hebei Province College Student Structural Design Competition.

Qi Dongliang, Ph.D., Lecturer, main research directions are computational mechanics and geotechnical engineering, mainly teaches "Rock Mass Mechanics and Engineering," "Tunnel Engineering," "Soil Mechanics,""Theoretical Mechanics"courses; has presided over 2 scientific research projects, including 1 Hebei Provincial Natural Science Foundation project, published 4 research papers, of which 3 are SCI, and published 1 textbook in the National General Higher Education "13th Five-Year Plan"; in 2020 won the Emerald "Highly Commended Paper Award."

Liu Jingjing, Ph.D., Lecturer, main research direction is soil stability analysis under tunnel excavation conditions, mainly teaches "Soil Mechanics," "Tunnel Engineering," and "Underground Railways"; has published 2 research papers, including 1 SCI paper.

1. Research achievements: The program closely integrates with discipline construction and actively carries out scientific research. Full-time teachers have presided over more than 30 provincial and ministerial-level, municipal and departmental-level, and university-level science and technology projects; published more than 40 academic papers, including 10 indexed by SCI and 4 by EI; published 6 books and 9 patents. In 2021, the university-level Geotechnical and Underground Engineering Scientific Research Innovation Team was established for construction. With the increase in the number of doctoral students among the program's teachers, relying on platforms such as the Hebei Province Key Laboratory of Geotechnical Engineering Safety and Deformation Control, the Cangzhou City Geotechnical and Underground Engineering Safety and Deformation Control Technology Innovation Center, and multiple university-level research centers, the program's research level will continue to improve.

Teaching Achievements

Has built 1 provincial-level excellent online course, 1 provincial-level first-class online undergraduate course, 2 provincial and university-level curriculum ideological and political demonstration courses, 1 university-level curriculum ideological and political demonstration course, and 1 university-level first-class undergraduate course, and has established a professional curriculum ideological and political resource library.

Has been approved for 4 provincial, municipal and departmental, and university-level teaching reform projects, published 7 teaching reform papers, and published 7 monographs.

Teachers have participated in competitions such as the Hebei Province College Teacher Teaching Innovation Competition, the Hebei Province Curriculum Ideological and Political Teaching Competition, the National College Blended Teaching Design Innovation Competition, and the National College Urban Underground Space Engineering Young Teacher Teaching Competition, winning 9 awards at or above the provincial level and 2 university-level awards.

The research achievements of the teachers of the Urban Underground Space Engineering program have won 2 Second Prizes and 2 Third Prizes of the Cangzhou City Outstanding Social Science Research Achievement Award, and 3 person-times have won the title of Outstanding Communist Party Member of Hebei University of Water Resources and Electric Engineering.

The laboratories related to the teaching of this program mainly include soil mechanics, mechanics of materials, building materials, and structural laboratories. In recent years, the experimental conditions of the relevant laboratories have been continuously improved. At present, the total building area of the laboratories related to this program is 2,290 m², and the total value of equipment is 6.5 million yuan. Among them, in 2021, the total value of newly added teaching equipment related to this program exceeded 1.6 million yuan, with newly added equipment accounting for 32%; all newly purchased equipment is aimed at meeting undergraduate teaching needs, greatly improving the practical teaching quality of this program. In addition, relying on the construction and development of the Hebei Province Key Laboratory of Geotechnical Engineering Safety and Deformation Control, the practical teaching resources of this program have been further improved, which can not only improve the quality of undergraduate practical teaching but also provide students with opportunities to participate in scientific research, greatly promoting the cultivation of students' innovative abilities.

In order to improve college students' practical innovation abilities, students are encouraged to participate in various competitions and have achieved excellent results. In 2021, won Third Prize in the "Sobute Cup" Sixth National College Student Concrete Material Design Competition; in 2022, won a provincial-level Second Prize in the Hebei Province Challenge Cup—Entrepreneurship Plan; in 2022, won a provincial-level Silver Award in the Eighth Internet+ Competition; in 2023, won a provincial-level Gold Award in the Ninth Internet+ Competition, won First Prize and Third Prize in the Sixth Hebei Province College Student Structural Design Competition in 2023, and won Third Prize in the Urban Underground Space Model Design Competition in 2023. In addition, in 2021, there was 1 project of the Hebei University of Water Resources and Electric Engineering Basic Scientific Research Operating Expenses; in 2022, teachers of our department led students to obtain an invention patent for phase-change heat storage concrete, and in 2023 this invention patent was transformed, making a certain contribution to the technological progress of the industry; there were 5 Hebei Province College Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program projects and 1 Hebei Province Innovation Capability Improvement Project for Universities, Primary and Secondary Schools.